POMONA - Cal Poly Pomona broke things open in the shortened nightcap with an eight-run third and earned the split of a non-conference baseball doubleheader and series with Montana State University Billings at Scolinos Field on Saturday. The Yellowjackets took the day's first game, 7-3, with the seven-inning affair going to the Broncos, 15-1.
With the day's results, CPP moves to 5-3. MSUB, a West Region foe and member of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC), remains even at 4-4 with back-to-back series splits at California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) foes. The teams had split the first two games of the series, with the Broncos dropping a 9-4 decision on Thursday night before posting a 15-8 victory on Friday.
Cal Poly Pomona is idle next weekend, and will return to action on Tuesday, Feb. 22, with a home date against non-conference and area rival Biola University (0-3). The primetime first pitch at Scolinos Field is set for 5 p.m. Please click
here for CPP Athletics' latest baseball spectator policy. The Broncos will then begin the 40-game California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) slate as preseason favorites at local foe Cal State San Bernardino, Feb. 25-27.
All CPP baseball contests throughout this 2022 season are streaming live online via the CCAA Network at
www.ccaanetwork.com. Fans may also download the CCAA Network app on your iOS or Android smartphone, tablet, or through web streaming devices such as Amazon Fire, Roku or Apple TV. The CCAA Network has moved to a subscription-based model at just $9.95 per month. Subscribers have access to all CCAA broadcasts, both live and on-demand.
Game One - MSUB 7, CPP 3
It took three pitches for MSUB to strike first as Carson Green led off the game with an opposite-field double and Hayden Foltz knocked him in with a single to center.
Nick Lugo and
Dylan Long drew back-to-back one-out walks in the second, and with two away,
Luke Watson also worked the count full before pulling a two-run double to left to give his team the 2-1 edge. It was a first career extra-base hit for the second-year freshman infielder.
Following a four-pitch walk to
Johnny Pappas at the top of the order, senior
Ryon Knowles became a fourth Bronco in the frame to see a 3-2 count, before himself walking to fill the bags. San Diego native Jackson Betancourt induced a groundout, however, to prevent further damage.
Green was plunked with one gone in the third, moved to second on a wild pitch and to third on a lineout, but
Scott Armstrong got Ethan Babcock-Barrie to foul out to notch the shutdown inning.
CPP went right back to work in the home third.
Casey Slattery became a fourth player to take a 3-2 toss for ball four, and on Betancourt's next offering,
Ricky Nuñez doubled down the right field line to put both Broncos in scoring position. Lugo's sacrifice fly made it 3-1.
Armstrong's first walk of the season and an infield single started off the fourth, and a Cooper Dulich double and right-sided RBI groundout by Mitch Winter knotted the score at 3-3.
The guests pushed back into the lead in the sixth. A leadoff single brought about CPP's first pitching change of the day, with Dulich and Winter again following with a double and RBI groundout, respectively. A Justin Lutz single made it a 5-3 game.
From there, MSUB reliever Tyler Elliott took over for a 1-2-3 home sixth, all on the infield with one strikeout, and duplicated that effort in the seventh. The senior right-hander set down the first two batters in the eighth on strikes before a Lugo single, but a groundout ended that frame.
Noel Soto, who replaced Armstrong on the mound, ducked around a Green single to lead off the seventh, by striking out the next three MSUB batters swinging.
The 'Jackets tacked on two more runs in the ninth to double their lead, before Elliott was flawless again in the last half with two swinging strikeouts around a flyout. He fanned six over four shutout frames.
Armstrong (0-1) went five-plus innings and allowed four runs on six hits, one walk and a hit-by-pitch. The junior right-hander struck out a season-high seven, including three straight between the first and second frames, and three more in the fifth around a one-out Foltz double. The last six were of the swinging variety. Armstrong was clean in the second and retired seven consecutive Yellowjackets after Foltz's RBI single.
Watson finished 1-for-3 with the double and two RBI.
For MSUB, Betancourt (1-0) gave up three runs on three hits and five walks over 5.0 frames. The freshman left-hander fanned three, and was perfect in the fourth after the 'Jackets had just tied the game.
Dulich wound up 2-for-3 with two doubles, a walk, run and one RBI. Foltz went 3-for-4 with a double, run and RBI. Green was 3-for-4 with a hit-by-pitch, double and two runs. Tyler Godfrey produced a double among three hits, and scored twice with one RBI.
