POMONA, Calif. – The Cal Poly Pomona baseball team defeated Sonoma State on Wednesday afternoon, winning by a score of 8-3 to pick up their 30^th win of the season. With the victory, the Broncos escape the opening round elimination game and advance to the four-team double elimination bracket starting on Thursday.
 
Wednesday's game held a little extra meaning for the CPP baseball program, as it was the first postseason game played at Scolinos Field since May 18, 1985 when they defeated Sacramento State 9-7 in the NCAA DII West Regionals to advance to the College World Series. Since that game, the Broncos have played in 10 NCAA Tournaments and 13 CCAA Tournaments – all of which have been on the road.
 
The back-to-back CCAA Pitcher of the Year, Caleb Reyes, proved why he is the ace of the conference against Sonoma State. The Encino native threw 8.2 innings while not allowing a single earned run in a gutsy 131-pitch performance. He also struck out six Seawolf batters and issued just two free passes.
 
Jack Sanders powered the offense, going 3-for-5 with a home run off the batter's eye in centerfield and a triple. The All-CCAA First Team selection now has seven home runs in his past 12 games.
 
After carrying a 3-0 lead into the top of the sixth inning, a costly throwing error and a subsequent hit allowed three SSU runners to score and quickly even the game at 3-3. Then in the bottom of the seventh, back-to-back RBI singles by Anthony Gibbons and Darius Price would help the Green & Gold regain the lead at 5-3. The Broncos would tack on three more in the eighth, coming on two hits and an error to extend it to 8-3.
 
Sonoma State tried to mount a comeback in the ninth inning, loading the bases with three hits to knock Reyes out of the game. Senior Drew Atherton entered the game with the bases loaded and the tying run on deck, forcing a seven-pitch flyout to end the game to earn his second save of the season. With the win, Reyes improves to 7-1 on the year and 14-4 in his career.
 

 
 
Up Next
The No. 3 seeded Broncos will now face No. 2 seed Cal State San Marcos on Thursday, May 9^th, at 3:00 PM at Scolinos Field. Since CPP survived the opening round, the rest of the tournament turns into a four-team double elimination bracket. If the Broncos lose against the Cougars, they will immediately play in an elimination game at 7:00 PM tomorrow against the loser of No. 1 Cal State Monterey Bay and No. 4 San Francisco State. If they win against CSUSM, they will advance to the 3:00 PM game on Friday.

Please note: Pets will not be allowed at Scolinos Field during the tournament.
 
Tournament Central: https://goccaa.org/tournaments/?id=127&path=baseball
Live Stats: https://broncoathletics.com/sidearmstats/baseball/summary
CCAA Network: https://ccaanetwork.com/goccaa/
Tickets: https://goccaa.org/sports/2021/9/3/GEN_0903210215.aspx
 
 
Bronco Bits

• The Broncos are now 51-55 (.481) all-time against Sonoma State, including 6-4 in their past 10 games. This season, the Broncos outscored the Seawolves 53-20 in five games.
• Randy Betten is now 414-262 (.612) as head coach of the Broncos.
• Johnny Pappas collected his 100^th career walk on Wednesday, tying both his current associate head coach, Jenzen Torres (2009-12), and Tom Weeks (1984-87) for fourth place on the all-time list.
• CPP is 4-1 all-time against Sonoma State in the CCAA Tournament, their last meeting before Wednesday being on May 8, 2014 with a 9-4 win.
• The Broncos have won the CCAA Tournament three times – 2015, 2019, and 2022. That is the second-most in conference history behind Chico State and Sonoma State, each tied with five and both being eliminated from the 2024 tournament in the opening round.