Cal Poly Baseball continued its program-record start to Big West play, taking down UC San Diego by a score of 9-6 at Baggett Stadium on Friday, April 4.
The Mustangs (20-8, 10-0 Big West) extended their overall win streak to six games, while the Tritons (14-14, 5-5 Big West) dropped their sixth of their last seven contests.
Offense continues hot streak
Facing an early 2-0 deficit, Cal Poly’s offense got into gear in the third inning. After a leadoff single, freshman Jake Downing, starting in place of Zach Daudet, ripped a triple into the gap to score the first run for the Mustangs.
Downing had never played first base in his career until yesterday’s practice. Despite that, he made some impressive plays in his maiden voyage at the position, including an over-the-shoulder catch deep in foul territory.
“Right before practice [head coach Larry Lee] came up to me and said I’m going to take the whole practice at first,” Downing said. “The biggest part was the footwork with picking throws from all over the diamond.”
Senior second baseman Ryan Fenn collected an infield single to score Downing and tie the game. Fenn collected his team-leading eighth stolen base before being brought in by sophomore third baseman Alejandro Garza before the Tritons could escape the inning.
Overall, the offense tagged Tritons starter Matthew Dalquist for his worst performance this season, scoring seven runs on nine hits.
Dalquist was chased after an RBI single from freshman shortstop Nate Castellon, and Cal Poly continued their assault on the bullpen.
Two more runs would score off a wild pitch and a fielder’s choice in the sixth before putting another pair of runs on the board in the seventh inning.
Downing had an RBI double to go along with his third-inning RBI triple, going 2-for-3 on the night.
Eight of the nine Mustang starters collected a hit, and all either scored a run or tallied an RBI.
Southpaws to the rescue
Sophomore right-hander Griffin Naess toed the rubber for the series opener and gave up a pair of two-out RBIs in the second inning. Three runs in the fourth inning spelled the end of Naess’ day after he escaped the bases-loaded jam.
His final line for the night was four innings with five runs on eight hits.
First out of the pen was sophomore lefty Chris Downs, who has seen a lot of work recently. Downs turned in scoreless fifth and sixth innings before giving up just one run on a sacrifice fly in the seventh.
Senior lefty Jake Torres came into the eighth inning, pitching a clean inning. Torres came back out for the ninth inning to convert the six-out save to take the Mustangs to 10-0 in Big West play.
The bullpen has been a strong point throughout the season for Cal Poly. When their starters are unable to get deep into games, they can turn to relievers like Downs or fellow lefty Josh Morano to bridge the gap to the late innings.
Cal Poly looks to make it 11 in Big West play, as reigning Big West Pitcher of the Week Josh Volmerding faces UC San Diego on Saturday, April 5 at 3 p.m. in Baggett Stadium.
