SAN DIEGO – Cal Poly Pomona dropped both games of Thursday's NCAA West Regional, marking an end to their 2026 campaign. The team finishes with a 30-25 record while making their 17
th appearance in the national tournament.
CPP 4, CSUSB 6
Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State San Bernardino faced off for the seventh time this season, and third time in the past week, in the opening game of the regional. CPP erased an early deficit with a three-run fourth inning, but CSUSB relied on timely hitting and a strong outing from starter Kailer Saunders to hold off the Broncos, 6-4, Thursday morning at Carroll B. Land Stadium.
The Broncos got on the board early in the bottom of the first, coming on a
Sebastian Arguelles RBI single to deep right field to score
Austin Duarte.
After collecting just one hit in the first two innings, the Coyotes took the lead in the third on a three-run homer to right-center field to put Cal State San Bernardino in front 3-1.
In the bottom of the fourth, Arguelles and
Bryan Richman reached base via an error and a walk to set the table for
Evan Nahra, who launched a three-run homer to right-center field to give the Broncos a 4-3 lead. Nahra finished the game 2-for-4 with three RBI, the only Bronco with multiple hits in the contest.
The Coyotes reclaimed the lead in the fifth and sixth innings. A sacrifice fly from Keedan Nadeau tied the game at 4-4 in the fifth before Cal State San Bernardino broke through in the sixth. Two hits opened up the inning, before a single up the middle put the Coyotes ahead 6-4.
Senior right hander
Andrew Campbell took the loss for the Broncos after working 5.2 innings with five strikeouts. Campbell finishes his stellar senior campaign with an 11-4 record, marking the most wins in a season by a Bronco pitcher since Ryan Olson in 2015 with 12.
Geo Hernandez provided solid relief for CPP, tossing 3.1 innings without an earned run and allowing just one hit with one strikeout.
The Broncos threatened in the late innings, but Cal State San Bernardino reliever Devyn Hernandez closed the door with two scoreless innings to earn the save. CPP finished with just five hits, while the Coyotes had eight. Despite the Broncos sweeping CSUSB earlier in the season, San Bernardino was able to mount late-inning comeback victories in each of the three postseason meetings over the past week.
CPP 13, PLNU 14 (11 Innings)
Having lost the first game of the day, the Broncos had to immediately turn around and play an elimination game against No. 8 ranked Point Loma.
The Broncos collected 20 hits and put up four runs in extra innings, but the Sea Lions offense was relentless in the later innings to force six lead changes and 27 combined runs.
After a disappointing loss in the first game of the day, the Broncos came out swinging with seven runs in the first four innings.
Austin Duarte led off the game with a solo home run to right field on a 2-2 pitch, his fourth long ball of the season. The offense continued to roll in the second inning as
Ashton Romero delivered an RBI single before Duarte lined a two-run single through the right side to cap a three-run frame and extend the lead to 4-0.
The Broncos kept pressure on Point Loma starter Glen Huggins in the third.
Bryan Richman drove in
Julian Angulo with an RBI single to right-center, and
Tyler Blade followed later in the inning with an RBI single through the left side to make it 6-0.
Sebastian Arguelles added another run in the fourth with an RBI single to left-center that scored
Jack Sanders for a 7-0 cushion.
Starting pitcher
Anthony Vasquez was dominant through six innings, allowing just two runs on three hits and striking out six. However, the junior ran into some trouble in the seventh, allowing a two-out, three-run home run to cut the lead to 9-5. This was the start of an impressive Sea Lions stretch of five consecutive multi-run innings, while they also had seven consecutive innings of scoring at least one run.
A two-run home run in the eighth would bring the game within two, and an RBI single and bases loaded walk would tie the game at 9-9 in the bottom of the ninth. The Broncos responded immediately in the 10th as Richman delivered again, hitting a two-run single to score
Julian Angulo and
Dominic Porter to reclaim an 11-9 advantage.
Trouble continued for the Bronco bullpen in the bottom of the inning, as another bases loaded walk and a wild pitch would bring home two runners, once again tying the game at 11-11.
In the top of the 11
th, freshman
Ashton Romero ripped an RBI double down the left-field line to score
Evan Nahra, and
Diego Murillo followed with an RBI single up the middle to, yet again, give CPP a two-run lead. Romero finished the game with a season-high four hits and two RBI.
The Sea Lions had the final response in the bottom of the 11th. After a one-out walk, two singles would load the bases, and another would score two runs to tie the game at 13-13. On a 1-0 count to the next batter, a ball snuck through the right side for the team's fourth straight hit, bringing home the runner from second to complete the comeback victory for Point Loma and end the Broncos' 2026 season.
Bronco Bits
- The Broncos are 91-84 all-time against Cal State San Bernardino since their first meeting in 1992, including 2-6 in the postseason.
- The Broncos are 18-11 all-time against Point Loma, including 2-4 in the postseason.
- Randy Betten is now 461-325 (.587) as head coach of the Broncos, and 46-38 (.548) in the postseason.
- As a program, Cal Poly Pomona is now 1,798-1,610-21 in its 66th season overall, including 82-63 (.566) in the postseason.
- The Broncos were the No. 3 seed in the West Regional, marking their 17th appearance overall in the NCAA Tournament.
- The Broncos are now 52-36 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, going 29-16 in neutral games, 4-14 in away games, and 4-5 in extra inning games.
