TOURNAMENT CENTRAL  |  PHOTOS

SEASIDE, Calif. - Cal Poly Pomona surrendered six solo home runs and lost to Cal State San Bernardino, 12-5, in a day-three elimination game 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 Friday afternoon.

The result pushed No. 3 seed CPP out of the conference tournament as the two-time reigning champion. The Broncos move to 28-21 overall. CSUSB, ranked as high as No. 21 in the national polls, extends its program record for single-season wins, now at 37-16. CPP had taken three out of four at home against the then-sixth-ranked Yotes, March 25-27, but dropped a 10-6 decision in 10 innings on Thursday afternoon. CSUSB was edged 4-3 by the Otters in the winner's bracket to begin Friday's activity and fall into the elimination contest.

CPP and CSUSB were No. 5 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 Broncos will hope that their 2-2 showing in Seaside, combined with no surprise in the Pacific West Conference Championship in Fresno, where No. 4 Azusa Pacific was crowned, is enough to keep them in that fifth spot. The sixth position will most assuredly go to Western Oregon, the automatic qualifier out of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. The NCAA selection show will air live on NCAA.com this Sunday night, May 14, at 8 p.m. PT.

CSUSB jumped on the scoreboard with a three-spot in the opening frame, the entire rally taking place with two outs. After a flyout and a diving stop into the hole by third baseman Tyler Chaffee, Daryl Ruiz drew a five-pitch walk and Giovanni Del Negro slapped an 0-2 toss to the opposite field in right and put Yotes at the corners. A wild pitch enabled Ruiz to scurry home, and Danny Garcia followed with his eighth home run of 2023 to right for a quick 3-0 bulge.

CPP loaded the bases with one away in the second through back-to-back singles by Chaffee and Ben Lee and a walk to Nick Lugo. Following a foulout, Cota struck out, but the pitch got away from the Yote catcher and allowed the Bronco leftfielder to reach first safely and Chaffee to sprint home to make it 3-1.

CSUSB wasted no time getting the run back, DeShawn Johnson lifting the first pitch of the home half out to left for his 10th home run. Just five tosses later, Ruiz sent a lined laser out to right field with his team-best 14th and a 5-1 lead. The junior first baseman had also hit a solo shot in Thursday's 10-6 victory over the Broncos. Garcia's second blast of the contest, to right center with one out, forced a pitching change at 6-1.

The Yotes got a second Johnson blast in the fourth and added three in the fifth to put the deficit largely out of reach. The Broncos did get two runs back in the fifth on a first-pitch Nin Burns II triple and Marco Malerba double, both with two outs after Brent Cota had reached via error.

CPP filled the bags again in the eighth, with no outs after CSUSB finally went to its bullpen. It did so through a walk to Cedrick Perez, a hit-by-pitch to Chaffee, and a Lee single. Lugo then worked a six-pitch walk to force Perez home, and the Yotes made another change on the mound. Trent MacKinney hit for AJ Nimeh and made it 10-5 with an RBI fielder's choice groundout, but that is all the Broncos would get.

Garrett Macias, who walked off Thursday's meeting with a grand slam in the 10th, provided the final CSUSB blast with two gone in the ninth.

Third-year sophomore right-hander AJ Moreno (2-3) allowed six runs on five hits and one walk over 2.1 innings. Drew D'Ambra and Dylan Esquival threw 1.1 and 2.0 shutout frames in relief, respectively, with one strikeout each. Andrew Campbell fanned three in 2.1 innings.

Fifth-year junior right-hander Luke Hempel (7-3) matched a season long of 7.0 frames and gave up three runs, just one of them earned, on six hits and two walks, striking out six.

The Yotes' six home runs are a season high, while the Broncos had not surrendered more than two long balls in a contest prior to Friday. The six in fact look to be an all-time record against CPP, which gave up five three times in 2019, including twice to host Azusa Pacific at its hitter-friendly ballpark during the NCAA West Regional. Friday marked just the seventh time the Broncos gave up double-digit runs in 2023, twice to CSUSB on successive days this week.

Click HERE for CPP's postgame press conference with head coach Randy Betten, and HERE to access CCAA Tournament Central.

Bronco Bits

• CPP is 383-240 (.615) overall and 22-13 (.629) after its ninth CCAA Tournament appearance under 13th-year head coach Randy Betten.
• CPP is 11-13 away from home in 2023, 2-2 at neutral sites, and 7-11 wearing its gold jerseys.
• AJ Moreno drew his 11th mound appearance of 2023 and ninth start.
• Brent Cota's walk to lead off the game extended his current team-best reached-base streak to nine games, but his hit streak was snapped at eight.
• The second triple of 2023 by Nin Burns II ties him atop the team leaderboard with Cota, while Marco Malerba extended his team lead in doubles now with 15.
• Ben Lee's double was his ninth.
• Following its 12th all-time CCAA Tournament, CPP is 26-19 overall, 2-3 against CSUSB, 25-16 in neutral-site games, 2-2 at the Otter Sports Complex and 1-2 as the No. 3 seed.
• CPP still leads 85-75 all-time in this series that dates back to 1992, with wins in 25 of the last 36 meetings. The Broncos are 33-20 against the Yotes in the Betten era.

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 4, #2 Cal State San Bernardino 3
Game 7 - #2 Cal State San Bernardino 12, #3 Cal Poly Pomona 5 (Cal Poly Pomona eliminated)

SATURDAY, MAY 13
Game 8 - #2 Cal State San Bernardino 16, #1 Cal State Monterey Bay 15
Game 9 - #1 Cal State Monterey Bay 13, #2 Cal State San Bernardino 9

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Most Valuable Player: Drew Williams, Cal State Monterey Bay
JJ Engman, Cal State Monterey Bay
Chase Lindemann, Cal State Monterey Bay
Cole Murchison, Cal State Monterey Bay
Nate Rohlicek, Cal State Monterey Bay
Ryan Sleeman, Cal State Monterey Bay
Derek Bogh, Cal State San Bernardino
Giovanni Del Negro, Cal State San Bernardino
Luke Hempel, Cal State San Bernardino
DeShawn Johnson, Cal State San Bernardino
Garrett Macias, Cal State San Bernardino
Noel Soto, Cal Poly Pomona
Robert Valdivia, Stanislaus State

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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