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Noel Soto
Senior right-hander Noel Soto put the Broncos on his back in a clutch complete-game effort Thursday evening in Seaside.
10
Winner Cal Poly Pomona CPP 28-20
1
Stanislaus State STAN 27-25
Winner
Cal Poly Pomona CPP
28-20
10
Final
1
Stanislaus State STAN
27-25
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Cal Poly Pomona CPP 2 0 2 0 2 0 1 1 2 10 11 1
Stanislaus State STAN 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 2

W: Soto, Noel (4-3) L: PAPPAS, Maxwell (4-5)

Game Recap: Baseball | | Doga Gur, BroncoAthletics.com Contributor

Soto Gem Moves Broncos Into Friday in Seaside and Inches Them Closer to Regional Berth

TOURNAMENT CENTRAL  |  PHOTOS

SEASIDE, Calif. - Senior right-hander Noel Soto fired his second nine-inning complete game in the green and gold and lifted Cal Poly Pomona past Stanislaus State, 10-1, in a day-two elimination contest of the 2023 California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Baseball Tournament on Thursday night at top-seeded first-time host Cal State Monterey Bay's Otter Sports Complex.

With the victory, No. 3 seed CPP improves to 28-20 overall. Fourth-seeded Stanislaus State drops to 27-25. The Warriors had taken three out of four in Pomona after dropping the Friday opener, April 21-23, for their first series win over the Broncos since 2017.

The elimination matchup had major implications beyond just survival in Seaside with CPP the two-time reigning CCAA Tournament champion. The teams were listed fifth and seventh, respectively, in Wednesday's final NCAA West Region poll ahead of Sunday's field announcement, and had the Broncos bowed out Thursday with losses in four of five meetings with the Warriors, it very well could have ended their season.

Soto (4-3), a third-year Bronco out of Lakewood and Long Beach City College, was having none of that talk. He took the ball from head coach Randy Betten and didn't give it back, allowing a single run through a home run, one of just five Stanislaus hits over the 9.0 innings. Soto struck out eight without a walk. He had previously thrown a nine-inning complete game last season on April 9 versus SF State, that one a shutout.

As it stands, CPP moves on to another elimination game on Friday, May 12, with an approximate start time of 3:30 p.m. The Broncos will await the losing side of a winner's bracket contest at noon between the regular-season champion Otters and No. 2 seed Cal State San Bernardino.

Cal Poly Pomona struck for a pair of runs in the initial frame. Brent Cota singled on Maxwell Pappas' second pitch to extend his current team-best hit streak to eight games. Johnny Pappas, of no known relation, drew a seven-pitch walk and both runners moved up on a wild throw. Pappas got Nin Burns II swinging for a first out, but junior first baseman Marco Malerba produced a right-sided groundout to register his team-best 36th RBI. A second wild pitch in the inning enabled Pappas to sprint home.

Soto quickly cleaned up a leadoff single to register a shutdown first through a 6-4-3 double play and his first strikeout of the evening. It was CPP's fifth twin killing of the tourney. The first pitch of the home second cut the Bronco lead in half, as Alex Solis sent his second home run of the year over the wall in left center.

A two-out rally increased the lead in the third. Burns II singled through the left side and stole his team-best 14th base in 14 tries ahead of Malerba getting an absolute hold of a 3-2 offering and keeping it fair down the right field line for his sixth home run of 2023. The first-year Bronco is now tied with Tyler Chaffee for the team lead.

Pappas led off the Bronco fifth by lacing his fifth double up against the wall in left center, ahead of a hit-by-pitch to Burns II. With one gone, Darius Price drew a walk to fill the bags. Centerfielder Jacob Baker made a nice play on Chaffee's fly ball, but it still served as a sacrifice fly to score Pappas, and freshman catcher Ben Lee's single plated Burns II.

After a two-out infield throwing error put a Warrior at second in the sixth, freshman leftfielder Ben Cota ranged nicely into the gap in left center to keep it a 6-1 game, denying Flavio Perez an RBI extra-base hit.

CPP tacked on single tallies in the seventh and eighth and two final ones in the ninth. In the seventh, Chaffee drew a walk with one away and Lee roped an RBI double to the wall in left. Burns II doubled and Malerba was plunked in the eighth, both with two gone. The duo pulled off a double steal, and nobody went to cover second base for Stanislaus State, so Burns II was able to trot home on the error. Lugo and Cota had an RBI single apiece in the ninth after a leadoff walk to Chaffee.

Soto needed a mere six pitches to get through a perfect fourth on three fly balls, and set the Warriors down in order again in the fifth with two strikeouts around a groundout for a third shutdown frame. He induced three flyouts to get around a one-out single in the seventh. Fittingly, Soto's 100th and final pitch got him his season-best eighth punch-out to cap a perfect ninth.

Unofficially, Soto threw a maximum of 17 pitches in a given inning Thursday, while CPP saw at least 15 in each frame while drawing nine walks, one off of matching its season high for 2023.

Burns II finished 2-for-3 with a walk, hit-by-pitch, double, a season-high-tying three runs, and two steals for the second time this year. Malerba wound up 1-for-4 with the home run, a hit-by-pitch, one run, a steal, and three RBI. Pappas was 1-for-4 with a double, two walks and two runs. Lee went 2-for-4 with a double, walk and two RBI. Lugo provided three hits for the second time in the last five games.

Pappas (4-5), like Soto a senior right-hander, gave up four runs on four hits and two walks over just 3.0 frames, striking out two.

Click HERE for CPP's postgame press conference with Betten, Burns II and Soto, and HERE to access CCAA Tournament Central. Tickets for the 2023 CCAA Baseball Tournament are available at GoCCAA.org/Tickets. For fans who cannot attend, all games are streamed live on the CCAA Network at CCAAnetwork.com.

Bronco Bits
  • CPP is 383-239 (.616) overall and 22-12 (.647) in its ninth CCAA Tournament appearance under 13th-year head coach Randy Betten.
  • CPP is 11-12 away from home in 2023, 2-1 at neutral sites, 6-1 when scoring 10-plus runs, and 9-2 wearing its green jerseys.
  • Noel Soto drew his 11th start on the mound (11th appearance of 2023).
  • Soto's nine-inning complete game was the second by a Bronco in 2023, with CCAA Most Valuable Pitcher Caleb Reyes accomplishing the feat in a 6-1 home triumph over Stanislaus State on April 21.
  • Soto had tossed a seven-inning complete game in an 11-1 romp at SF State in his previous start on April 29.
  • Soto has now gone 23.0 consecutive innings without a walk.
  • Marco Malerba continues to lead CPP with 12 multiple-RBI and seven three-RBI games.
  • Ben Lee's seventh-inning double was his eighth, now with four multiple-RBI games as a Bronco.
  • In its 12th all-time CCAA Tournament, CPP is 26-18 overall, 1-0 against Stanislaus State, 25-15 in neutral-site games, 2-1 at the Otter Sports Complex and 1-1 as the No. 3 seed.
  • CPP leads 63-38-1 all-time in this series that dates back to 1993. The Broncos are 28-14 against the Warriors in the Betten era.
  • Thursday night marked the first-ever postseason and neutral-site meeting between the programs.
  • CPP and Stanislaus State were No. 5 (up from No. 6) and No. 7, 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 - #3 Cal Poly Pomona 10, #4 Stanislaus State 1 (Stanislaus State eliminated)

FRIDAY, MAY 12
Game 6 - #1 Cal State Monterey Bay vs. #2 Cal State San Bernardino, Noon
Game 7 - #3 Cal Poly Pomona 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.'

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