POMONA - The Cal Poly Pomona baseball team struck first and got solid one-hit pitching through seven innings, but allowed a five-run eighth and fell to the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, 7-1, in its long-awaited, much-anticipated 2022 season opener under Friday night lights at Scolinos Field.

The Broncos (0-1) took to the diamond for the first time in 698 days, and were in the friendly confines for the first time in 705 days, with much of the 2020 season and the entirety of the California Collegiate Athletic Association's (CCAA) 2021 campaign wiped out due to the COVID-19 pandemic. UCCS (1-0) went 30-13 and won its first-ever Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Tournament title en route to qualifying for the 2021 NCAA Division II South Central Regional.

Cal Poly Pomona is the CCAA coaches' preseason favorite, garnering six of the 11 first-place votes. UCCS is picked to finish as runner-up in the nine-team RMAC, with one first-place nod. The Broncos and Mountain Lions were both receiving votes outside of the top 40 in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper preseason poll, released on Dec. 21.

Right-hander Rhys Stevens earned his first Opening Night start on the mound as a second-year Bronco, and struck out the leadoff batter looking en route to a perfect initial frame.

Third baseman Ryon Knowles then kicked off the home half of the first by roping a double into the gap in right center on the second pitch he saw. Johnny Pappas was hit by a pitch, and with one away, UCCS missed a golden opportunity for an inning-ending double play as the shortstop double-clutched on a ground ball by Ricky Nuñez. That enabled fellow newcomer Tyler Chaffee to hit an opposite-field single to right in his first Bronco at-bat and bring in Knowles for the early lead.

Back-to-back one-out walks got Stevens in trouble in the second, and following a third strikeout already, Matt Johnson dropped a two-strike, two-run double just beyond the reach of veteran centerfielder Cesar Lopez toward right center as the Mountain Lions went up, 2-1.

Fifth-year senior Jonathan Cowles and true freshman Brock Weiss, both right-handers, together retired 11 consecutive Bronco hitters from the fourth through the seventh, before UCCS broke things open in the eighth. A one-out walk preceded a mishandled pickoff attempt, and Jaeden Hegmann and Kiichi Sato lifted back-to-back RBI doubles to deep left. Aaron Faragallah singled in Sato, and Brad Madison punctuated the rally with a line-drive, opposite-field home run just over the wall in right.

Stevens (0-1) went 4.2 innings and allowed two runs on one hit and four walks, striking out nine to match his Bronco high. He struck out three in the two-run second, and the side in order in the fourth. Stevens also put together a 1-2-3 third, retiring nine Mountain Lions in a row, all on the infield, between the Johnson double and a two-out walk in the fifth.

Left-hander Zuko Tillman made his Bronco debut in relief, needing three pitches to get a flyout and escape the fifth with two men on. The CSUN transfer then fanned the side in order, all swinging, in the sixth, and in fact retired his first eight batters, including five on strikes, into the eighth. Tillman struck out four straight UCCS hitters at one point.

Knowles wound up 1-for-3 with a double, walk and run scored. Chaffee went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Pappas had a hit-by-pitch and a walk.

Chaffee, Nuñez, Casey Slattery and Nick Lugo, all junior college transfers, started in their Bronco debuts, with true freshman AJ Nimeh serving as the starting designated hitter in his first college appearance. Chris Aguilar, redshirt freshmen Carl Lawson, Jacob Lopez, AJ Moreno and Luke Watson, and true freshmen Dylan Long and Edrian Rangel, saw their first action in the green and gold late. Slattery produced his first hit for CPP, and Moreno and Rangel registered their first strikeouts.

Cowles (1-0) threw 5.0 frames for UCCS and gave up one run on four hits. He walked one, hit one, struck out three, and posted one perfect inning in the fifth. Weiss fired a 1-2-3 sixth with two strikeouts, and got three groundouts in a clean seventh. He walked one with three strikeouts in his 2.2 frames.

Cal Poly Pomona and UCCS continue this four-game non-conference series with a doubleheader on Saturday, Feb. 5. First pitch is set for 12 p.m. at Scolinos Field. The nightcap is scheduled for seven innings. Please click here for CPP Athletics' latest baseball spectator policy.

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.

Bronco Bits: Cal Poly Pomona is 320-201 (.614) under 12th-year head coach Randy Betten ... The Broncos are 9-2 in season openers since Betten took the helm in 2011, with three straight wins prior to tonight, all against UCCS, and the only other loss (4-3) to begin 2017 at home against these same Mountain Lions on Feb. 2, 2017 ... UCCS leads the all-time series, 9-7 (tied 6-6 in Pomona) ... Excluding the 2021 season during which CPP did not compete, these programs have opened the season against each other every year since 2017, to make up the entirety of their all-time series ... The 2017 campaign was the first in charge at UCCS for Dave Hajek, back again this weekend at Scolinos Field as a two-time All-American for the Broncos between 1987-89, and CPP graduate in architecture ... These teams split four games in Pomona in 2020, with all four meetings decided by one or two runs ... Tonight's starters on the mound, Rhys Stevens and Jonathan Cowles, also faced off in the finale of that series, with Cowles tossing a seven-inning complete game in a 3-1 UCCS win ... Playing four times in Colorado Springs, Colo., in 2019, the Mountain Lions took the final three games to win the set, 3-1 ... The Broncos are also 9-2 in home openers since Betten took charge in 2011, with three straight wins before tonight, and the only other loss (4-3) against UCCS on Feb. 2, 2017 ... They are 6-1-2 in season-opening sets under Betten since 2012 ... CPP was 13-8 overall at the time of the pandemic suspension on March 12, 2020, while UCCS was 11-6 ... The Broncos' last game before tonight was a 4-1 loss at San Francisco State on Sunday, March 8, 2020, as they settled for a split of both that day's doubleheader, and the four-game road series ... CPP's last home games at Scolinos Field were the previous Sunday, on March 1, 2020, as it swept a doubleheader over Cal State San Bernardino, 3-1 and 2-0 in seven innings, to clinch a 3-1 split-venue series victory.