Cal Poly earned its third sweep of the season with an 11-4 victory over UC Davis Sunday.
The Mustangs put up a season-high 15 hits to overcome an early three-run deficit and win their fifth series of the 2011 campaign.
Head coach Larry Lee said every win is vital for the remainder of the season, and the team needed the sweep.
“We can’t afford to lose any ball games here on out, especially conference games,” Lee said. “We did what we needed to do this weekend with some really good starting pitching …We just want to finish out the season strong.”
Joey Wagman took the mound for game three and began the game strong, striking out the first three batters.
The Mustangs jumped out to an early 1-0 lead with three consecutive singles from second baseman Denver Chavez, shortstop Mike Miller and designated hitter DJ Gentile in the first inning.
But the Aggies found an answer.
In the second inning, with two outs and right fielder Scott Lyman on first after a walk, catcher Alex Dreyfuss sent one into the gap between left and centerfield. Lyman safely reached home, and Dreyfuss scored on a throwing error from catcher Chris Hoo to third base, giving UC Davis a 2-1 lead.
UC Davis notched another pair of two-out runs with a solo home run into left field from shortstop Scott Helyman, in the third, and a sacrifice fly from center fielder Daniel Cepin in the fourth, making it 4 to 1.
The rest of the game belonged to Cal Poly, who shut out UC Davis for the remainder of the game and scored in each of the final four innings.
Cal Poly regained control of the lead in the bottom of the fifth with the help of some sloppy UC Davis fielding. The Aggies committed three errors in the fifth inning alone and gave up four unearned runs. Hoo and left fielder Jimmy Allen hit back-to-back shots off the left field wall, scoring two, and making the game 5-4.
The Mustangs scored solo runs in the sixth and seventh innings with a sacrifice fly from Gentile, and a home run from Mitch Haniger to left center. The home run was Haniger’s fourth in his last seven games.
Haniger said the team continues to play hard, and even better, kept itself in contention for an NCAA bid.
“This win was a really big deal because we’re in third right now, and we’ve got to keep winning,” Haniger said. “Hopefully at the end of the season, we’ll have a bid to the NCAA regionals. Our mentality has been really good, we’ve been playing really well, everyone’s been coming through in the clutch.”
The Mustangs finished their last at-bats in the eighth inning with another big rally. With a walk to Chavez and four consecutive hits, Cal Poly padded its lead with another four runs.
In the top of the ninth Jeff Johnson came in to close the game for Cal Poly, yielding no hits or walks and striking out two to end the game.
Each Cal Poly batter finished the game with at least one hit, and six recorded two hits. Gentile and Chavez finished the game 2 for 3, and Gentile and Haniger each knocked in three RBIs.
Pitcher Chase Johnson pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings in relief for Wagman and earned the win. Frankie Reed pitched 1 1/3 innings, allowing no base runners and striking out two.
The victory came at the heels of the team’s senior celebration. Before the game, each of the seven Mustang seniors were honored with their family on the field — J.J. Thompson, Gentile, Reed, Steven Fischback, Tommy Erlin, Eugene Wright and Jono Grayson.
Thompson said playing in the last home series was a new experience, and said he will miss Baggett Stadium.
“It’s kind of surreal right now,” Thompson said. “Definitely caught myself thinking of a lot of memories I’ve had in this ballpark with the fans and this college. It’s been such a good experience.”
The seniors will get to play one last game in Baggett Stadium Tuesday at 6 p.m. against Santa Clara before going on the road for the last seven games of the season.