TOURNAMENT CENTRAL | PHOTOS
SEASIDE, Calif. - Cal Poly Pomona led 4-0 early and 6-5 late but was unable to hold on against No. 2 seed Cal State San Bernardino, falling 10-6 in 10 innings on day two of the 2023 California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Baseball Tournament at top-seeded first-time host Cal State Monterey Bay's Otter Sports Complex on Thursday.
No. 3 seed CPP, which had won three straight coming in, falls to 27-20 overall. CSUSB, ranked as high as No. 21 in the national polls, extends its program standard for single-season wins, now at 36-15. The Broncos had taken three out of four at home against the then-sixth-ranked Yotes, March 25-27.
CPP has to turn right around and face No. 4 seed Stanislaus State in an elimination game that has an approximate start time of 5:30 p.m. CSUSB advances into the winner's bracket of the four-team, double-elimination tournament on Friday, May 12, against the regular-season champion Otters at noon. CSUMB broke open a close game with a five-run seventh and downed the Warriors earlier Thursday, 9-3.
The game featured a strong mound matchup between a pair of All-CCAA First Team right-handers in fourth-junior junior
Rhys Stevens of CPP and fifth-year senior Austyn Coleman of CSUSB.
As the lower-seeded designated visitors, the Broncos threatened in the first but were unable to capitalize.
Trent MacKinney's eighth double came with one away, and
Nin Burns II knocked a single off of Coleman and swiped his team-leading 13th bag in 13 tries. The Yote ace rallied to get a foulout and groundout to strand the two runners in scoring position.
Jason Shedlock worked a nine-pitch walk off of Stevens for starters, but after two popouts, Burns II made a sliding catch to end the home first.
CPP then did jump on the scoreboard in the span of three pitches in the second as
Darius Price pulled a 2-1 toss into left center for his fifth double to lead off, and
Tyler Chaffee and
Nick Lugo followed with back-to-back singles to make it a 1-0 game.
AJ Nimeh's sacrifice fly doubled the lead, and after
Brent Cota singled on an 0-2 pitch and stole second, MacKinney's RBI groundout allowed Lugo to come home.
With two gone in the third via strikeout, Price added to the advantage with his fifth home run of 2023, hammered over the left field wall.
The Yotes notched their first hit of the afternoon in the fourth, a one-out single chopped through the right side by Danny Garcia after Daryl Ruiz had worked a six-pitch leadoff walk. Stevens induced a fielder's choice ground ball and a deep flyout to Nimeh in right to keep it a 4-0 cushion.
The lead lessened in the very next frame when Derek Bogh belted an 0-2 pitch off the wall in center for a one-out double, moved to third on a Shedlock blooper, and scored on DeShawn Johnson's sacrifice fly.
The Yotes were in business again in the sixth as Giovanni Del Negro laced a first-pitch single through the left side ahead of a second hit-by-pitch and second balk in the game by Stevens, both with one out, to move both runners into scoring position. After a mound visit, Ben Davidson sent a 2-2 offering into center for a two-run single and 4-3.
It looked like the Broncos would need more runs against the high-powered Yotes, and thanks to their veteran catcher, they got one right back in the seventh. MacKinney drew a leadoff four-pitch walk and moved to second on
Marco Malerba's one-out right-sided groundout.
Johnny Pappas then came through in the clutch by roping a 2-1 pitch to deep center just over Bogh's glove for an RBI double and 5-3.
Shedlock drew a six-pitch walk off new Bronco arm
Matt Orozco to begin the home seventh. Chaffee made a diving stop to his left to cut the lead Yote down on the fielder's choice. Then Pappas struck again, firing to his shortstop Lugo to cut down Johnson, and just in time, as the next batter, Ruiz, lifted a team-best 13th home run to right to close the gap back to just one. Johnson had swiped 11 bases on 13 prior attempts.
Unfortunately for Cal Poly Pomona, the inning's drama wasn't over. Del Negro was hit and swiped second while Garcia fouled off eight two-strike pitches in a remarkable 14-pitch at-bat that resulted in an infield single that bounded off of Orozco. Garrett Macias followed with a just-as-impressive plate appearance, fouling off four more two-strike offerings before lining a game-tying single through the left side for 5-5.
Benny Olguin, who had blanked CPP over a season-long 6.0 innings in a winning stint in Pomona on March 26, got Chaffee and Lugo both swinging to open the eighth. Then in another rather incredible twist, Nimeh, out of the No. 9 spot, watched two balls before sending a no-doubter inside the right field foul pole to regain a 6-5 edge for the Broncos. It was the La Mirada native's first long ball of 2023.
Yet again, it wasn't enough against Cal State San Bernardino.
Scott Armstrong entered the fray on the hill for CPP in the home eighth, and almost immediately the situation got tense. Leadoff man Riley Parker singled through the left side, and two wild pitches around a Bogh bunt and Shedlock walk enabled pinch-runner Matt Gonzales to sprint home to knot the score once more. Armstrong was able to keep it at 6-6.
