By Alexander Franco, April 21, 2026
The Cal Poly Pomona baseball team squared off with its conference rival, the Cal State East Bay Pioneers for a four-game-series the week of April 6-12, as the Broncos commanded the entire series, breaking two in-season records within one game.
The first game of the series, would be in heavily dominated by the Broncos, running up the scoreboard 24-5, breaking two season records; these season records are the most hits in a game (25) and the most runs scored in a single game (24).
“It was exciting,” senior infielder Julian Angulo said. “Preparation throughout the week paid off. It was a lot of fun, a lot of energy, and we just carried that momentum throughout the whole weekend.”
CPP batted around its lineup for three consecutive innings and ran away with the game, racking 14 runs in two innings, seven each in the bottom halves of the sixth and seven innings.
Senior outfielder Jack Sanders smashed his 10th homerun of the season, as he is now in a four-way tie for the sixth most homeruns within all CCAA. Also, senior pitcher Andrew Campbell picked up his eighth win of the season, as he is now tied with CSUMB’s Andrew Kotin for the most wins in the CCAA.
Junior outfielder Daniel Ruiz was perfect during game one. He managed to get on-base for every at-bat he saw, capturing three hits and being hit by a pitch in back-to-back at-bats in the bottom of the sixth.
“It was crazy,” redshirt-junior catcher Evan Nahra said. “I mean, our starting lineup started hitting well, and then guys came off the bench, and they’re hitting well. It was a lot of fun. It was cool to see everybody have success.”
The beginning of the second game showed similarities to the first with a scoreless yet quick two innings followed by the Pioneers striking first with a run in the top of the third.
The Broncos tied the game up right after in the bottom half of the inning, off a sacrifice fly-out by Angulo, scoring Ruiz from third.
CPP didn’t step off the gas pedal after, as the bottom of the fourth put the game away for the Broncos. In one inning, they scored a total of four runs, as three of the runs that inning was scored on a two-out rally.
Multiple homeruns were hit that inning. Nahra hit five, and redshirt senior Sebastian Arguelles hit three. Redshirt senior Diego Murillo almost got ahold of his own homerun right after, meaning the Broncos almost hit back-to-back bombs, but Murillo’s ball hit the top of the left field fence, resulting in a deep double.
With a score of 5-1, senior pitcher Matthew Lorenzano picked up his third win of the season, throwing four hitless innings and striking out six of the 13 batters he saw within his outing.
“The guys were hungry, and they made every at-bat important in (game one), and that was good to see,” head coach Randy Betten said. “(They) showed some really good things on the mound, so we played good defense again. So, there were a lot of positives. A series win in this conference is a series win.”
The third and fourth games showcased the resilience of East Bay, though. Despite losing both games in the Friday doubleheader, the Pioneers were far from giving up in the series.
Despite East Bay’s tenacious and improved efforts, the Broncos denied any of the Pioneers’ momentum, winning the third game, 7-4.
Vasquez claimed his third win of the season, allowing one run in six strong innings despite six hits and only striking out five of the 23 batters he faced in his outing.
Pitchers Geo Hernandez and Sean Suriyaniel relieved Vasquez, combining for a total of two runs and seven hits allowed in the last three innings of the game.
Carrying this momentum, the Broncos scored four in the very first inning, including RBI singles from redshirt freshman Tyler Blade and Arguelles, with a sacrifice flyout from junior infielder Bryan Richman.
Despite being one win away from securing its second series sweep of the season, the final game of the series went in favor of the Pioneers. They won 6-4 after surviving a possible comeback by the Broncos in the last three innings, especially in the bottom of the seventh.
With a costly error by East Bay’s first basemen Gio Martini and Murillo being hit-by-pitch in the bottom of the seventh, the Broncos loaded the bases up with two outs, down two runs as Nahra stepped into the box looking to become the game’s hero.
Nahra struck out on five pitches, as this inning was the perfect opportunity for the Bronco’s to take advantage, but the magic the Bronco’s had all series long finally ran out.
With the series win, the Broncos improved its overall record to 23-15 and its conference record to 15-9, remaining second in conference, only behind nationally ranked CSUMB.
The Broncos will play their final two road series back-to-back weekends, first traveling to Cal State LA then Westmont in Santa Barbara. To finish off conference play, the Broncos will face off the Cal State San Marcos Cougars in its final homestand.
In addition to the series, CPP Athletics will celebrate the seniors of the team with Senior Night April 30 and celebrate 50 years since the Bronco’s 1976 National Championship May 2.
Feature image courtesy of CPP Athletics