POMONA - Noel Soto fired a nine-inning shutout in game one and
Ryon Knowles provided a two-run, walk-off single in the nightcap as Cal Poly Pomona swept a California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) baseball doubleheader from San Francisco State University at Scolinos Field on Saturday. Scores were 6-0 and 6-5 in seven frames.
The dramatic day's results move CPP to 18-14 overall and 13-9 in the CCAA. San Francisco State is now 14-21 overall and 9-18 in league play. With the Broncos having also rallied for a 9-4 victory in Friday's opener, Saturday's sweep clinches their third CCAA series victory.
Soto, a second-year transfer out of Long Beach City College in his first on-the-field season in the green and gold, allowed just three singles and a walk while striking out six. Only one Gator made it to second base, that in the ninth through a one-out single and right-sided groundout, but a flyout capped the sophomore right-hander's 110-pitch masterpiece.
The seventh inning of the nightcap began with back-to-back walks to
Johnny Pappas and
Cesar Lopez as new Gator arm Austin Moberg came on and threw eight straight balls. After fouling off the first pitch of his at-bat,
Ricky Nuñez himself took four tosses outside the zone to load the bases still with nobody out. Moberg was yanked in favor of Jack Reitsma to face the veteran Knowles, who took a first-pitch strike and then walked it off with a two-run single right back up the box.
This set concludes with a single getaway-day finale on Sunday, April 10, as Cal Poly Pomona will look for its second series sweep of 2022. First pitch at Scolinos Field has been moved back an hour from the originally-published time of 11 a.m., to 12 p.m.
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 6, SFSU 0
Knowles worked the count full and drew a walk to begin the home second and moved to third on
Tyler Chaffee's fourth double of the season down the left field line with one away. Both Broncos scored as Gator first baseman AJ Schrader was unable to glove a hot shot by
AJ Nimeh, who was credited with one RBI.
Soto induced a pair of flyouts to Nimeh around his first strikeout of the contest to notch the shutdown frame in the third, with the true freshman centerfielder diving toward the gap in left center for the latter grab.
CPP extended its advantage in the third through back-to-back doubles, both also into the gap in left center, by
Cesar Lopez and Nuñez within a span of three pitches from SFSU starter Gary Grosjean. Chaffee then ripped an RBI single through the left side to force a mound visit.
Soto breezed through a second straight shutdown inning, all on the infield with his second punch-out between a foulout and groundout.
Nuñez's team-best sixth home run, a solo shot to left on a 2-2 pitch with one away, made it 5-0 in the fifth.
CPP added an unearned insurance run in the eighth. Knowles led off with a single and advanced to third as new pitcher Theo Dopkins was awry with his throw to first on
Nick Lugo's sacrifice bunt. After a one-out walk to Nimeh loaded the bases,
Casey Slattery beat out the shortstop's relay to register the RBI fielder's choice groundout for 6-0.
The 9.0 innings was a new season high for Soto (3-0), as he had gone seven frames twice over his previous three outings. The Lakewood product earned his third winning decision in as many starts. Apart from posting a 1-2-3 first, third, fourth, fifth and eighth, he ducked around a leadoff single in the second. Soto retired 13 consecutive Gators between that single and a one-out walk in the sixth. He needed just five pitches to get a flyout, strikeout looking and groundout in the eighth.
Soto's was the first complete game of any kind for a CPP hurler in 2022, and the first since current teammate
Rhys Stevens' seven-inning shutout over visiting Cal State San Bernardino on March 1, 2020. Saturday marked the first nine-inning complete game by a Bronco since Austin Isenhart went the distance at home against Stanislaus State on April 13, 2019, and the first nine-inning shutout since Tim Holdgrafer no-hit then-14th-ranked UC San Diego under Friday night lights at Scolinos Field earlier that same season on Feb. 22, 2019.
Cesar Lopez finished 3-for-4 with a double and run. Chaffee was 2-for-3 with a double, run scored and RBI. Nuñez went 2-for-4 with a double, home run, two runs and two RBI. Knowles walked twice and singled in four trips, scoring two. All eight Bronco hits came from that quartet.
Grosjean (4-3) gave up five runs, four of them earned, on six hits and two walks over 6.0 frames. The redshirt sophomore right-hander struck out two and was perfect in the fourth and sixth.
Game Two - CPP 6, SFSU 5 (7)
The shortened nightcap got off to a bit of a rocky start as fifth-year junior right-hander
Drew Atherton hit the first two SF State batters before handling Nick Upstill's sacrifice bunt on back-to-back-to-back pitches. After a strikeout, the visitors scored for the first time on the day when Richie Rios dumped a two-out, two-run single into center field.
The home first opened with
Jacob Lopez pulling a single through the left side.
Cesar Lopez drew a one-out, five-pitch walk, but Nuñez grounded into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.
A hit-by-pitch to Knowles and single by Lugo began the CPP second, with each taking an extra base into scoring position. Chaffee promptly picked up both of his teammates by grounding a 3-1 offering through the left side for a game-tying, two-run single. It looked like that might be all for the Broncos after a Nimeh single, as Chaffee was picked off of second and Slattery struck out as Nimeh swiped second, but back to the top of the order,
Jacob Lopez had other ideas. Down 1-2 in the count, the Montclair native provided a go-ahead RBI double inside the left field line and past the diving Rios at third base.
