TURLOCK, Calif. - Will Rudy was lights out once again and fellow underclassman battery mate Johnny Pappas knocked in five runs to lead Cal Poly Pomona over Stanislaus State, 9-0, in the opener of a four-game California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) series at Warrior Baseball Field on Thursday evening.

CPP has now matched its longest win streak of 2022 at five straight, and notched its 20th win of the campaign, improving to 20-14 overall and 15-9 in the CCAA. The Broncos moved up from fifth to fourth in the conference standings. A third consecutive loss has last-place Stanislaus State at 10-24 overall and 8-21 in league play.

CPP was in business early as with one gone in the first, Pappas was hit, Cesar Lopez drew a four-pitch walk, and Ricky Nuñez singled deep to the shortstop hole to load the bases. Reigning CCAA Player of the Week Ryon Knowles bounced out to second to drive Pappas in with the first run of the series, but that was all the Broncos would get.

Rudy uncharacteristically walked the initial batter he faced, just the sixth base on balls he's issued all year, but Pappas promptly fired to Knowles to wipe out Grant Bunker trying to steal second. The third-year freshman right-hander's centerfielder AJ Nimeh also then helped him with the final out, the true freshman sprinting into the gap in left center to rob starting pitcher Trevor McInerney of extra bases.

The Broncos came back and put up a crooked number in their second go-around. Nimeh and Jacob Lopez alternated singles around a pair of swinging strikeouts by McInerney. Pappas then belted a 1-1 offering over the fence in left for his second home run of 2022 and a 4-0 lead.

That was more than enough for the CPP ace. Rudy notched the 1-2-3 shutdown second on a foulout, popout and flyout, was perfect in the third and fourth on eight pitches apiece with his first strikeout, and set Stanislaus State down in order again in the fifth. The Irvine product retired 14 straight Warriors in all after the leadoff walk.

Cal Poly Pomona added to its lead in the sixth, the frame beginning with an infield Tyler Chaffee single, walk to Nimeh, and Casey Slattery sacrifice to bring up the top of the order. With two away, Pappas worked a seven-pitch walk. Cesar Lopez then chopped one that bounded over the leaping second baseman's glove for a two-run single, and in fact got through the rightfielder, as Pappas also came all the way around from first on the error for a 7-0 bulge.

Rudy's flirtation with a no-hitter ended in the sixth, when Casey Carr, who had just committed the error in right and was Rudy's only strikeout victim to that point, sent an opposite-field hit to left that bounced over the fence for a ground-rule double. The home side was unable to capitalize on that leadoff knock, however. Following a groundout, Carr held up at third on Hunter Stonier's single up the middle, and Rudy came up with his second strikeout and a foulout to end the threat.

CPP padded its advantage again in the eighth. Slattery drew his second walk of the contest for openers, and on the next two pitches from reliever Bobby Garcia, pinch-hitter Bryce Wooldridge and Pappas each pulled doubles down the left field line, the latter one making it 9-0.

Rudy (5-1) went 8.0 scoreless innings and allowed just two hits and one walk, striking out a season-low three and earning his team-best fifth win. He posted two more 1-2-3 frames in the seventh and eighth, to give him six on the night. The Woodbridge High School graduate needed just five tosses in the eighth for a swinging strikeout and a pair of groundouts to Slattery and Knowles. He made 87 pitches in the outing.

AJ Moreno took over and got a popout and two swinging strikeouts for a clean ninth. The result marked CPP's CCAA-best fifth shutout of 2022, with Rudy a part of three, and Moreno throwing the ninth behind him in two of those three.

Pappas finished 2-for-3 with a hit-by-pitch, double, home run, two walks, three runs and a career-high five RBI. Cesar Lopez went 1-for-4 with a walk and two RBI, while Nuñez was 2-for-4. Nimeh scored twice.

McInerney (0-5) gave up four runs on five hits, a hit-by-pitch and two walks in 4.0 frames. The junior right-hander fanned a season-high four.

These two teams continue their series with a doubleheader on Friday, April 15. First pitch at Warrior Baseball Field is set for 1 p.m., with approximately a 40-minute break between games. The nightcap is once again scheduled for seven innings.

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 340-214 (.614) overall and 241-157 (.606) in CCAA play under 12th-year head coach Randy Betten ... Betten has guided the Broncos to at least 20 wins now in all 10 of his seasons in charge that were not affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, so excluding 2020 and 2021 ... Will Rudy made his 11th collegiate appearance, with his eight career mound starts all coming this season ... The walk issued by Rudy was his sixth of the season, second to lead off an inning, and first to begin a game, with only one of the six having scored ... Rudy now has an 11.17 strikeout-to-walk ratio, with a league-leading 67 strikeouts against six walks ... Second-year freshman designated hitter Jacob Lopez started his 15th straight game in the leadoff spot ... Johnny Pappas' first-inning hit-by-pitch was his team-best eighth ... Cesar Lopez's first-inning walk extended his reached-base streak to 15 games ... Ricky Nuñez's first-inning infield single extended his hit and reached-base streaks both to 14 games ... With the first-inning caught stealing, Pappas has now thrown out six of 13 would-be base-stealers on the year ... Ryon Knowles' third-inning steal was his fifth on five tries in 2022 ... Tyler Chaffee's single to lead off the sixth advanced his reached-base streak to 15 games ... Casey Slattery's sixth-inning sacrifice hit was his first in the green and gold ... Bryce Wooldridge's eighth-inning double was his first hit of the season ... Slattery walked three times in a game for the third time ... Pappas matched his major college career high of three runs ... Trent MacKinney made his CPP debut as a defensive replacement in center field in the ninth ... Nine more walks increased the Broncos' CCAA-leading total to 191 ... The Broncos are 5-8 away from home in 2022 ... CPP leads the all-time series, 59-34-1, with four straight wins (29-17 in Turlock with four wins in a row) ... The Broncos are 24-10 against the Warriors in the Betten era (12-3 in Turlock) ... CPP was the CCAA's preseason favorite, earning six of the 11 first-place votes, with Stanislaus State picked sixth.