The Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (40-17, 23-7) Baseball Team defeated the University of Hawai’i (35-21, 16-14) 2-1 on May 24 at Goodwin Field in Fullerton, Calif., in a Big West Championship elimination game. The Cal Poly victory set up a championship matchup between UC Irvine (41-14, 24-6) and the Mustangs.
Runs were at a premium in this semifinal matchup as both pitching staffs effectively controlled the game; however, the game started with strong offense from the Rainbow Warriors. Cal Poly redshirt junior left-handed starting pitcher Luke Kovach struggled off the bat, allowing three consecutive hits without recording an out. Soon after, Hawai’i senior first baseman Ben Zeigler-Namoa scored junior center fielder Matthew Miura for the game’s first run with a double to center field. Kovach settled the nerves to limit Hawai’i to one run, recording two strikeouts and a groundout to escape the inning.
From then on, both pitching staffs stayed clear of any danger. Hawai’i junior right-handed starter Freddy Rodriguez began his day with a one-two-three inning, sitting down the top of the Poly lineup with two strikeouts and a groundout.
After a scoreless second inning, Kovach was replaced by Cal Poly sophomore left-handed pitcher Josh Morano, who took on the bulk of the innings for the remainder of the game. Morano gave up a single to Zeigler-Namoa, the first batter he faced, and a walk, but the Mustang defense on the basepaths quickly came to Morano’s aid. A pickoff and a caught stealing cleared the basepaths, allowing Morano to record the last out relatively stress-free with a groundout.
After six straight outs in the bottom of the third and top of the fourth, the Cal Poly offense finally broke through. Redshirt senior second baseman Ryan Fenn opened the bottom of the fourth with a single to left-center. Sophomore third baseman Alejandro Garza advanced Fenn to second with a single, and both runners moved into scoring position with no outs on a wild pitch. Freshman shortstop Nate Castellon tied the game up by scoring Fenn from third on a sacrifice fly. Senior center fielder Casey Murray Jr. gave the Mustangs the lead with an RBI single that scored Garza. Cal Poly led 2-1 after four innings.
The rest of the game saw both pitchers dominate the opposing lineups. Only one runner was left on base between both teams until the ninth inning. In the bottom of the seventh, Hawai’i redshirt freshman right-handed pitcher Ethan Thomas came in to relieve Rodriguez. Thomas recorded three consecutive swinging strikeouts to end the inning.
Locked in a 2-1 stalemate, Hawai’i finally threatened with only three outs remaining in its season. Sophomore third baseman Elijah Ickes led off with a single. After a fielder’s choice, senior left fielder Kamana Nahaku advanced a runner to scoring position with a single to left. Likely needing only a base hit to score the tying run, Cal Poly looked to redshirt senior left-handed pitcher Jake Torres for the save. A groundout that advanced the runner from second to third put the tying run 90 feet away with only one out remaining. Hawai’i opted to use sophomore Xaige Lancaster as a pinch hitter, but an easy ground ball ended the game and Hawai’i’s season.
Pitching was the story of the game. Morano received the win for Cal Poly, going 6 1/3 innings without allowing a run. Torres was credited with the two-out save. Hawai’i’s Rodriguez had an excellent game, going six innings and allowing only three hits and two runs, but he was still credited with the loss. Although Castellon and Murray had the only RBIs for Cal Poly, it was ultimately enough.
Cal Poly defeated UC Irvine 15-5 in the first game of the championship series, setting up a winner-take-all game on May 25.
Jordan Hum is a Sports Staff Writer. He can be reached at jrhum@uci.edu.
Edited by Benjamin Flores and Jaheem Conley.