Malerba and Pappas generated consecutive two-out singles in the top of the ninth, but a groundout ended the threat. In the bottom half, Del Negro was plunked with the frame's first pitch and sprinted to third on a one-out Macias single. CPP intentionally walked Davidson to put a force at every base. Armstrong got AJ Barraza to swing and miss, and then Bogh to lift a 3-2 offering harmlessly to Burns II in center.
The Broncos went down in order in the 10th, and the Yotes got a hit-by-pitch and single on consecutive pitches to begin their last turn. Veteran closer
Eric Romo (4-3) got Ruiz and Del Negro both to fly out, but hit Garcia to load the bases and Macias finally ended it with a grand slam to left for his seventh home run of the season.
Stevens went 6.0 innings and allowed three runs on five hits and two walks. The Mission Viejo product struck out three. Stevens navigated a 1-2-3 shutdown second through a groundout, lineout and flyout. He retired seven in a row in all between the base on balls to begin the contest, and a one-out hit-by-pitch in the third. That Yote, Bogh, stole second as Stevens got Shedlock swinging, but the Bronco hurler then froze Johnson for a second straight shutdown frame.
Price, like Coleman out of Fontana, wound up 2-for-4 with a walk, double, home run, two runs and an RBI. Pappas was 2-for-4 with a hit-by-pitch, double and run batted in. MacKinney went 1-for-4 with a walk, double, run and RBI. CPP pitchers hit a season-high six opponents.
Coleman gave up four runs on seven hits and one walk over 5.0 frames, striking out five. He breezed through a 1-2-3 fourth on eight pitches. Coleman had tied the all-time program wins record with his 17th in his previous start at home against Cal State Dominguez Hills on May 5. He surrendered more than three runs for just the second time in 2023. Olguin struck out the side swinging in order in the sixth. He and John Pfeffer (4-2) combined to fan 10 Broncos.
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GoCCAA.org/Tickets. For fans who cannot attend, all games are streamed live on the CCAA Network at
CCAAnetwork.com.
Bronco Bits
- CPP is 382-239 (.615) overall and 21-12 (.636) in its ninth CCAA Tournament appearance under 13th-year head coach Randy Betten.
- CPP is 10-12 away from home in 2023, 1-1 at neutral sites, 4-1 in extra-inning affairs, and 6-3 wearing its grey jerseys.
- Betten posted the same lineup for the second game in a row.
- Rhys Stevens drew his team-leading 12th start on the mound (12th appearance of 2023).
- With his second inning stolen base, Brent Cota now has six steals on seven tries.
- Johnny Pappas' seventh-inning double was his fourth.
- AJ Nimeh's first college home run came in last year's CCAA tourney, also an eighth-inning solo shot on day two last May 13 against Cal State Dominguez Hills.
- In its 12th all-time CCAA Tournament, CPP is 25-18 overall, 2-2 against CSUSB, 24-15 in neutral-site games, 1-1 at the Otter Sports Complex and 0-1 as the No. 3 seed.
- CPP leads 85-74 all-time in this series that dates back to 1992, with wins in 25 of the last 35 meetings. The Broncos are 33-19 against the Yotes in the Betten era.
- CPP and CSUSB were No. 5 (up from No. 6) and No. 2, respectively, in Wednesday's official NCAA West Region poll, which is used to select the six participants of the 2023 West Regional.
- The NCAA selection show will air live on NCAA.com this Sunday night, May 14, at 8 p.m. PT.
2023 CCAA BASEBALL TOURNAMENT
HOSTED BY CAL STATE MONTEREY BAY - SEASIDE, CA
SCHEDULE
WEDNESDAY, MAY 10
Game 1 - #6 Stanislaus State 11, #3 Cal State East Bay 2
(Cal State East Bay eliminated)
Game 2 - #4 Cal Poly Pomona 8, #5 San Francisco State 5
(San Francisco State eliminated)
THURSDAY, MAY 11 (after reseed)
Game 3 - #1 Cal State Monterey Bay 9, #4 Stanislaus State 3
Game 4 - #2 Cal State San Bernardino 10, #3 Cal Poly Pomona 6 (10 inn.)
Game 5 - #4 Stanislaus State vs. #3 Cal Poly Pomona, 5:30 p.m. (elimination)
FRIDAY, MAY 12
Game 6 - #1 Cal State Monterey Bay vs. #2 Cal State San Bernardino, Noon
Game 7 - Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Loser, 3:30 p.m. (elimination)
SATURDAY, MAY 13
Game 8 - Game 6 Winner vs. Game 7 Winner, Noon
Game 9 - If necessary, 30 minutes after
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.'
Follow the Broncos all season long by going to
broncoathletics.com/followus and sign up to receive breaking news and final score updates throughout the year.
