Broncos steal game to avoid sweep against Hope International
By Cesar Rivas, February 24, 2026
Cal Poly Pomona’s baseball team faced its second nationally ranked opponent this season, No. 4 Hope International University, where the Broncos stole the final game of three-game series to avoid a sweep Feb. 13-15.
The Broncos came into the three-games series with an overall record of 5-2. Hope International, a part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), entered the three-game series with an overall record of 5-5.
Head coach Randy Betten spoke on the advantages of facing ranked opponents before conference play begins.
“When you play good teams, it’s only going to make you better because we’re going to be challenged to our conference,” Betten said. “… So, it’s only going to help us in the long haul as we move through going in one more week of non-conference and then going into conference.”
Broncos’ veteran right-handed pitcher Andrew Campbell took the mound in the final game of the series and found himself in a bases-loaded jam within the first inning. He escaped unscathed with a groundout to the second baseman Christian Gomez for the putout.
The Royals were first on the scoreboard in the fourth inning, having runners in scoring position, with a ground out to shortstop allowed a run to cross the plate.
CPP rallied in the bottom half of the fifth inning to retake the lead. With a man on first, a two-out single to right field by outfielder Tyler Blade put runners on the corners. Outfielder Tyler Garcia belted a groundball to the Royals shortstop, forcing an error and allowed the tying run to score. Followed by a single to left field by infielder Sebastian Arguelles, scored Blade, giving the Broncos a 2-1 lead.
The Broncos tacked on two more runs in the next inning when designated hitter Daniel Ruiz notched an RBI with an infield hit. Blade knocked in the final run for the home side with a single to left-center field for a 4-1 lead.
Blade ended the game 3-5 with one RBI and one stolen base.
“I was just trying to stay to the big part of the field this series,” Blade said. “I hit a few balls hard and just haven’t gotten through, and today kind of stayed more middle of the field, and some of those dropped.”
The Royals scored the final run of the game in the eighth inning and were shut down by CPP relief pitcher Colt Tucker for final outs of the ninth, giving the Broncos a 4-2 win.
Campbell earned his second win of the season, with four strikeouts through six innings of work on 101 pitches. Campbell mentioned the trust that the pitching staff has in the team’s defense.
“I mean that they’ve been working on it for the whole year,” Campbell said. “I just trust them. If it doesn’t go their way, I’d trust them the next time it will happen.”
While the win in game three was the highlight after two losses, the Broncos started the first two games of the series on the right foot.
In game one, another veteran on the bump, left-handed pitcher Dylan Esquival, rang up six strikeouts on 87 pitches through five innings pitched and allowed four hits.
The game was all square until the seventh inning when Hope International generated a two-out rally, scoring two runs by way of a double from Royals’ first baseman Colby Moran. The Broncos responded in the bottom half, with runners on the corners. Infielder Justin Yeutter grounded out to third base, driving in a run and putting the Royals ahead 2-1.
It ultimately wasn’t enough as the opposition extended its lead in the eighth, with the final score being 4-1.
Campbell spoke on the mentality of the team’s ability to have a mental reset after a single game loss, with the rest of the series remaining.
“It’s just to stay focused,” Campbell said. “I think a lot of the times, whether it’s hitting, fielding or pitching, I think we just kind of get out of our own mind for a little bit. I think we try to do too much. So, I think just staying to know what you know, how to do, what you practiced, that’s the key to get back to it.”
Game two saw the Broncos jump out to an early lead in the first inning. Ruiz led with a hit by the pitch, after two quick outs and back-to-back walks loaded the bases.
Gomez fired a base hit right up the middle to center field, driving in the Broncos’ only two runs of the game. From there on out, it was all about the Royals, as they scored six unanswered runs between the fourth and sixth inning, making the final score 6-2.
After the three-game showdown with Hope International, the Broncos’ overall record jumped 6-4. Up next, they face Colorado State Pueblo Feb. 20-22 in a four-game series.
“I mean, we’re going to learn from these, and there’s a lot of work that still needs to be done, but that’s why baseball’s not just one game,” Betten said. “It’s played four times in three days or three-game series. So, you got to adjust, and you got to get better.”
Feature image courtesy of the CPP Athletics
