SAN FRANCISCO - Cal Poly Pomona scored in each of the first four frames to go up 6-1 and held off San Francisco State, 6-5, in the finale of a four-game California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) baseball series on Senior Day at Maloney Field on Sunday.

With a win in the last game of its 2023 regular-season schedule, CPP improves to 26-19 overall while completing its CCAA ledger at 18-17. Combined with Chico State's come-from-behind 4-3 victory in 10 innings at Cal State Dominguez Hills, the Broncos have clinched an eighth consecutive CCAA Tournament berth under 13th-year head coach Randy Betten as two-time reigning champions. CPP sits in fifth place in the league table, half a game back of SF State and Cal State East Bay, who both still have four-game sets next week while the Broncos are idle.

San Francisco State falls to 26-18 overall and 19-17 in league play. The Broncos rallied for the series split after the Gators had taken the first two games, 6-4 on Friday and 12-11 to begin Saturday's doubleheader. The Broncos nabbed an 11-1 decision in yesterday's seven-inning nightcap.

For the fourth straight game this weekend, CPP found its way on to the scoreboard in the very first frame. Brent Cota opened with a single before Trent MacKinney took his place on the bases via fielder's choice groundout. MacKinney moved to second on a Nin Burns II groundout, and raced around third to score on Marco Malerba's two-out single.

The Broncos doubled the advantage in the second as Ben Lee reached on an infield error for starters, advanced to second on a hit-by-pitch, to third on a Nick Lugo single, and home on a sacrifice fly by AJ Nimeh.

Cal Poly Pomona answered a two-out solo home run by Michael Cunningham in the second, with Malerba's fifth blast of the season, also solo with one gone and facing a 1-2 count to make it 3-1 in the third.

Following a two-out Nick Upstill single and a walk to Justin Clark in the home third, Bronco starter AJ Moreno registered the key shutdown frame by getting Matt Sugden to fly out.

CPP then put two runners on as well in the fourth through a leadoff hit-by-pitch to Tyler Chaffee and two-out infield Cota single, and got a huge three-run shot to left from MacKinney to gain some much-needed cushion. It was a second home run for the Bronco designated hitter.

SF State got one run back in the sixth and three more in the seventh to pull back to within a single tally. Eric Romo entered a 6-4 game with the bases full and just one out in that seventh. The senior right-hander got Antonio Nanez to fly out on his first offering, with no advance, ahead of an RBI single by Sammy Gonzales. With the bases still loaded, Romo got Daniel Santos swinging to maintain CPP's slim edge.

Romo ultimately threw 2.2 frames of shutout relief to earn his team-best fourth save on the year, three of them now coming in April. The bottom of the eighth began with back-to-back singles, but the veteran closer punched Sugden out trying to bunt them over, before a 6-4-3 twin killing ended that threat.

Again in the ninth there was drama that Romo navigated. Cunningham was plunked with one gone, but after a Nanez flyout, Romo fired to Malerba for the rare walk-off pickoff of the Gator pinch-runner.

MacKinney finished 3-for-5 with the home run, two runs scored and three RBI. Malerba was 2-for-5 with his long ball, one run and two RBI. Cota went 2-for-5 with a run. Moreno gave up a run in his 4.1 innings with a pair of strikeouts, while senior Matt Orozco (2-3) earned the win.

Upstill was 4-for-5 with a run scored for SF State. Starter Jordyn Eglite (2-3) took the loss, allowing all six Bronco runs, five of them earned.

Cal Poly Pomona's seed can and will be anywhere from No. 3 to No. 6. With the Broncos not able to reach a top-two seed, they are assured of playing on the first day of the CCAA Tournament on Wednesday, May 10, on the Cal State Monterey Bay campus in Seaside. CPP's opponent and time of game will be determined pending next weekend's results.

Bronco Bits

• Cal Poly Pomona is 381-238 (.616) overall and 271-177 (.605) in CCAA play under 13th-year head coach Randy Betten.
• CPP is 9-11 away from home in 2023, and 8-2 wearing its green jerseys.
• CPP finished its 2023 CCAA schedule with three series wins, two losses, and four splits.
• Tyler Chaffee's two hit-by-pitches give him a team-best six on the year.
• Eric Romo's save was the 13th of his Bronco career, moving him into sole possession of No. 2 on the program's all-time list, behind only J.J. Franklin's 19 from 2012-15.
• CPP leads 73-41 all-time in this series that dates back to 1972 (35-23 in San Francisco since 1973).
• The Broncos are 32-14 against the Gators in the Betten era (18-9 in San Francisco).
• CPP had swept last year's four-gamer in Pomona by an aggregate score of 32-14 after the teams also split the 2020 set in San Francisco.
• CPP and SF State were among the eight teams reflected in the NCAA's first official West Region poll on Wednesday as being under consideration for one of the six West Regional spots.

 
All home games and most away contests will stream live online via the CCAA Network at www.ccaanetwork.com. You 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. For $9.95 per month, subscribers will have access to all CCAA broadcasts, both live and on-demand, for one low monthly price. Over half of each monthly subscription purchase will go directly back to the CCAA Athletic Department of your choice to support the student-athlete experience. Sign-ups are available right now at each universities' network portal. Just go to CCAAnetwork.com, select your favorite team at the top and the 'click to subscribe.'

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