Second-seeded Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (40-17, 23-7) defeated third-seeded Cal State Fullerton (29-27, 19-11) 7-2 in both teams’ first match of the Big West Baseball Championship at Goodwin Field in Fullerton, Calif., on May 22. Cal Poly lost to top-seeded UC Irvine on May 23 in a semifinal matchup.
Fullerton faced trouble in the bottom of the first after junior right-handed starting pitcher Mikiah Negrete gave up a leadoff single to Cal Poly senior first baseman Zach Daudet that found grass in center. While Cal Poly redshirt senior second baseman Ryan Fenn followed with a single to left, a bobble allowed both runners to advance to second and third. Sophomore third baseman Alejandro Garza brought home the first run of the game with an RBI groundout, but Negrete limited the damage to one after a strikeout and a flyout.
The Mustangs’ offense stayed aggressive and capitalized on a struggling Negrete in the second. Senior center fielder Casey Murray Jr. led off with a moonshot over the left-center wall, his seventh home run of the season. Senior designated hitter Cam Hoiland followed with a single to right field and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. A double to the left-center gap from freshman left fielder Dante Vachini scored Hoiland. A subsequent walk to Daudet and a Fenn single to score Vachini made it 4-0 Cal Poly. The Titan defense managed to escape behind a diving play from senior shortstop Maddox Latta and a tag at home on a double steal attempt.
Fullerton found some success in the third with consecutive singles from redshirt freshman center fielder Cam Burdick and Latta. However, Cal Poly sophomore right-handed starter Griffin Naess escaped the inning after recording consecutive outs. Naess had a stellar day on the mound, going 6 2/3 innings without allowing a run.
No additional runs were scored until the fifth inning, when the top of the Cal Poly lineup came through again. Instant offense came from the No. 1 and No. 2 batters, as a Daudet single and a Fenn double scored a run. A Garza single immediately ended Negrete’s day. He finished with four earned runs. Senior right-handed pitcher Jason Blood came on in relief and escaped the inning without allowing another run. Cal Poly led 5-0 after five innings.
Cal Poly added two more runs in the sixth and seventh innings, beginning with a Hoiland leadoff double to right field in the sixth. After advancing to third on a groundout, Vachini scored him with a single up the right side. Fenn later singled in the inning but was left on base. In the seventh, freshman shortstop Nate Castellon laced a double down the third-base line and scored off a Hoiland single. After the innings, the Mustangs held a comfortable 7-0 lead.
The Titans finally scored in the eighth inning after consecutive home runs from senior left fielder Matthew Bardowell and junior first baseman Andrew Kirchner. However, it was too little, too late after redshirt senior left-handed pitcher Jake Torres finished the game, pitching the eighth and ninth for the Mustangs and allowing only the two homers.
Fenn led the Mustangs with four hits in five at-bats, notching two RBIs in the process. Vachini also tallied two RBIs. Naess was credited with the win after 6 2/3 innings of scoreless pitching.
Cal Poly lost to UC Irvine 15-3 in the semifinal match on May 23. The Anteaters had previously swept the Mustangs in the three-game regular season series in late April. Fullerton fell to fourth-seeded Hawaii 16-4 on May 23 and was unable to defeat Cal Poly in the next elimination game.
Jordan Hum is a Sports Staff Writer. He can be reached at jrhum@uci.edu.
Edited by Benjamin Flores and Jaheem Conley.