Cal Poly baseball lost game one of three to No. 12-ranked UC Irvine by a final of 6-4, despite jumping out to an early lead.
With a crucial series underway and a packed Baggett Stadium, the atmosphere of the game had an intense feel. Still, the Mustangs kept the pressure off of them.
“We deserve to be here too, we’ve prepared for this,” sophomore righty Griffin Naess said. “We know that we [can] beat them. Pressure is perceived.”
It’s hard to approach a game with such serious implications in the same way as you would any other matchup, but chatter in the dugout was kept to a minimum about the series’ importance.
“There’s gonna be some talk about it, but we try and limit it and treat it like any other game,” junior catcher Jack Collins said.
The final two games of the series are going to be just as intense, if not more. The Mustangs are ready for more fast-paced baseball.
“I think it’s gonna be some fun baseball, and especially for us it’s going to be even more intense,” Collins said.
Collins hit his 11th home run of the season in the first inning, a three-run shot that gave Cal Poly an early 3-0 advantage. 11 big flies on the season is good for a second-place tie for most in the Big West.
The Mustangs (28-12, 15-4 Big West) only scored one run the rest of the game, also off the Anteaters’ (30-9, 17-2) starting pitcher. The left-hander who came on in relief pitched the final four innings and shut down the Mustang bats, allowing just four total baserunners.
Naess started for the Mustangs and was solid across 6 2/3 innings of work. The Anteaters did all their damage against Naess in the third inning, scoring four runs to take the lead.
“[I] had one bad inning, they started ambushing the change-up,” Naess said. “[They] started just getting some hits to fall and just ran with the momentum. Good job on their part.”
Naess was overall pleased with the pitching staff’s ability to keep a good UC Irvine offense at bay for most of the evening.
The Mustangs now find themselves two full games back from the Anteaters in the Big West standings, setting up a critical final two games of the series where the Mustangs will look to climb back into a first-place tie.
Thankfully for Cal Poly, it seems as if first place is a two-horse race, as they are up three games from third-place CSU Fullerton.
Game two of the series will take place at 3:05 p.m. on Saturday, April 25, right back at Baggett Stadium.