After taking two of three from the University of Hawai’i during the most attended weekend series in Baggett Stadium, Cal Poly Baseball completed its eight-game homestand with a 1-0 victory against Santa Clara on Tuesday, April 15.
The Mustangs (26-9) remain undefeated in midweek games and finish their homestand 7-1. Cal Poly will travel to Santa Clara at the end of the month to look to pick up the season sweep against the Broncos (14-19).
Quiet offense gets it done
It was an unusually quiet game for the Mustangs at home. They scored just one run on five hits, the fewest hits Cal Poly has had at home this season, and one run is tied for their lowest total.
Their lone run came in the second inning. Junior catcher Jack Collins squared up a full count offering off the top of the left-center wall, caroming away from the Bronco defenders as Collins raced around the bases.
All it took was a sacrifice fly from senior center fielder Casey Murray Jr. on the next pitch to plate the lone run of the ball game.
The offense was swinging early in the count to start the game, seeing three or more pitches just three times during the first time through the order.
Sophomore third baseman Alejandro Garza extended his hitting streak to 18 games, dating back to the series against Long Beach.
Pitching staff shuts out Broncos
Freshman right-hander Troy Cooper started for the Mustangs in the midweek contest and turned in a great start for what turned out to be a pitching duel in the early innings.
Unlike his last start against San Jose State, Cooper kept the free passes to a minimum and was able to work the longest that he has this season. His final line was five innings pitched with no runs on four hits and a walk.
“The approach is just going out there without fear and trusting my stuff,” Cooper said. “Half the pitches I threw today, I didn’t hit my spot. But it was competitive enough and a different approach as a pitcher.”
First out of the pen was sophomore southpaw Josh Morano, who turned in three solid innings of relief work. His only real blemish was a two-out double in the eighth inning, which he quickly worked out of.
Senior right-hander Tanner Sagouspe came on in the ninth to collect the save. Sagouspe has been in a funk as of late, giving up multiple runs in each of his last two weekend appearances.
Sagouspe gave up a one-out single but struck out the other three batters he faced to earn his sixth save of the season.
Cal Poly baseball travels to Caesar Uyesaka Stadium in Santa Barbara for the baseball edition of the Blue-Green rivalry against the Gauchos. The three-game set starts with a rare Thursday night contest at 4:30 p.m. on April 17.
