POMONA, Calif. – The Cal Poly Pomona baseball team delivered a statement performance on Friday night, defeating No. 7 Colorado Mesa 5-1 at Scolinos Field. The Broncos improved to 4-0 on the season behind a balanced offensive approach and dominant pitching that kept the nationally-ranked Mavericks in check.
 
Cal Poly Pomona struck first in the opening frame as junior Julian Angulo ripped an RBI single to right center, driving in Daniel Ruiz for the first run of the game. The defense and pitching staff then held strong, keeping Colorado Mesa off the scoreboard through five innings thanks to a dominant outing from starter Dylan Esquival. The senior out of Rancho Cucamonga worked five scoreless frames, scattering two hits and striking out seven while not issuing any walks to pick up his first win of the season.
 
The Broncos broke the game open in the fifth inning with a four-run surge. Bryan Richman ignited the rally with a run-scoring single, followed by a string of timely hits from Ruiz and Jack Sanders. Angulo added a RBI sacrifice fly, and Sebastian Arguelles capped the big inning with a clutch double down the left field line that extended the lead to 5-0. Cal Poly Pomona's execution with runners in scoring position and aggressive baserunning helped gain critical separation in the middle innings.
 
Relievers Andrew Dusablon, Geo Hernandez, and Sean Suriyaniel combined to finish the game, allowing just one hit and one run across the final four innings. Suriyaniel now has two perfect appearances to start the 2026 season, facing the minimum in both innings he's thrown.
 
Ruiz led the offense with two hits, as he's now batting .444 to open the season at the top of the lineup. The Broncos' traditional winning formula of strong pitching, quality defense, and timely hitting once again proved successful with their highest opponent-ranked win since 2023.
 
 
Up Next
The Broncos and Mavericks will play a doubleheader tomorrow, February 7^th, with first pitch of game one set for 1:00 PM.
 
 
Bronco Bits

• The Broncos are 8-3 all-time against Colorado Mesa, including 6-2 at Scolinos Field.
• Randy Betten is now 435-300 (.592) as head coach of the Broncos.
• As a program, Cal Poly Pomona is now 1,772-1,585-21 in its 66th season overall, including 925-586-14 (.611) in home games.
• The CPP pitching staff has registered double-digit strikeouts in all four games so far this season.
• Jack Sanders was recently named both CCAA Player of the Week and NCBWA West Region Player of the Week. Entering the weekend, he was tied for the nation's lead in home runs (4).
• Across his first two starts, Esquival has thrown 9.0 scoreless innings with 12 strikeouts to zero walks and only five hits allowed.
• The last time the team was 4-0 to start the season was 2023. Their longest win streak to open a season was 10 straight games back in 2014.
• The last time the Broncos defeated an opponent ranked this high was No. 6 Cal State San Bernardino on March 27, 2023.
• The team's .987 fielding percentage currently leads the CCAA.
• The team's six stolen bases in the game is the second-most in school history.