POMONA, Calif. – The Cal Poly Pomona baseball team came out of the gate hot on Friday afternoon, winning their first two games of the season against Azusa Pacific in a doubleheader at Scolinos Field. This was the Broncos' first win against the Cougars since 2016, snapping a four-game losing streak.  
 
 
Game 1: CPP 4, APU 3
Game one featured a battle of the aces. Caleb Reyes toed the rubber for the Broncos in the opening game of the 2024 season, throwing five strong innings while only allowing two hits. The preseason All-American struck out six batters while walking two on 81 pitches. Azusa Pacific's starter had a near identical stat line, also throwing five innings with six strikeouts and two walks. Not surprisingly, the game remained tied 0-0 with a combined three hits through the first five frames of the game.    
 
In the bottom of the sixth, the Broncos began to make some noise on some two out magic. After the first two batters of the inning were retired, Johnny Pappas got on base with an eight pitch walk. Marco Malerba followed with a single to first base, advancing Pappas to second. In just his third collegiate at-bat, freshman Julian Angulo then launched a missile to left field for a three-run home run, marking both his first college home run and his first college hit.
 
Azusa Pacific responded with three of their own the very next half, bringing the game back to even at 3-3.
 
In the bottom of the eighth with two outs and the game still tied, Pappas roped a ball deep down the left field line in a Carlton Fisk-esque moment – the ball going just foul by mere feet.  The very next pitch, Pappas did it again, this time leaving no doubt for his eighth career home run to give CPP a crucial 4-3 lead.  
 
Riverside City College transfer Chris Fields entered the game in the ninth, retiring all three batters he faced on nine pitches to secure his first save while wearing the Green & Gold. This gave the Broncos their first win of the season, the 11^th time they have started the season 1-0 in Randy Betten's 13 seasons as head coach.
 
 
Game 2: CPP 10, APU 2
Noel Soto was lights out on the mound for CPP in game two of the doubleheader, allowing zero runs in six innings while fanning eight batters. His eight strikeouts ties the second most in his career – a mark he reached once both in 2022 and 2023.
 
Ruben Del Castillo relieved Soto out of the pen, throwing three innings to close out of the game and pick up his first save as a Bronco. The Wagner College transfer allowed four hits and two runs while striking out two in his CPP debut.
 
After collecting just four hits in the season opener - albeit enough for the win - the Bronco bats found their groove in game two, scoring 10 runs on 12 hits. Anthony Gibbons, Marco Malerba, Nick Lugo, and Brent Cota each collected multiple hits in the game.

Darius Price's two-run double down the right field line in the fourth inning broke the scoreless tie, putting CPP ahead 2-0. The Broncos would score eight more runs over the next three innings, allowing them to cruise to an easy 10-2 victory.
 
 
Up Next
The Broncos and Cougars will continue their series with a doubleheader tomorrow, February 10^th, starting at 2:00 PM at Cougar Baseball Complex.
 
 
Bronco Bits

• The Broncos are now 15-22-1 all-time against Azusa Pacific, snapping a four-game losing streak dating back to 2016. They are 9-5-1 at home against the Cougars, having not lost to APU at home since the 2001 season.
• Randy Betten improves to 386-242 (.615) as head coach of the Broncos.
• CPP has now won their first game of the season in 11 of Betten's 13 seasons as head coach.
• The longest CPP has ever gone undefeated was 2014, when they went 10-0 to open the season.