Game Two - CPP 15, MSUB 1 (7)
CPP matched its season high in runs with a season-best 15 hits.
Sophomore right-hander
Rhys Stevens breezed through a 13-pitch first with two swinging strikeouts around a groundout.
CPP loaded the bases in its first turn at the plate through a one-out error, seven-pitch
Jacob Lopez walk and a hit-by-pitch by Slattery on a 1-2 toss. A wild pitch pushed Knowles across with the opening run, and Nuñez's RBI groundout plated Lopez for 2-0. Lugo then produced the Broncos' first hit of the frame, an RBI single through the right side to score Slattery from second.
James Anderson's first home run of 2022 with one gone in the second pulled one of those runs back for the visitors. It was the first long ball of the series for either side.
The fans on hand did not have to wait very much for the second. Watson sent the first pitch he saw from starter Connor Redmond into the gap in left center for a one-out double. That began a string of four straight hits for the Broncos, three of them of the extra-base variety. Pappas produced his league-best seventh two-bagger to the opposite field and down the right field line to score Walton, and came across himself on Knowles' home run to right on a 2-2 pitch. It was the first long ball by a Bronco this year, and Knowles' seventh in the green and gold.
Stevens got back-to-back swinging strikeouts at the top of the order to wiggle out of a shutdown third after a leadoff hit-by-pitch, fielder's choice groundout and balk had advanced a Yellowjacket to second.
CPP then broke the game open with a six-run home third. True freshman
AJ Nimeh started the big frame with his second hit in as many trips, advanced to second on
Carl Lawson's single, and scored on Watson's third double of the day, which chased Redmond. Pappas walked off the new pitcher, ahead of a two-run Knowles single up the middle and two-run Lopez double for an 11-1 bulge.
With the bags full and still no outs, Lugo drew a four-pitch walk to force in a run, and Nimeh and Lawson each provided RBI groundouts. CPP sent 11 men to the plate in its highest-scoring frame thus far on the year.
The Broncos loaded the bases once more in fifth and got an RBI single from Watson.
Stevens (1-1) went 5.0 innings and gave up one run on five hits, no walks and a hit-by-pitch. He struck out a career-high 10, including one to end the fourth with men at second and third. The Mission Viejo native also alternated two singles between three strikeouts in a scoreless fifth.
Eric Romo struck out one over a scoreless two frames of relief.
Knowles went 2-for-5 with the home run, three runs and four RBI. Nimeh wound up 3-for-4 for the first multi-hit game of his college days, with a run and an RBI. Watson was 3-for-3 for his first multi-hit performance, with a walk, two doubles, two runs and two RBI.
Redmond (1-1), a senior right-hander and transfer from Division I Cal Poly, lasted two-plus frames with nine runs, six of them earned, 10 hits, one walk and a hit-by-pitch against him.
Bronco Bits: Cal Poly Pomona is 325-203 (.616) under 12th-year head coach
Randy Betten ... The all-time series is tied, 2-2, as these programs had never met prior to Thursday night ... CPP is the CCAA coaches' preseason favorite, garnering six of the 11 first-place votes ... MSUB is picked to finish fourth in the five-team GNAC ... The Broncos were receiving votes outside of the top 40 in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper preseason poll, released on Dec. 21 ...
Game One: Ryon Knowles was back at second base after missing the first two games of the series …
Dante Palacio started in center field for the first time this season after starting five times in left field and once as the designated hitter ...
Scott Armstrong drew his second start on the mound as a Bronco ... The third-inning double by
Ricky Nuñez was his first extra-base hit for CPP ...
Game Two: Rhys Stevens drew his second mound start of the season and seventh of his CPP career ... Stevens is the second Bronco to notch double-figure strikeouts in 2022 ... Nuñez started in left field for the first time after starting each of the first six games in right ... True freshman
AJ Nimeh started in right field for the first time, with his only previous start coming as the designated hitter in the season opener ... Nimeh's first-inning single was the first hit of his career ... Knowles now has four four-RBI games as a Bronco ... Second-year freshman
Robert Hook entered defensively in left field in the sixth and lined out in his first college at-bat after debuting as a pinch-runner on Friday ... CPP scored in double digits for the second time in 2022, both against the Yellowjackets ... The Broncos' biggest inning this year before the nightcap's third frame, was their six-run first against MSUB on Friday ... CPP pitchers have notched 86 strikeouts through eight games.
