POMONA - The Cal Poly Pomona baseball team scored five times in the first while Will Rudy retired his first 15 batters and faced the minimum over eight near-flawless innings, as the Broncos blanked rival Chico State, 14-0, in their 2022 California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) home opener at Scolinos Field on Friday night.

In snapping a three-game losing streak, CPP improved to an even 7-7 overall and 2-3 in the CCAA. The Broncos remain a perfect 11-0 in CCAA home openers under 12th-year head coach Randy Betten. Chico State fell to 11-3 overall and 4-1 in league play. The Wildcats had come in as winners of seven straight, outscoring opponents 70-20 during the stretch with double-digit runs produced in four of those seven contests.

Rudy (3-0), a third-year freshman right-hander out of Irvine and Woodbridge High School, faced 24 batters in throwing a career-long 8.0 innings of one-hit baseball without a walk. He struck out a career-high 12, with four of them looking, having fanned 10 in his prior start. Rudy unofficially went to a three-ball count only three times, and not again after the leadoff man in the fourth.

The result marked CPP's first shutout against Chico State since a 1-0 seven-inning decision at home back on April 13, 2013. It appears in fact to be the first nine-inning shutout over the Wildcats in program history. Of the only two previous CPP shutouts in the series that dates back to 1991, the 3-0 home win on Feb. 20, 1999, was famously a seven-inning no-hitter by John Heaton to conclude another doubleheader. The 7-0 victory in Chico on May 1, 2004, also capped a twin bill, and thus likely was a seven-inning affair.

On the heels of a 1-2-3 initial frame by Rudy with two strikeouts around a groundout, the Broncos got to Chico State ace Cody Gentry immediately, as they opened with five successive hits.

Johnny Pappas took the second pitch he saw to the opposite field, and Ryon Knowles likewise followed with a single to right as his high fly ball was unable to be negotiated by either the Wildcat second baseman or rightfielder. Ricky Nuñez then rolled an RBI single through the left side and it was 1-0. Jacob Lopez shot his single back up the middle to load the bases, and that caused an early mound visit for the guests.

It didn't work, as Cesar Lopez jumped on the very first offering of his at-bat and roped a bases-clearing double into the gap in right center. The elder Lopez moved to third as Gentry finally registered his first out via right-sided ground ball, and scored when second baseman Jeffrey Ray failed to handle Tyler Chaffee's bouncer up the middle.

Rudy came right back and punched out the side in order during a shutdown second.

A one-out, opposite-field Knowles double and walk to Nuñez in the second preceded back-to-back lineouts as Gentry escaped the jam.

Rudy remained perfect through the third, getting help from Casey Slattery for the first out of the inning as the first baseman expertly picked up the tough short hop from Chaffee at third base.

Bronco shortstop Nick Lugo led off the third by dropping a double into left center that Chico State centerfielder Grady Morgan completely lost in the lights, and Chaffee deposited a 2-0 pitch over the left field wall for his first major college home run. Luke Watson would then single and later score on one of three Wildcat infield errors.

Rudy continued to make light work of the imposing Chico State lineup, with an infield pop-up and two swinging strikeouts in the fourth. He set the Wildcats down in order again in the fifth through a flyout and two groundouts to Chaffee.

Nuñez belted his team-best fourth home run of 2022 with one gone in the fifth, a first-pitch shot to left to make it 9-0.

Rudy's perfect game bid was finally ended to begin the sixth, as catcher Jarret Lindsay found the hole between third base and shortstop for an infield single. The hard-hit ball narrowly evaded a diving Chaffee. Lugo actually got to it and picked it up, but had no play at first. Rudy was unfazed, notching his ninth strikeout before getting reigning CCAA Player of the Week Kyle Dobson to ground into a 6-4-3 double play.

CPP tacked on three more runs in the seventh as one-out walks to Nuñez and Jacob Lopez were followed by a two-run, opposite-field double to left by Cesar Lopez. The senior wound up at third on the throw home, and trotted across moments later on a balk.

Two final runs came in the eighth off the bat of Knowles. After Pappas worked the count full and drew a two-out walk, Knowles blasted a 3-1 pitch out to right and into the Pomona night for his second home run.

Three strikeouts, two groundouts and a routine flyout got Rudy through the seventh and eighth, with AJ Moreno taking over for the ninth. Some unexpected drama actually found its way into the finish, as it took a pretty remarkable sequence for the Broncos to preserve their first shutout of 2022. With Wildcats at first and second and two gone, Willie Lajoie bounced one softly toward the hole to the left of Knowles. The second baseman's throw never had a chance as Lajoie notched the infield single, but the toss was wide of Slattery. Just-inserted catcher Dylan Long was backing up the play down the first base line, however, and calmly picked it up and threw to Moreno for the swipe tag on Nathan Meredith trying to come all the way around from second.

Cesar Lopez finished 2-for-5 with two doubles, two runs and a career-high five RBI. Knowles went 3-for-6 with a double, home run, two runs and two RBI. Nuñez was 2-for-3 with two walks, a home run, two runs and two RBI. Chaffee had the home run and a season-high three RBI. Pappas likewise went 1-for-4, while walking twice and scoring twice.

Gentry (3-1) gave up eight runs on nine hits and four walks over 3.2 frames. The sophomore left-hander struck out three.

Cal Poly Pomona and Chico State continue this four-game weekend set with a doubleheader on Saturday, March 5. First pitch from Scolinos Field is at 12 p.m., with about a 40-minute break between the first game and the seven-inning nightcap.

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.

Bronco Bits: Cal Poly Pomona is 327-207 (.612) overall and 228-151 (.602) in CCAA play under 12th-year head coach Randy Betten ... Will Rudy made his sixth collegiate appearance and third start on the mound ... Rudy turned in the fourth individual double-digit strikeout performance by a Bronco arm already this season, with two by him and one each by Noel Soto and Rhys Stevens ... Rudy's 12 strikeouts were the most by a Bronco this year, and most since Peter Bayer fanned 14 on June 1, 2016, against Central Missouri in Cary, N.C. ... Cesar Lopez's first collegiate two-double effort gives him five for 2022, with eight RBI in his last two games ... Ryon Knowles' second-inning double was his third of 2022, and his eighth-inning home run was his eighth in the green and gold ... Nick Lugo's third-inning double was his fourth ... Tyler Chaffee's third-inning home run marked his first extra-base hit for CPP ... The Broncos' three home runs were a season high ... CPP hit multiple home runs for the second time this year, now coming in back-to-back contests ... The Broncos scored in double figures for the fifth time this season ... Chico State allowed double-digit runs for the first time this year ... Seven more walks increased the Broncos' CCAA-leading total to 97, with CPP having started the day sixth nationally ... Chico State leads the all-time series, 64-42 ... Tonight's game was the first meeting between these teams in nearly three years, since they had not yet played each other in 2020 when that campaign was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic ... The last matchup in this series also went to CPP, 17-4, on the second day of the CCAA Tournament in Stockton on May 9, 2019, en route to the Broncos' second tourney banner ... The teams split their last two four-game sets in 2018 (Pomona) and 2019 (Chico), and prior to tonight, had split their previous 20 matchups right down the middle, 10-10 ... They have met at least once in the postseason for four straight years (2016-19) ... The Broncos are 20-22 against the Wildcats under Betten (10-10 in Pomona) ... CPP is the preseason favorite in the CCAA, earning six of the 11 first-place votes, with Chico State right behind in second with two first-place nods.