CARY, NC. – Despite rallying into a tie in the top of the 6th, the Cal Poly Pomona baseball team dropped a season-ending 5-2 loss to Nova Southeastern in the semifinal round of the NCAA Division II Championships.
With an overall record of 42-19, the 2016 Broncos rank third all-time in program history for wins. Along the way, CPP won the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) South Division II title while going 21-5 at Scolinos Field during the regular season. The Broncos captured the West Region crown in dramatic fashion, topping Cal Baptist twice with a walk-off and a grandslam-fueled comeback victory.
CPP scored first on Thursday against Nova Southeastern with a single to center in the second inning from
Michael Zidek. Scoring on the knock was
Nic Hernandez who had reached on a walk, then moved over on a sacrifice bunt from
Ryan Webberley.
Tyler Rowe, the Broncos' starter in the contest, exited the game in the fourth after allowing a two-run shot to the Sharks' catcher. The homer put the NSU squad on top 2-1 and forced a CPP pitching change to
Peter Beattie. Rowe's performance on the mound saw him earn a career-high as a Bronco with five strikeouts. He allowed the pair of runs on three hits.
Looking ahead to the sixth, the Green and Gold's third baseman
Jason Padlo came in clutch yet again as a single up the middle tallied run No. 2 for CPP. Scoring on the play was
Chris Stratton.
The Sharks answered right back in the bottom half of the inning as a pair of singles scored a pair of their runners to put the Broncos in a two-run deficit. Beattie's time on the mound showed him allowing four hits and two runs of his own as he struck out three of the 16 batters faced.
In the top of the seventh with two runners on,
Wyatt Shackleford entered the game for CPP. After Shackleford recorded a strikeout, a heads up play by both he and catcher
Alex Kline resulted in the second out at the plate, and a strikeout sent the game to the top of the eighth.
Inning No. 8 came with another run for the Sharks as they recorded one more single to left to bring across their fifth run.
NOTES: Jared James reached base safely in 58 of the team's 61 games this year, including the last 27-consecutive games... Senior lefty
Max Bethell finished his career as No. 2 in games started with 50 and No. 3 in wins with 30, trailing only Alan Fowlkes (35) and Kirk Washington (33)...
Randy Betten now has a career coaching record of 213-118 for a winning percentage of .644 that puts him within the top 25 among active Division II coaches... The Broncos are now 16-9 in the NCAA Tournament under the leadership of Betten.
