A rare Monday night tilt for Cal Poly ended in a 5-4 loss to Washington State on Feb. 23 at Baggett Stadium.
The Mustangs’ (4-3) offense was a consistent producer all night long, but the Cougars (3-4) dodged big innings.
Redshirt junior Carson Turnquist got the start for Cal Poly, coming off a season where he made just four appearances while recovering from Tommy John surgery,
The rust showed early as the bases were quickly loaded and while Washington State was able to push a run across, Turnquist induced a double play to escape an early jam. He settled in nicely afterwards, going four innings with just the one run given up and two hits.
Cal Poly got one back on a wild pitch in the third, but Corden Pettey in relief was tagged with a two run double by Dustin Robinson in the fifth to restore the Cougars lead.
Gavin Spiridonoff got his second career start at second base, as the Mustangs have shuffled around the left side of the infield during non conference play.
He rewarded the decision with a leadoff bomb in the fifth for his first collegiate homer and to cut the Cougars lead in half.
More runs in the sixth and seventh innings gave the Mustangs a 4-3 lead, but the Cougars got to reliever Nick Bonn and scored two runs off of him in the last two innings. The Mustangs had a leadoff single but couldn’t cash it in as the Mustangs fell 5-4 at home.
Nate Castellon continued his solid start to the 2026 campaign with a three-hit performance, along with his smooth defensive play at shortstop.
What ended up sinking the Mustangs was their hitting with runners on base. An anemic .057 (1-17) with runners on led to 10 runners left on base. Two of Cal Poly’s four runs came on wild pitches from Washington State.
The loss is a painful setback for Cal Poly, who had set themselves up nicely for a series win after taking the first two games.
The schedule does not get any easier for the Mustangs, as they face the 7-0 USC Trojans at Baggett Stadium for a four game set starting on Feb. 26.