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Brent Cota
Katelin Richardson
Brent Cota's go-ahead RBI single in the ninth inning Thursday extended his reached-base streak to 10 games.
5
Winner Cal Poly Pomona CPP 29-21
4
Point Loma Nazarene PLNU 36-15
Winner
Cal Poly Pomona CPP
29-21
5
Final
4
Point Loma Nazarene PLNU
36-15
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Cal Poly Pomona CPP 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 2 5 12 1
Point Loma Nazarene PLNU 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 1 4 10 0

W: Armstrong, Scott (4-1) L: Cole Hillier (5-1)

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

RBI Singles by Cota and Pappas in Ninth Lift CPP Past No. 25 Point Loma at NCAA West Regional

TOURNAMENT CENTRAL  |  PHOTOS

SEASIDE, Calif. - Cal Poly Pomona got huge RBI singles in the ninth inning by Brent Cota and Johnny Pappas and held on to upset No. 25 Point Loma Nazarene University, 5-4, to open the 2023 NCAA Division II Baseball Championship West Regional #1 at top-seeded host Cal State Monterey Bay's Otter Sports Complex on Thursday afternoon.

With the victory, No. 5 seed CPP improves to 29-21 overall. Fourth-seeded Point Loma, the reigning West Region champion and 2022 national runner-up, falls to 36-15. The teams are at-large NCAA qualifiers from the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) and Pacific West Conference (PacWest), respectively.

CPP advances on to Friday play, while back-to-back PacWest regular-season victor Point Loma will take on the ninth-ranked CCAA double champion Otters (36-16) and face elimination in a contest beginning just after 2 p.m. on the CCAA Network.

With Point Loma the higher-seeded designated home team, the sides headed to the ninth tied at 3-3 after CPP had overturned a 3-2 deficit in the eighth. Nick Lugo singled with one away and Cedrick Perez worked a six-pitch walk. That's when Cota dropped an RBI single into left field to extend his current team-best reached-base streak to 10 games. Perez was cut down for the second out trying to advance to third, but thankfully for the Broncos, Cota managed to reach second. Staring at a 3-0 advantage in the count, Pappas took a called strike and drove an RBI single to straightaway center for an insurance run that proved critical.

Senior right-hander Scott Armstrong then came back out for his third inning of work in relief of starter Noel Soto. A flyout to center preceded a solo home run to left center by leadoff man Scott Anderson to add to the tension. Armstrong retired Hunter Otjen with his shortstop Lugo making a steady play to gather and throw. After a mound visit, the Broncos elected to pitch to Point Loma superstar Jakob Christian, who had launched his Division II-leading (tied) and single-season school-record 27th home run of 2023 in the third. The sophomore first baseman flew out to Cota in left center on the first pitch to end the contest.

Earlier, after Point Loma starter Dylan Miller struck out the first two batters of the afternoon, Nin Burns II took a 1-0 pitch and drove it over the left field wall for his fifth long ball of 2023 and a quick 1-0 edge.

In the home first, Anderson worked the count full and sent a double into the left field corner. With one gone, Soto battled hard to get six tosses across before Christian fouled out to first baseman Marco Malerba. Christian was named Wednesday as the unanimous National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Division II West Region Player of the Year, already as the PacWest Player of the Year. Soto then induced a flyout to strand Anderson at second and notch the shutdown frame.

Point Loma produced a leadoff hit again in the second, this time a David Garcia single. Soto, coming off of his second nine-inning complete game in the green and gold in an elimination contest of the CCAA Tournament at the same venue exactly one week prior, also gave up a two-out single but still managed to put up another zero.

The score was knotted in the third when Christian backed up his credentials by smacking a two-out no-doubter out to left.

CPP took the lead right back in the fourth. A one-out Malerba single and two-out Trent MacKinney single were followed by Tyler Chaffee's first-pitch opposite-field RBI single to send Malerba around from second.

Moments later, Point Loma had its first lead of the day. Garcia worked a six-pitch walk to snap Soto's lengthy streak of consecutive innings without a base on balls at 26.0. Jack Malone then lifted a two-run shot, his 12th, to right for a 3-2 Sea Lion edge.

Cal Poly Pomona threatened in the sixth as Burns II opened with a single to center and stole his team-best 16th base on 16 tries ahead of Miller's first walk of the afternoon to Malerba. The Sea Lion hurler rallied to get a swinging strikeout, first-pitch lineout and fielder's choice ground ball. Another leadoff single was wiped out in the seventh as Lugo was caught stealing ahead of two popouts to Anderson at shortstop.

