POMONA - Cal Poly Pomona swept Cal State East Bay in a California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) baseball doubleheader Saturday at Scolinos Field. The Broncos rallied from deficits of 4-0 and 5-4 to take the first game, 8-5, before edging out a 3-2 decision in the seven-inning nightcap.

Now a winner of a season-best four straight, CPP improves to 12-11 overall and an even 7-7 in the CCAA. Cal State East Bay has lost five in a row and is now 10-11 overall and 3-8 in league play. Combined with Friday night's 12-7 victory, the Broncos have secured a second home series win in succession to begin conference activity.

Cesar Lopez went 6-for-8 with two doubles in each game and drove in seven of his team's 11 runs on the afternoon. The fifth-year senior rightfielder from Downey already has a single-season career high of 11 doubles, and is just one from matching his collegiate best of 26 RBI.

Cal Poly Pomona will go for its first series sweep of 2022 on Sunday, March 20, with first pitch set for 11 a.m. at Scolinos Field.

All CCAA 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, CSUEB 5
Cal Poly Pomona put a runner in scoring position in the first two frames, but could not plate either of them, as junior right-hander Mark Woinarowicz induced a 4-6-3 double play with Broncos at first and second to get out of the second. The Broncos actually produced leadoff singles in each of the first four innings.

East Bay staged a two-out rally in the third against Rhys Stevens with a single and a hit-by-pitch. Manny Garcia then singled to the outfield, but Donovan Bailey was thrown out at home trying to score from second to end the threat.

The visitors used a Bronco miscue and three extra-base hits to strike for the first four runs of a fast-paced game in the fifth. After Francisco Pedraza worked the count full and drew a leadoff walk, Stevens' throwing error put two Pioneers in scoring position. Matthew Mandeville drove them both in with a double to center. Back-to-back one-out triples down the right field line by Essex Brown Jr. and Garcia made it 4-0. First baseman Casey Slattery fired to Johnny Pappas to cut down Garcia at the plate on a fielder's choice grounder.

Woinarowicz finally retired the leadoff man for the first time in the fifth, but on three successive pitches with two gone, CPP loaded the bases on an infield error and singles by Pappas and Ryon Knowles. Cesar Lopez then came up with a clutch three-run double into the gap in right center.

Stevens registered the shutdown inning the hard way in the sixth. A leadoff single preceded a second throwing error in as many frames by the sophomore right-hander to put Pioneers at first and second with nobody out. A right-sided groundout moved both players up a base, and on Stevens' very next toss, Mandeville lined out to shortstop Nick Lugo. Bailey then grounded out to Slattery and kept the deficit at one, 4-3.

With two outs in the home sixth, third-year freshman third baseman Tyler Chaffee provided his second triple in as many games, to the opposite field in right. Slattery, who did not start the contest and was 2-for-16 (.125) with zero RBI in the month of March to that point, rolled a 3-2 pitch through the right side for a game-tying single.

Unfortunately that excitement in overturning a 4-0 deficit was short-lived, as East Bay came right back with the top of its order in the seventh and got a double, hit-by-pitch and single to load the bases with zero outs, ending Stevens' afternoon. AJ Moreno came on and did a spectacular job keeping the Broncos in the game, limiting the damage to a single run through a fielder's choice RBI groundout off the bat of cleanup hitter Matthew O'Mahony, ahead of a 4-6-3 double play.

The home side answered immediately once more, as Knowles pulled a 3-2 offering down the line in right for his first triple in the green and gold, and Cesar Lopez's second double of the contest landed in center to level the score again at 5-5.

CPP returned the favor and took advantage of two Pioneer mistakes in a decisive, three-run eighth. With one away, Chaffee reached on a throwing error by third baseman Luke Novitske and ended up standing on second. He advanced to third on a passed ball, but was thrown out at home by second baseman Garcia on a fielder's choice. What followed was four consecutive two-out singles from the top of the order, beginning with Jacob Lopez to put Broncos at the corners and continuing with RBI knocks by Pappas, Knowles and Cesar Lopez.

East Bay still managed to bring the tying run to the plate in the ninth, but junior closer Eric Romo finally shut the door by getting Novitske to swing through a 1-2 pitch for his third save of 2022. That made a first-time winner of Moreno (1-0), a second-year freshman right-hander who went a season-long 2.0 innings.

Stevens tossed six-plus innings and allowed five runs, four of them earned, on nine hits, two hit-by-pitches and one walk. The Mission Viejo product struck out five. Stevens was perfect in the second with two flyouts following his second punch-out, and again in the fourth through two groundouts and a called third strike.

