Cal Poly baseball suffered a 9-3 non-conference loss at the hands of the University of California Golden Bears on Tuesday, Apr. 5 at Stu Gordon Stadium in Berkeley.
The Mustangs’ (18-11, 5-1 Big West) six-game winning streak was snapped by the Bears (13-15, 5-7 Pac-12) in the loss. Cal Poly defeated Cal 14-4 in their last meeting on Mar. 22.
In the top of the first, walks from sophomore shortstop Brooks Lee, junior catcher Collin Villegas and senior third baseman Tate Samuelson loaded the bases, but the Mustang offense failed to deliver, keeping the game at 0-0.
Scoreless second innings from both squads turned the game to the third, where Cal broke through. The Bears loaded the bases on three straight singles. A fourth consecutive single got the Golden Bears on the board, with a sacrifice fly and a double bringing home three more runs, giving Cal a 4-0 advantage.
In the fourth, sophomore second baseman Nick Marinconz and graduate right fielder John Lagattuta launched back-to-back home runs to start the inning, narrowing the Golden Bear lead to 4-2.
Cal Poly chipped away another run in the fifth. Lee delivered his nation-leading 17th double of the season to lead off the inning. After advancing to third on a groundout, a Villegas groundout brought Lee home to make it 4-3 in favor of Cal.
The Bears added one insurance run in the sixth, two in the seventh and two in the eighth to extend their lead to 9-3, closing out the game with five unanswered runs.
Sophomore starting pitcher Kyle Scott (0-3) took the loss for Cal Poly, going just two innings while allowing four runs on six hits.
Cal Poly is back in action against Big West rival Long Beach State for a three-game set from Friday, Apr. 8 through Sunday, Apr. 10 inside Baggett Stadium.