After Point Loma went to the bullpen and brought out its All-American closer Cole Hillier (5-2), Malone was unable to get to a drive by Burns II and the first-year Bronco centerfielder sprinted all the way around for his team-leading third triple. Three pitches later, Malerba's opposite-field RBI single through the left side tied the contest once more at 3-3.

Soto, a third-year Bronco right-hander out of Lakewood and Long Beach City College, went 6.0 innings and allowed three runs on seven hits and two walks. He struck out two. Soto worked around a leadoff Garcia single and his own failed pickoff attempt in the sixth, registering three successive outs to keep the deficit at 3-2.

Burns II wound up a double short of the cycle at 3-for-5 with a triple, home run, two runs, an RBI and a steal. Malerba went 2-for-3 with a walk, run and RBI. Lugo was 3-for-4 with a run. Armstrong (4-1) picked up the win through his three innings of solid relief, with one strikeout.

Miller gave up two runs on seven hits and one walk over 7.0 frames. The redshirt junior right-hander struck out eight, including three around the Burns II homer in the first. Miller retired six in a row around that long ball to begin the game, all on the infield and five on strikes, with a 1-2-3 second. He was also perfect in the fifth with two more punch-outs.

Christian finished 2-for-4 with the home run, an intentional walk, one run and an RBI. Point Loma had ended CPP's 2022 campaign, 7-2, on the first day of the NCAA West Regional #1 in San Diego last May 19.

Regardless of the outcome of Thursday's late contest, Cal Poly Pomona and CCAA rival Cal State Monterey Bay will face off at 12 p.m. on Friday on the CCAA Network.

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

Bronco Bits
  • CPP is 384-240 (.615) overall and 19-15 (.559) in its eighth NCAA Championship appearance under 13th-year head coach Randy Betten.
  • CPP is 12-13 away from home in 2023, 3-2 in neutral-site games, 11-6 in one-run contests, 2-1 against PacWest clubs, and 10-2 wearing its green jerseys.
  • Noel Soto drew his 12th start on the mound (12th appearance of 2023), and issued multiple walks (two) for the first time since March 12.
  • Cedrick Perez's third-inning sacrifice bunt was his team-best fifth.
  • Johnny Pappas threw out his eighth would-be base-stealer on 22 attempts to end the fourth.
  • In its 15th all-time NCAA Championship appearance, CPP is 51-30 overall, 30-21 in West Regional action, 28-15 in neutral-site dates, 2-1 against PLNU, 6-7 against PacWest sides, and 1-0 at the Otter Sports Complex.
  • CPP leads 14-7 in the all-time series that goes back to 1994, snapping a three-game losing streak.
  • The Broncos are 6-4 against the Sea Lions under Betten, and 2-1 at neutral venues (all NCAA tourney).
  • Second-year CPP assistant coach Justin Beck was the starting second baseman on the 2018 College World Series UC San Diego club for which fifth-year Point Loma skipper Justin James was the pitching coach.

2023 NCAA BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP - WEST REGIONAL #1
HOSTED BY CAL STATE MONTEREY BAY - SEASIDE, CA

SCHEDULE
THURSDAY, MAY 18
Game 1 - #5 Cal Poly Pomona 5, #4 Point Loma 4
Game 2 - #1 Cal State Monterey Bay 11, #4 Point Loma 8 (Point Loma eliminated)

FRIDAY, MAY 19
Game 3 - #5 Cal Poly Pomona vs. #1 Cal State Monterey Bay, 12 p.m.

SATURDAY, MAY 20
Game 4 - #1 Cal State Monterey Bay vs. #5 Cal Poly Pomona, 12 p.m.
Game 5 - #1 Cal State Monterey Bay vs. #5 Cal Poly Pomona, 30 minutes after Game 4 (If Necessary)

2023 NCAA BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP - WEST REGIONAL #2
HOSTED BY CAL STATE SAN BERNARDINO - SAN BERNARDINO, CA

SCHEDULE
THURSDAY, MAY 18
Game 1 - #3 Azusa Pacific 12, #6 Western Oregon 8
Game 2 - #2 Cal State San Bernardino 8, #6 Western Oregon 7 (Western Oregon eliminated)

FRIDAY, MAY 19
Game 3 - #2 Cal State San Bernardino vs. #3 Azusa Pacific, 3 p.m.

SATURDAY, MAY 20
Game 4 - #3 Azusa Pacific vs. #2 Cal State San Bernardino, 11 a.m.
Game 5 - #2 Cal State San Bernardino vs. #3 Azusa Pacific, 30 minutes after Game 4 (If Necessary)

2023 NCAA BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP - WEST SUPER REGIONAL
HOSTED BY HIGHEST REMAINING SEED - MAY 26-27
Winner of West Regional #1 vs. Winner of West Regional #2 (best-of-three series)

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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