Two days after falling to LMU for their second straight loss in a walk-off extra-innings dual, Cal Poly Baseball got back on the right side of the win column with a statement win on Friday, March 27 against UC Riverside.
The Mustang (17-10, 10-2 Big West) offense broke out, scoring 22 runs in what was their best scoring output since 2010 and putting an end to the short slide after their strong start to conference play.
READ MORE: “Cal Poly Baseball falls to LMU in walk-off shocker for second straight loss”
They would backslide on Saturday in a 4-10 loss to the Highlanders, but recovered with another double-digit outburst to take the final game 12-8 and seal their fourth straight series win since opening conference play.
The Mustangs offense has propelled the team to second in the Big West, as they lead the conference in batting average, hits and runs through their first 12 games of Big West action.
Ryan Tayman led the charge this weekend, hitting a home run in each game to set the tone for the offensive push.
After a similarly dominant start last season, Cal Poly will need to continue their offensive breakout if they want to make a push for the Big West title in a second straight year.
Mustangs explode for 22 runs in historic series opener
Cal Poly baseball had an offensive explosion en route to a 22-4 victory over UC Riverside on Friday. The lineup tallied 25 hits and 10 walks, and every batter with a plate appearance recorded a hit, 13 distinct players.
This marks the most runs and hits by a Mustang team in 16 years, when they scored 25 runs on 32 hits against Cal State Bakersfield in 2010.
This win comes on the heels of a heartbreaking walk-off loss to LMU, and any leftover frustrations were taken out on the UC Riverside pitching staff.
Two Mustangs had four hits games: Alejandro Garza and Jake Downing. Both infielders also had three RBI on the day, and Garza hit one of five home runs for Cal Poly.
Freshman Antonio Castro hit his first home run as a Mustang, while Ryan Tayman, Cam Hoiland, and Dylan Kordic powered home runs of their own.
Coach Larry Lee was able to get hitters’ reps off the bench and they capitalized on the at-bats. Freshman outfielder Owen Meli went 2-3 after his insertion into the game, his first multi-hit game of his college career.
Griffin Naess started for Cal Poly, and returned to his usual self, going six strong innings with three earned runs, a quality start by definition. After cruising to start the year, Naess had a couple of uncharacteristic starts in his last two outings. After Naess’ departure, the bullpen allowed one run in the three following innings, shaping up a productive day for Lee’s staff.
Cal Poly has now produced double-digit hits in 11 of the last 14 games, settling into the potential that this offense has and expects to be at. Paired with a young, yet budding pitching staff, the Mustangs should continue to showcase their capability, with some tough opponents ahead on the schedule.
Long ball dooms Cal Poly Saturday
Looking to secure the series win against UC Riverside, Cal Poly stumbled to a 10-4 defeat on the back of four Highlander home runs.
Corden Pettey drew the start but quickly got chased, failing to get out of the third inning. He gave up two homers and would be charged for five runs on six hits.
Chris Downs couldn’t immediately stop the bleeding, giving up a first-pitch double that scored the Highlanders fourth run of the frame before finally getting the last two outs.
Downs ultimately got tagged with two homers, giving up four runs in his workload.
Troy Cooper came on, gave up a run in the eighth but got through two innings of work with ease.
Jarren Sanderson for UC Riverside put two over the outfield wall, with 8 RBI’s across the first two games of the season.
Offensively Cal Poly didn’t have a bad game, it was a far cry from the 22 runs on 25 hits that they put up in the series opener, but they were unable to cash in their opportunities with runners in scoring position.
Garza had another four-hit night, and Casey Murray Jr. extended his hit streak to 15 games but neither ended up scoring a run.
Tayman continued his assault on baseballs as he smoked his sixth home run of the year and second home run of the series to left field. Nate Castellon joined him with a two-run blast of his own in the ninth for his first of the year. Ultimately it would be for the stat sheet as Riverside took it 10-4 to set up a rubber match for the series on Sunday.
Eighth inning explosion powers the Mustangs to a series win
Cal Poly used a huge eighth inning to surge from behind and take the series finale 12-8 on the road against the Highlanders.
What looked like a pitchers duel between Carson Turnquist and the UC Riverside bullpen quickly devolved into an offensive showdown in the Inland Empire.
The Highlanders opened the scoring in the third with two outs. They loaded the bases on Turnquist before pushing across three runs.
Cal Poly responded the next half inning, as Ryan Tayman led off the frame with his third homer of the series and seventh of the year. Xander McLaurin also went deep in the frame to bring it to just a one-run game 3-2.
However more trouble arose in the fourth, as UC RIverside got runners to first and third with two outs. That brought out Josh Morano, who gave up an RBI single to a pinch hitter before getting out of the inning.
UC Riverside struck again in the sixth and seventh innings. Tyler Gordon’s RBI single was followed up by a Miles Scott 2-run blast in the sixth and Robert Pitts RBI single made it a 8-5 lead for the Highlanders.
Staring down a three run deficit in the eighth inning the Mustang bats sprung alive. Cam Hoiland led off the inning with a homer to right center field, before Casey Murray Jr. tripled and was brought in by McLaurin to make it a one run game.
That brought out Joshua Martinez but he couldn’t stop the bleeding, giving up two hits and three walks without recording an out.
The go-ahead run came on Jake Downing’s single that got through the left side of the infield, Alejandro Garza drew an RBI walk and Cam Hoiland lifted a sacrifice fly to flip the result 11-8.
Nick Bonn came on in a save situation in the eighth inning, and with an insurance run from an RBI double by Dylan Kordic, slammed the door on the Highlanders to take the series.
A couple of Mustangs had hot series in the inland empire. Murray Jr. extended his hit streak out to 16 games in his hometown of Riverside, Garza went 8-17 despite an 0-5 showing in the series finale, McLaurin continued his emergence into the Mustang lineup going 7-13 with seven RBIs and Tayman belted a homer in all three games.
The Mustangs have a midweek game Tuesday, March 31 at Fresno State before Blue-Green rivals UC Santa Barbara come to Baggett Stadium April 2-4 for a critical three game set.
