POMONA - Cal Poly Pomona got a four-run second and survived a major late threat in game one, and then rallied for a walk-off triumph in the nightcap, to sweep a non-conference baseball doubleheader over the University of Colorado Colorado Springs at Scolinos Field on Saturday. The score of both games was 8-7 over nine innings.

With the sweep of the twin bill, the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) favorite Broncos move to 2-1. UCCS (1-2), located in Colorado Springs, Colo., is the reigning first-time Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Tournament champion.

In the nightcap that was scheduled for seven frames, senior centerfielder Cesar Lopez squeezed an opposite-field double inside the left field line on a 2-1 pitch to begin the home ninth, and moved to third on Carl Lawson's flyout, his slide narrowly beating the throw. After UCCS intentionally walked both Tyler Chaffee and Casey Slattery to set up a force at each base, a third Bronco newcomer, Nick Lugo, drilled a 2-0 pitch into the open space in center to send pinch-runner Luke Watson in from third for CPP's first walk-off victory of the campaign.

Cal Poly Pomona needed a five-run sixth to wipe out a 7-2 deficit and extend that game.

Right-hander Will Rudy fired six strong innings with eight strikeouts in his first collegiate starting assignment to begin the afternoon.

Bronco hitters worked 21 walks on the day, with 10 in the first game and 11 in the second.

Cal Poly Pomona will look for the season-opening series win as the Broncos and UCCS conclude this four-game non-conference set with a single finale on Sunday, Feb. 6. First pitch at Scolinos Field comes at 12 p.m. 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.

Game One - CPP 8, UCCS 7
Cal Poly Pomona's four-run second began with four-pitch walks to Chaffee and Slattery. Jacob Lopez and Lugo followed with RBI singles on successive pitches, with Lopez scoring on a double-play ground ball. Cesar Lopez rounded it out with a two-out RBI single to plate Lugo.

Rudy (1-0) struck out a pair to complete a 1-2-3 first and then ducked around a leadoff single in the second thanks to an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play. He went on to post career bests of 6.0 frames pitched and eight strikeouts for his first college win. The Irvine native allowed one run on four hits and a hit-by-pitch, without a walk. Rudy got a called third strike with runners at the corners to get out of the third after a two-out rally led to the first UCCS run on a Walker Rumsey single. He produced a second perfect inning in the fifth.

The Broncos answered the third-inning Mountain Lion tally with one of their own in the fifth. Just when it looked like they may squander a leadoff double by Cesar Lopez, Slattery provided the clutch two-out RBI single by pulling a 1-2 pitch through the right side.

Upon the second time of asking, Rudy registered the shutdown frame in the sixth, getting a flyout, strikeout and groundout after a leadoff single.

CPP added a sixth run in the home sixth on Ryon Knowles' second double in as many games to begin the year, after Lugo had walked to lead off and moved to third with one away. Two more scores came in the seventh as Chaffee came across on wild pitch after a one-out infield single, steal and error, and Jacob Lopez drove in Slattery with a single.

The Broncos would need all three.

UCCS got closer in the eighth on a two-run Aaron Faragallah single, and injected considerable drama into the proceedings through an RBI double by Kiichi Sato and another two-run Faragallah single in the ninth, both with two away and the latter on an 0-2 offering.

That action necessitated a call to Eric Romo out of the bullpen. The right-handed closer allowed a single to Brad Madison and with UCCS down to its last strike for the second time, an RBI double to Caleb Stubbings, but then blew three pitches past Henry Ryan, the last one a called low strike, to notch his first save of the season and third in the green and gold. It was a fourth strikeout for Ryan, three of them looking.

Cesar Lopez finished 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI. Knowles went 1-for-2 with three walks, a double, one RBI and his first steal of 2022. Slattery reached base all four times, going 1-for-1 with three walks, two runs and an RBI. Jacob Lopez wound up 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run. Lugo was 1-for-3 with a walk, two runs and an RBI. Chaffee went 1-for-3 with a walk, two runs, and his first steal as a Bronco.

For UCCS, senior left-hander Brian Marquez (0-1) gave up four runs, all earned, on three hits and seven walks over 4.0 frames, striking out none.

Game Two - CPP 8, UCCS 7 (9)
Junior right-hander Scott Armstrong, who spent the past three seasons at Saddleback College, drew the mound start in his CPP debut and needed three tosses to get Rumsey swinging to open the game. He bookended a second strikeout around a groundout and Sato single.

