CHICAGO -- Former Cal Poly Pomona baseball student-athlete Cody Ponce made his Major League Baseball debut Sunday as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates, appearing on the mound in the 11th inning against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field in Chicago.  He becomes the 12th former CPP baseball player to appear on a MLB active roster and make his Big League debut.

Ponce, who played for the Broncos from 2013 to 2015, was called up from Pittsburgh's "taxi squad" prior to Sunday's game in Chicago, only to make his debut in extra-innings where he gave up the game-winning single to Cubs second-baseman Javier Baez.
 

From Pirates.com:
The Pirates sent right-hander Cody Ponce to the mound in the 11th inning to make his Major League debut in highly unusual circumstances (due to MLB's new extra-inning rule automatically placing a runner at second base to start an inning). Chicago's Anthony Rizzo led off with a flyout to right fielder Cole Tucker, allowing the automatic runner David Bote to take third base. The Pirates could have intentionally walked Javier Báez, potentially setting up an inning-ending double play, but decided against it. Báez promptly ended the game with a walk-off single to center.

"We did talk through it. Then you're getting to Willson Contreras, and you're also talking about a kid's Major League debut," Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. "The last thing I wanted to do was put more traffic on the bases for (Ponce) and put pressure on him for him to execute pitches."

Ponce was selected in the second round (55th overall) by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2015 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft following his junior season at CPP, making the Upland native the second-highest draft pick in the history of Cal Poly Pomona baseball.  Spending the majority of his minor league career in the Milwaukee farm system, Ponce was traded to the Pittsburgh organization last season and spent time between the Pirates' AA and AAA teams in August.  He was invited to Spring Training and Summer Camp this season before being assigned to Pittsburgh's Alternate Training Site.

In his time at Cal Poly Pomona, the right-handed pitcher ended his junior season in 2015 with a team-leading 1.44 earned run average. Ponce's ERA led the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) as well, despite falling just 0.2 innings short of the minimum number for the conference leaderboard. Through 62.1 innings pitched in 2015, the 6-foot-5 starter racked up a total of 67 strikeouts and allowed just seven extra base hits through 257 batters faced. He also tossed three complete games and averaged 5.2 strikeouts per appearance. Ponce was named to the All-West Region Second Team and the All-CCAA Second Team that season. In his career as a Bronco, Ponce steadily improved and maintained a 2.42 ERA. Through his three years, he tallied 14 wins and 162 strikeouts. He also finished with seven saves, which lands him at No. 2 on the Broncos' all-time save list.
 
Ponce joins former teammate Kyle Garlick on the active roster of a MLB team; Garlick is currently playing for the Philadelphia Phillies.  Another 2015 teammate of Ponce and Garlick, catcher Christian Kelley, is also a current non-roster invitee of the Pittsburgh Pirates, and is active on the Pirates' Alternative Training Site roster (aka "taxi squad").

For a complete list of former CPP baseball players to play at the Major League level, CLICK HERE.