POMONA - The Cal Poly Pomona baseball team received another stellar mound effort from ace Will Rudy and scored five in the seventh to break open a two-run game and down Cal State San Marcos, 9-2, in the opener of a four-game California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) series Friday night at Scolinos Field.

With a fifth straight home win, third-place CPP improves to 23-15 overall and 18-10 in the CCAA. A fourth consecutive loss drops Cal State San Marcos to 13-26 overall and 9-20 in conference play.

In the home second, Ryon Knowles led off with a single to right and sophomore shortstop Nick Lugo battled back from down 1-2 to work the count full and draw a walk. Tyler Chaffee's perfect bunt then went for a single to load the bases without even a throw from Cougar ace Garrett Apker. AJ Nimeh lined out to a diving Aiden Richert in right for his first sacrifice fly and an early 1-0 Bronco edge. Casey Slattery's single through the right side on an 0-2 pitch plated Lugo from third for 2-0.

Rudy, named Monday as the CCAA Pitcher of the Week for a third time and the league's strikeout leader heading in, registered his first punch-out of the evening in the middle of his first 1-2-3 effort, a shutdown frame in the third right after the two-run CPP rally. His fifth-year senior right fielder, Cesar Lopez, denied Emilio Luna an opposite-field knock to begin the inning with a diving catch in right center.

The fourth began with a Luke Reece single and a sacrifice before Rudy struck out Pat MacDonald Jr. The Bronco defense which was stellar all night, then helped him get out of the inning. Kevin Van Linge's slow roller to shortstop went into the scorebook as an infield single, but Lugo alertly threw behind Reece rounding third to Chaffee for the final out.

Cal State San Marcos halved the deficit with a key two-out hit in the sixth, as Griffin Teisher led off with a single, moved to second on a one-out groundout, and scored on MacDonald's single through the right side.

CPP got that tally right back in the home half, quickly loading the bases through a four-pitch Lugo walk, one-out Nimeh single and a Slattery hit-by-pitch. Back at the top of the order, Jacob Lopez took a 3-2 toss outside the zone to force in Lugo and end Apker's night. The Broncos then padded their advantage as Johnny Pappas lined out for a sacrifice fly on the first pitch from reliever Connor Gleissner.

CPP went to the bullpen to start the seventh, and another two-out RBI single, this one from Teisher, made it a 4-2 game. Matt Orozco got Reece to pop up to Knowles with Cougars at the corners.

The Broncos were no longer sweating things out following the home half. Knowles' one-out, opposite-field single to left center preceded a balk and RBI single from Lugo. Chaffee then doubled into the left field corner, and Lugo sprinted across on a wild pitch. Back-to-back five-pitch walks filled the bags as CSUSM went to the bullpen a second time. Two runs scored on Jacob Lopez's ensuing RBI single thanks to a Cougar throwing error, and Pappas' second sacrifice fly in as many innings capped the scoring.

Rudy (6-1) went 6.0 innings and allowed one run on seven hits and a walk. The third-year freshman right-hander struck out five. He worked through a one-out walk and single in the first by inducing an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play. AJ Moreno and Andy Hurtado tossed a scoreless eighth and ninth, respectively, after Orozco.

Lugo wound up 2-for-3 with a season-high three runs, two walks and an RBI. Knowles was 2-for 4 with a walk and two runs scored, while Chaffee went 2-for-4 with a double, walk and run. Jacob Lopez and Pappas each provided a single and two RBI, and Nimeh scored twice.

Leftfielder Ricky Nuñez made a nice grab for the second out in the second, diving toward the left center gap to rob Mark Stanford of a hit.

Apker (4-2), a fifth-year junior right-hander, gave up four runs on seven hits, a hit-by-pitch and five walks in 5.1 frames. The Cougars' leader in wins, innings and strikeouts fanned three.

Rudy and Apker came into the contest 1-2 in the CCAA in strikeouts, and now have 72 and 68, respectively.

Richert was 3-for-3 with a walk and a run. Teisher went 2-for-5 with a run and RBI, and MacDonald Jr. had two singles and the other RBI.

CPP and CSUSM resume their weekend series with a noon doubleheader on Saturday, April 23, at Scolinos Field. There will be about a 40-minute break between games, with the nightcap set 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 343-215 (.615) overall and 244-158 (.607) in CCAA play under 12th-year head coach Randy Betten ... Will Rudy made his 12th collegiate appearance, with his nine career mound starts all coming this season ... The walk issued by Rudy in the first was his seventh of the season, with only one of them having scored ... For the second consecutive outing, Rudy walked one in the first, and not another ... Rudy has gone at least 5.2 frames in all nine of his starts now in 2022, and allowed no more than one walk in any of his outings ... Rudy's strikeout-to-walk ratio went down to 10.29, with 72 strikeouts against seven walks ... Rudy's strikeout-to-walk ratio of 11.17 at the start of the day was fourth in all of Division II ... Second-year freshman designated hitter Jacob Lopez started his 19th straight game in the leadoff spot ... Catcher Johnny Pappas threw out his eighth would-be base-stealer in 18 tries to end the second ... Cesar Lopez's first-inning single extended his current team-best reached-base streak to 19 games ... Ryon Knowles' leadoff single in the second gave him his first double-digit hit streak of 2022, now at 10 games, with his reached-base streak also moving to 10 ... Pappas' two sacrifice flies give him three on the year ... Tyler Chaffee's seventh-inning double was his fifth ... Nine more walks increased the Broncos' CCAA-leading total to 213 ... The Broncos are 16-6 at home and 8-1 in Rudy starts in 2022 ... CPP is 15-2 against CSUSM, all since 2016 and under Betten, with four straight wins ... The Broncos remain perfect in Pomona against the Cougars at 9-0 ... CPP was the CCAA's preseason favorite, earning six of the 11 first-place votes, with CSUSM picked 11th.