Cal Poly Baseball won their fourth midweek matchup, taking down Pepperdine 10-2 on Tuesday, March 25, at Eddy D. Field in Malibu.
The Mustangs (15-8) collected their seventh straight road victory and remained undefeated in their midweek matchups this season. The Waves (5-19) were held hitless after the fifth inning.
Cal Poly is coming off of a series loss to No. 5 ranked Oregon State, and their offense seemed to find the grove it was missing against the Beavers.
Big fifth inning powers offense
Coming into the sixth inning at a 2-2 tie, the Mustangs scored on the first three pitchers that Pepperdine put out on the mound.
Senior second baseman Ryan Fenn started things off in the away half of the inning with his first home run of the season, going down the left field line to recapture the lead 3-2.
The next four batters all reached base safely while driving in two runs, before a sacrifice bunt gave the Mustangs one out. Two more walks and a wild pitch scored two more runs before the fourth pitcher of the inning finally got out of the inning, but not before Cal Poly made it 7-2.
Junior catcher Jack Collins hit his seventh home run of the season, putting him two behind the leader in the Big West. He ended up a triple shy of the cycle, with his 13th double extending his Big West lead.
The Mustangs had their seventh game of double-digit runs and their 13th game with double-digit hits.
Bullpen shuts down Waves
Freshman lefty Luke Kalfsbeek drew the starting assignment and had a clean first four innings.
Kalsfbeek only gave up a hit and a walk through those first four frames.
In the fifth, things started to unravel a little bit, a lead-off single was followed by a two-out two-run blast to tie the game. Kalfsbeek was able to get the final out and after Cal Poly had their offensive explosion, collected the win. His final line was two runs on three hits and a walk, with four strikeouts.
After that, Pepperdine did not record another baserunner for the rest of the game.
Sophomore left-hander Chris Downs was first out of the pen, fresh off a scoreless five innings against Oregon State. He pitched two perfect frames before handing it off to sophomore right-hander Carson Turnquist, who got the first two outs of the eighth.
Senior right-hander Tanner Sagouspe got his first work since the series opener at Long Beach, collecting the final four outs of the game to secure the victory.
The Mustangs continue their road trip, doubling back and heading up north to take on UC Davis on Friday, March 28 through Sunday, March 30 at Dobbins Field.