Cesar Lopez went 4-for-5 with two doubles and five RBI. Pappas and Knowles added three hits, two runs and one RBI apiece. Jacob Lopez was 2-for-5 with two runs. That top of the order thus combined to go a rather remarkable 12-for-19 (.632) with two doubles, a triple, six runs and seven RBI.

Woinarowicz gave up five runs, just two of them earned, on a season-high 13 hits and no walks over 7.0 frames to match his career long. He fanned two. Anthony Perez (0-1) took the tough loss with three unearned runs against him. Brown Jr. was 3-for-4 with a double, triple, two runs and one RBI.

Game Two - CPP 3, CSUEB 2 (7)
Cesar Lopez kept his stellar day going into the nightcap, as his third double of the afternoon was of the two-out, opposite-field variety to the gap in left center with the count full, to drive in Jacob Lopez, who had singled through the left side on Tristin Tatum's first pitch of the contest.

True freshman southpaw Edrian Rangel really had to work for his shutdown frame, as with Pioneers at first and second, Bailey singled up the middle, only for Novitske to get thrown out at the plate by Lugo.

Incredibly, after a bunt single by Pappas with one away in the third, Cesar Lopez did it again, belting a two-out RBI double to the other gap in right center to double the Bronco advantage. Ricky Nuñez followed by driving him in from second with a single to left.

East Bay opened the fourth with an O'Mahony single, Pedraza double and RBI Novitske single in quick succession. Rangel then induced a 3-4 double play and another ground ball to preserve the narrow 3-2 edge.

The Broncos loaded the bases in the fourth and put runners at the corners in the fifth, both with two outs, and got a two-out Pappas double in the sixth, but flyouts ended all three threats to keep it a 3-2 game.

In the seventh, junior right-hander Matt Orozco came on and walked Novitske as the leadoff man, but then got a first-pitch flyout, called third strike and swinging strikeout from the 7-8-9 spots in the Pioneer order to notch his first save in the green and gold.

Rangel (1-3) pitched 4.0 innings and allowed two runs on six hits and one walk to earn his first collegiate win. He had two strikeouts, and one 1-2-3 frame in the third. Drew Atherton took over for a perfect fifth and sixth, on three swinging strikeouts, two ground balls and a flyout.

Cesar Lopez was 2-for-3 with two doubles, one run and two RBI. Pappas and Nuñez each added a pair of hits.

Tatum (0-2), a junior right-hander, went 3.2 frames and gave up three runs on five hits, a hit-by-pitch and two walks.

Bronco Bits: Cal Poly Pomona is 332-211 (.611) overall and 233-155 (.601) in CCAA play under 12th-year head coach Randy Betten ... Second-year freshman designated hitter Jacob Lopez started his third and fourth straight games in the leadoff spot of the batting order ... With singles to lead off both ends of today's twin bill, Jacob Lopez extended his reached-base streak to 21 games and his hit streak to 14, both the longest by a Bronco in 2022 ... The four doubles by Cesar Lopez give him a league-leading 11 on the year ... Cesar Lopez now has a trio of two-double efforts as a collegian, all this year, with the one prior to today coming back on March 4 against Chico State ... The Broncos are 10-5 at home in 2022 ... CPP leads 35-21-1 in a series that is thought to go all the way back to 1965 (18-10-1 in Pomona since 1994) ... The Broncos are 24-14 against the Pioneers under Betten (14-8 in Pomona) ... Prior to Friday night, these teams had last met March 29-31, 2019, splitting a four-gamer in Pomona with CPP winning twice around a Saturday doubleheader sweep by East Bay ... CPP is the preseason favorite in the CCAA, earning six of the 11 first-place votes, with CSUEB in seventh ... Game One: Rhys Stevens earned his sixth mound start of the year and 11th of his career ... Betten's batting lineup was the same for the third game in a row ... Johnny Pappas' first-inning sacrifice hit was his team-best third ... Cesar Lopez's four hits and five RBI both matched single-game career highs ... Tyler Chaffee leads the Broncos with two triples ... CPP produced two triples in back-to-back games ... CPP failed to draw a walk for just the second time this season ... Game Two: Edrian Rangel made his fifth appearance and fourth start ... Pappas' sixth-inning double was his 10th ... Three walks increased the Broncos' CCAA-leading total to 128, with CPP having entered Friday in a three-way tie for 11th nationally.