With alumni in attendance and a lively crowd filling Warrior Baseball Field for Alumni Weekend, Stan State delivered a performance worthy of the moment.
They held off a late surge from Cal Poly Pomona to secure a 9–8 victory Sunday and clinch a key California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) series win.
Danny Murphy (Alumni), a former Stan State baseball player, reflected on the experience of returning for alumni weekend.
“The alumni day was great! It’s always good to see friends that I got to play with as well as catching up with the coaches and some of the players on the team,” Murphy said. “I think the experience was awesome, it’s like we’re all a big family and I’ll always feel that way coming back here.”
Stan State fed off the energy in the stands, where former players returned to watch the program in action and responded by taking three of four games in the series.
After dropping Friday’s opener, the Warriors bounced back to win three straight games, taking the series 3-1 and improving to 15–14 overall and 6–6 in conference play. Cal Poly Pomona fell to 16–10 overall and 8–4 in the CCAA.
The series win carried added significance. It marked Stan State’s first series victory over the Broncos since April 2023 and its first home series win against Cal Poly Pomona since February 2009.
With 20 games remaining, the Warriors now sit in fifth place in the conference standings, right on the edge of postseason qualification with the top five teams advancing to the CCAA Championship Tournament in May.
Stan State set the tone early, building a six-run lead in the first two innings.
Chris Ortiz (Senior, Psychology) sparked the offense with a two-run home run in the opening inning. Later in the inning, Bradley Morris (Senior, Business) doubled (hit the ball and reached second base) and Mason Kelley (Junior, Business) followed with a run-batted-in (RBI) single to give the Warriors a 3-0 lead.
The offense continued in the second inning. Eric Perez (Senior, Communications) led off with a double and later scored on Tyler Crudo’s (Senior, Psychology) RBI single. With runners still on base, Ortiz delivered again with a two-run double, extending the lead 6-0.
Cal Poly Pomona responded by chipping away at the deficit. The Broncos scored once in the third inning and capitalized on defensive miscues to add two unearned runs in the fourth. By the fifth inning, they had cut the lead to 6–4.
Warriors answered in the sixth inning when Chase Wilson (Senior, Kinesiology) doubled to lead off and later scored on AJ Carter’s RBI groundout, pushing the lead to 7–4.
Stan State added two key insurance runs in the seventh inning. Morris singled and Wilson followed with another base hit before Perez delivered an RBI double to right-center field, scoring Morris. Jacob Reyes then lifted a sacrifice fly to right field, bringing home Wilson and extending the advantage to 9–4.
Those runs proved to be the difference as Cal Poly Pomona mounted a late comeback. Evan Nahra hit a solo home run in the eighth inning, and the Broncos rallied again in the ninth, loading the bases and scoring three runs to cut the deficit to 9–8.
With the tying run threatening, AJ Victoravich (Junior, Psychology) entered and recorded the final two outs to earn his first save of the season and preserve the win.
Ortiz led the Warriors at the plate, going 3-for-5 (3 hits in 5 at bats) with four RBI, including a home run and a double, finishing just a triple shy of the cycle.
Crudo added three hits, an RBI and a walk, reaching base four times. Perez contributed two doubles and an RBI, while Wilson collected two hits and scored twice. Morris also added two hits and crossed the plate twice as part of Stan State’s 14-hit effort.
On the mound, Evan Fanconi (Senior, Psychology) earned the win in relief, improving to 1–0 after allowing just one run on two hits over three innings while striking out three. Victoravich secured the save, while Matt Lorenzano took the loss for the Broncos.
Stan State’s victory marked its first CCAA series win of the season and its third overall series win in 2026. After dropping the opener, the Warriors responded with three consecutive wins, showcasing resilience in front of returning alumni and the home crowd.
The Warriors now turn their focus to the road, where they will face Cal State San Marcos in a four-game CCAA series beginning Friday, March 27 at 3 p.m.
