Coming off being swept in back-to-back weekend series, Cal Poly Baseball returned to Big West play as they headed to La Jolla to take on UC San Diego.
The Mustangs (21-17, 12-6 Big West) snapped their weekend skid taking two of three from the Tritons (16-19, 12-6 Big West).
As teams jockey for seeding in the Big West tournament, UC Santa Barbara, Cal Poly and UC San Diego all sit at 12-6, with 11-7 Fullerton occupying the fourth seed right behind them. Being in the top three is critical as the fourth and fifth seeds have to play an elimination game before the double elimination bracket begins.
Friday Fireworks power Mustangs to victory
Cal Poly used a strong middle inning performance to cruise to an 11-4 victory on Friday.
The Mustangs fell behind early but teed off on Triton ace Steele Murdock just a week after he racked up 17 strikeouts.
Griffin Naess got back to his ace ways after a couple of rough outings in the conference. He went six innings strong giving up just two runs on four hits to earn the victory.
Jake Downing pieced together a three hit game and collected two RBI’s while Braxton Thomas added on a two hit game of his own.
Dylan Kordic also added on two hits with a homer in his third straight game. Kordic was a key contributor to the 2025 postseason run, after a slow start to his 2026 campaign he is rounding into form at the right time.
Brady Estes and Troy Cooper combined for three innings of relief, giving up just an unearned run in the ninth but otherwise had no issues closing the door.
Turnquist silences Tritons Saturday
Carson Turnquist punched out 11 Tritons on route to a 5-3 victory on Saturday.
The Paso Robles native upped his career high that he set against UC Riverside earlier this season. He tallied five innings with one unearned run.
Downing continued his solid series with a trifecta of doubles, Alejandro Garza had a three-hit performance to propel the Mustang offense.
UC San Diego threatened with runners on first and second with one out in the eighth, drawing Nick Bonn in from the bullpen. An inherited runner would score, but Bonn slammed the door in the ninth to pick up his Big West leading ninth save of the season.
Mustangs drop Sunday shootout
Both teams combined for 31 runs and 40 hits, but it was the Tritons who salvaged a game on Sunday, leaving as walk-off winners 16-15.
Neither starter made it into their fourth inning of work as both offenses were on fire all day long.
Despite all of the scoring, it was generally a back and forth affair. The largest lead for either team was a 5-1 lead for Cal Poly in the second inning.
Kordic went deep for the second time in the series and his fifth time overall.
Nate Castellon and Garza had four hit games, Cam Hoiiland and Casey Murray Jr. tacked on three hits each. Every Mustang hitter except one who appeared recorded a hit, including two pinch hitters.
Cal Poly had a one-run lead heading into the eighth inning, but the Tritons rallied to put up three runs to make it 14-12. Kordic hit his three run homer to restore the advantage but Bonn was unable to hold the lead, loading the bases before giving up the walk-off single into center field.
Despite a disappointing end to the series the Mustangs have positioned themselves well in what has turned out to be a crazy Big West.
With how tight the top of the standings are, one loss could turn out to be the difference from the top seed to being sent into the play-in game in Irvine.
Cal Poly travels down to Malibu to take on Pepperdine in a midweek game on Tuesday, before heading back home to take on fifth seeded CSUN April 24-26.