Two groundouts and a swinging strikeout gave Atherton and the Broncos a key shutdown third. Chaffee made a difficult play for the first out, charging and barehanding a slow dribbler down the third base line by Upstill and throwing accurately across the diamond to Slattery.
Atherton found some trouble in the fourth through a leadoff single and his first base on balls around a sacrifice bunt and flyout to Nimeh. Following a mound visit, leadoff man Sammy Gonzales dropped an RBI single into right center and moved to second with the go-ahead run also coming around on a fielding error. Two pitches later, Daniel Santos pushed another RBI single just past the diving Lugo and through the left side to plate Gonzales and restore SFSU's two-run lead at 5-3.
Cal Poly Pomona threatened to get some or all of that back in the home half with a Slattery single and
Jacob Lopez walk both coming with two away, but a fielder's choice groundout got SF State out of it.
Similarly in the fifth, SFSU got a pair of two-out singles to put men at the corners. The Gators attempted a double steal, but Pappas, who caught all 16 innings on the long, hot day, expertly pump-faked to second and fired to Chaffee to catch Schrader off third to end the frame.
That zero on the scoreboard proved to be critical, as the home side came right back with consecutive one-out singles by Nuñez and Knowles, and halved the deficit as the relay on Lugo's sharp fielder's choice grounder evaded Schrader at first base and allowed Nuñez to score for 5-4.
Connor Tousignant (4-1) turned in a 1-2-3 sixth, getting help from his shortstop for the second out as Lugo dove into the hole and threw out Matthew Farren. The junior right-hander was also flawless in the seventh, and completed three scoreless frames to earn his fourth win.
Atherton drew his second consecutive start after four relief stints began his campaign. He surrendered five runs, four of them earned, on six hits, two hit-by-pitches and one walk over 4.0 innings, striking out two.
Knowles wound up 2-for-3 with a run and two RBI.
Jacob Lopez also went 2-for-3, with a walk, double and RBI. Chaffee was 1-for-3 with two RBI. Pappas and
Cesar Lopez each walked twice and scored once.
The walk-off triumph was CPP's third of the season, and first since the final two games of its opening series with UCCS on Feb. 5-6.
For SFSU, Tyler Franks lasted just 1.2 frames and gave up three runs on five hits, a hit-by-pitch and two walks. The fifth-year sophomore right-hander fanned two. Mario Vargas threw a season-high 2.1 innings of strong relief, retiring the first six Broncos he faced. Moberg (0-4) took the loss. Schrader was 3-for-3 with a run.
Bronco Bits: Cal Poly Pomona is 338-214 (.612) overall and 239-157 (.604) in CCAA play under 12th-year head coach
Randy Betten ... Second-year freshman designated hitter
Jacob Lopez started his 12th and 13th straight games in the leadoff spot ... In fact, Betten posted the same batting lineup for the third and fourth contests in a row, with sophomore
Johnny Pappas beginning both ends of a doubleheader behind the plate for the first time ... Nine more walks on the day increased the Broncos' CCAA-leading total to 179 ... CPP has now swept three doubleheaders this year, all at home ... The Broncos are 14-6 at home in 2022 ... CPP leads 70-39 all-time in this series that dates back to 1972 (36-17 in Pomona since 1973) ... The Broncos are 29-12 against the Gators in the Betten era (13-5 in Pomona) ... The teams last split four games in San Francisco, March 6-8, 2020, just prior to the COVID-19 suspension, with the Gators taking the opener and finale ... CPP was the CCAA's preseason favorite, earning six of the 11 first-place votes, with SFSU picked fifth ...
Game One: Noel Soto drew his seventh appearance and sixth start on the mound ... Soto had previously combined with two relievers on a 13-0 shutout to open the March 26 doubleheader at Sonoma State ...
Cesar Lopez and
Tyler Chaffee each extended reached-base streaks to 12 games with hits over the first two frames ...
Cesar Lopez's third-inning double was his league-leading 16th of the season, adding to his single-season career high as the fifth-year senior entered the weekend in a 12-way tie for third in Division II ...
Ricky Nuñez's ninth double in the third extended his hit and reached-base streaks both to 11 games ... Nuñez's fifth-inning home run was his first since March 5 ...
Nick Lugo's eighth-inning sacrifice bunt was his second ... It was the Broncos' fourth shutout of 2022 ...
Game Two: Drew Atherton had made 11 starts among 20 appearances prior to this season ...
Cesar Lopez's first-inning walk and Chaffee's second-inning single extended their reached-base streaks to 13 ... The second-inning hit-by-pitch was Knowles' fifth this year ...
AJ Nimeh's second-inning steal was his second on three tries ...
Jacob Lopez's second-inning double was his fifth ... Pappas' two walks give him a league-best 29 ... Nuñez's fifth-inning single advanced his hit and reached-base streaks to 12.