Right away in the home half, the Broncos played some great situational baseball, as Knowles singled to right, swiped second for his second steal on the day, took third on Johnny Pappas' sacrifice, and trotted home on a sacrifice fly to center by Cesar Lopez.

Four pitches into the second, there were Mountain Lions at the corners, and Stubbings followed with a first-pitch, game-tying double off the base of the wall in left. An RBI groundout gave UCCS its first lead of the day, and redshirt freshman Kasey Campbell rolled an RBI single through the right side in his first collegiate at-bat from the bottom of the order to make it 3-1.

Pappas glided into the gap from his left field position to snare a hard-hit ball on the first pitch of the third, but the guests came up with a sharp single and RBI Madison double from there to pad their advantage.

Dante Palacio and Knowles drew back-to-back six-pitch walks with one gone in the home third, but were left stranded by two flyouts to center. The Broncos walked twice again in the fourth, but once more, UCCS wriggled out of a precarious spot to preserve its three-run cushion.

CPP went the manufacturing route again in the fifth, with another six-pitch Palacio walk preceding a two-strike Knowles single, second Pappas bunt, and second sacrifice fly by Cesar Lopez.

UCCS looked to have wrapped things up through a three-run seventh, as Matt Johnson's two-out RBI single preceded a two-run bomb by Campbell for his first college home run.

That was far from the reality, however, as the Broncos immediately loaded the bases on a Chaffee single and walks to Slattery and Lugo to begin the home sixth. Successive one-out walks around a pitching change, to Palacio and Knowles, forced in Chaffee and Slattery and cut the deficit to 7-4. Pappas then came through by dribbling a two-run single through the left side, and the Mountain Lion leftfielder flat-out dropped Cesar Lopez's fly ball in left to load the bases again. Ricky Nuñez lifted an easy fly ball to center to bring in Knowles for 7-7.

Lawson, a redshirt freshman who had just taken over in right field to start the seventh, made a tough grab running toward the line to end that half with a man at second to keep the score level. A 1-2-3 home half put the Broncos in extra innings for the first time in 2022.

Facing a go-ahead runner at second for the second consecutive frame following a leadoff Ryan single, fifth-year Bronco right-hander Drew Atherton got Luis Samorano swinging to end the top of the eighth. CPP was unable to muster anything in that frame, either.

Right-hander Connor Tousignant (1-0) took over for Atherton for his season debut and coolly struck out the side in order in the ninth, the last two looking. The walk-off finish made him the winner.

Armstrong went 5.2 innings and allowed six runs on eight hits, no walks and a hit-by-pitch, striking out four. He was perfect in the fourth and fifth, retiring eight straight hitters after the Madison double.

Knowles was 2-for-3 with two walks, two runs, one RBI and a stolen base. Lopez and Pappas each went 1-for-3 with two RBI. Palacio and Slattery walked three times each, and Palacio scored twice.

Dylan Grierson, like Armstrong a 6-foot-5 right-hander, gave up one run on one hit and four walks over 4.0 frames for UCCS. He struck out four, including a pair during a 1-2-3 second, and settled for no decision. Jon Sotto (0-1) was saddled with the loss.

Bronco Bits: Cal Poly Pomona is 322-201 (.616) under 12th-year head coach Randy Betten ... The all-time series is now tied, 9-9 (CPP leads 8-6 in Pomona) ... Excluding 2021 when 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 at Scolinos Field this weekend 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 ... In Colorado Springs, Colo., in 2019, the Mountain Lions took the final three games to win the set, 3-1 ... CPP 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 ... Game One: First-time starter Will Rudy made his fourth career mound appearance after three short relief stints in 2020, when he fanned one over 3.1 frames ... Second-year freshman Jacob Lopez drew his first collegiate start as the designated hitter ... The second-inning hits, RBI and runs for Jacob Lopez and Nick Lugo were their first as Broncos ... Transfer left-hander Drew D'Ambra made his Bronco debut in relief of Rudy to begin the seventh ... Junior college transfer Andy Hurtado made his CPP debut to begin the eighth ... Game Two: True freshman Dylan Long drew his first collegiate start behind the plate, with Johnny Pappas, who had begun the first two contests there, moving to left field ... Ryon Knowles and Tyler Chaffee swapped positions and started at second and third base, respectively ... Pappas had his two sacrifices after leading the CCAA in that category in 2020 with six ... The game-tying RBI by Ricky Nuñez was his first as a Bronco ... Connor Tousignant's three strikeouts are his new high as a Bronco ... Second-year freshman Luke Watson's walk-off score was the first run of his college career.