After jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning, Cal Poly Baseball couldn’t pull out the midweek matchup against Pepperdine and fell 9-3 on Tuesday, April 4 at Baggett Stadium.
The Mustangs (7-18, 3-5 Big West) were swept by Long Beach State over the weekend and continued the losing streak against the Waves (8-18, 2-7).
“I think we’re really close, we’re a good team,” junior outfielder Jake Steels said. “We’ve been competitive and sometimes we just don’t finish at the end, but I think this is a really good team and we’ll turn it around.”
Sophomore catcher Ryan Stafford opened the scoring up in the bottom of the first with an RBI triple down the right field line.
Junior first baseman Joe Yorke then drove home Stafford on a ground out to second, giving Cal Poly the early 2-0 advantage.
However, the Waves answered in a major way with six runs over the next two innings to take a 6-2 lead of their own. Meanwhile, the Mustangs’ only response came on an RBI double from senior outfielder Collin Villegas in the bottom of the third.
“We hit the ball really good when we’re on, when we have high energy,” Steels said. “I’m just still kind of mad about this game.”
The Cal Poly offense was off for the rest of the game, not scoring a run, while Pepperdine tacked on two in the sixth and one in the ninth to cruise to the 9-3 win.
“It’s disappointing,” Steels said. “No one likes to lose, and it’s tough to come out here and lose on a Tuesday.”
Steels, the team leader in batting average (.306), scored two runs and tallied two walks in his five plate appearances. Stafford, meanwhile, recorded two hits in his five at-bats.
The Mustangs will look to turn things on Thursday, April 6 at 6 p.m. when they begin a series against UC Riverside at Baggett Stadium.