SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The No. 24 ranked Cal Poly Pomona baseball team dropped both games of the doubleheader on Saturday afternoon, falling to 4-4 on the season. After winning the series opener in convincing fashion on Thursday, CPP struggled to gain momentum in the following three games to allow the reigning NAIA National Champions to claim the series victory.
 
Game 1: CPP 3, Westmont 8
Despite collecting double digit hits for the fifth time this season, the Broncos came up short against the Warriors in game one of the doubleheader. CPP managed to score three runs on 11 hits, while Westmont scored eight runs on 14 hits.
 
The Warriors got out to an early 1-0 lead in the first inning on a fielder's choice, then extended that to a 2-0 lead with an RBI single in the second. The Broncos responded with a run of their own in the top of the third inning on a sac fly by Jack Sanders, scoring Nick Lugo to bring the score within one. Westmont would begin to pull away in the fourth and fifth innings, as three RBI singles would extend their lead to 6-1.
 
The Broncos struck again in the top of the seventh inning on a sac fly by Brent Cota and bases-loaded walk from Luc Stuka, narrowing the score to 6-3. However, this would prove to be the final offensive push for CPP and the Warriors would go on to take control of the series with an 8-3 victory.
 
Rhys Stevens started the game on the mound for the Broncos, going 4.0 innings while allowing three earned runs, striking out three, and walking three. Dylan Esquival, AJ Moreno, and Evan Adolphus each came in relief, Moreno being the lone Bronco to not give up a run in his one inning of work.
 
Marco Malerba had a strong offensive performance at the plate, going 4-for-5 for his first four-hit game as a Bronco. Jacob Lopez also collected two hits for the fourth time in his past five games, improving his team-leading batting average to .458. Lopez now has a hit in each of his seven games played this season.
 
 
Game 2: CPP 2, Westmont 5 (7 innings)
Cal Poly Pomona looked to salvage the series in the fourth and final game against Westmont. Once again, the Warriors got out to a quick 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on an RBI single and a fielder's choice.
 
The Broncos got on the board in the top of the third inning when Malerba, who was already swinging a hot bat, singled to center field to score Darius Price. Price had his best offensive performance of the season in the second game of the doubleheader, going 3-for-3 at the plate and scoring the aforementioned run in the third inning.
 
Westmont tacked on two more in the bottom of the fifth with two extra base hits, extending their lead to 5-1. In the top of the sixth, Price singled to left field to score Cota in what would prove to be the final run of the game.
 
Aren Alvarez started on the bump for CPP, allowing three earned runs across 4.1 innings. Alvarez punched out five Warrior batters, increasing his season total to 15 in 9.1 innings thrown. Chris Fields pitched in relief, allowing his first two runs of the season while striking out three in 1.2 innings.
 
With the 2-5 loss, the Broncos fall even to 4-4 on the season, while the Warriors improve to 7-3-1 to start their first season in NCAA Division II.
 
 
Up Next
The Broncos now look ahead to their CCAA opener with a home series against Chico State (5-0) starting on Friday, February 23^rd, at 6:00 PM at Scolinos Field. The Broncos are 4-6 against the Wildcats in their past 10 games.
 
 
Bronco Bits

• The Broncos are now 2-3 all-time against the Warriors.
• Randy Betten is now 388-246 (.612) as head coach of the Broncos.
• The last time the Broncos were 4-4 to start the year was the 2020 season. This is the 10^th time in their 64-year history the Broncos have held that record through the first eight games.
• All but two of the games remaining in the regular season are conference games, those two being mid-week matchups against Point Loma in April.
• Jacob Lopez has at least one hit in each of his seven games played this season.