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CPP v Chico State, Baseball,
Will G. MacNeil
17
Winner Cal Poly Pomona CPP 10-11, 6-7 CCAA
3
Sonoma State SSU 8-9, 3-6 CCAA
Winner
Cal Poly Pomona CPP
10-11, 6-7 CCAA
17
Final
3
Sonoma State SSU
8-9, 3-6 CCAA
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Cal Poly Pomona CPP 0 0 1 5 3 0 5 2 1 17 21 0
Sonoma State SSU 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 3 6 1

W: Reyes, Caleb (2-0) L: DAVIS, Caleb (0-1)

Game Recap: Baseball | | Alex Kline, Assistant Athletics Director for Communications

Long Ball Propels Broncos to Convincing Win in Series Opener

ROHNERT PARK, Calif. – Cal Poly Pomona slugged six home runs in the series opener against Sonoma State on Friday afternoon, marking the second-most in a game in school history. The most home runs hit by the Broncos in one game was seven, done against UC Davis back in 2001. CPP has also hit five home runs in a game on three separate occasions, most recently in the final game of the 2023 season against Cal State Monterey Bay.
 
The Broncos won in convincing fashion on Friday, scoring 17 runs on 21 hits to pick up their 10th win of the season. CPP now holds a 10-11 overall record with a 6-7 record in CCAA play, placing them tied with Chico State for fifth in the conference standings. Sonoma State falls to 3-6 in conference play, good for eighth place in the CCAA.
 
The offense's 21 hits were their most in a game since May 6th, 2022, against Cal State Dominguez Hills. A staggering five Broncos collected at least three hits in the contest, including Johnny Pappas, Marco Malerba, AJ Nimeh, Anthony Gibbons, and Nick Lugo. Nimeh led the way going 4-for-5 with his first home run of the season, raising his team-leading batting average to .444 on the season. Though he has not played enough games to qualify on the conference leaderboard, Nimeh's average would rank first in the entire conference.
 
Pappas smashed two balls over the fence against the Seawolves, marking his fifth and sixth home runs of the season. Entering this year, the redshirt junior had seven across three seasons at CPP – with one more he will match his career total in this season alone. He also now has 13 in his career, and with four more, will sneak into the Top 10 all-time.
 
Malerba, Nimeh, Gibbons, and Tyler Chaffee also each hit one home run in the game, contributing to the second-most home runs hit in a game in school history.
 
Bronco ace Caleb Reyes made his fourth start of the season, going 6.0 innings and allowing three earned runs. Reyes's 2.37 ERA on the season leads the CPP staff, as he also picked up his second win. The bullpen shut down the final three innings of the game, seeing scoreless frames from Drew Atherton, Carlo Flores, and Cedrick Perez. Atherton, who has had four scoreless outings this season, struck out three of the four batters he faced. Both Flores and Perez made their season debuts against the Seawolves.
 
 
Up Next
The Broncos will face Sonoma State in a doubleheader on Saturday, with first pitch set for 11:00 AM.
 
 
Bronco Bits
  • The Broncos are now 48-54 (.471) all-time against Sonoma State, including 4-6 in their past 10 games.
  • Randy Betten now has a record of 394-253 (.609) as head coach of the Broncos. He is just six away from reaching the 400th win of his career.
  • The last time the Broncos were 10-11 through their first 21 games was the 2022 season. They have only had that record three other times in their 64-year history, including 1970, 1983, and 1995.
  • CPP has hit five home runs in a game on three separate occasions, most recently in the final game of the 2023 season against Cal State Monterey Bay. One of those times came against Cal State East Bay in 2012, where former player-turned-coach Jenzen Torres broke the Cal Poly Pomona all-time home run record with three in one game.