Cal Poly blanked at #16 Texas

AUSTIN, TX. - Redshirt sophomore ace Jakob Wright led Cal Poly into a pitcher's duel and overall defensive battle as Cal Poly fell in an incredibly tight contest against the country's 16th-ranked team and winningest program of all-time, the Texas Longhorns. With just 8 hits combined between the two teams and only 3 through the first 5 innings, the Mustangs held true to their recent defensive prowess but still fell to one of the best offenses in college baseball, 2-0.

Leading batter Jake Steels started first in the order, as usual, and sent a message by making contact with every swing and singling to center field. However, Texas' right-handed starter, Lebarron Johnson, responded well with a 1-2-3 inning after that.

Jakob Wright opened the game in stellar fashion with a pair of three-up, three-down innings to go with two strikeouts, including the Longhorns' star leadoff hitter and future MLB draftee Jared Thomas in the game's first at-bat.

In the bottom of the third, Texas had two batters walk, putting Wright and Cal Poly into a pinch. However, a double steal attempt failed when Wright and shortstop Aaron Casillas caught the first base runner on his way to second. The second base runner advanced, but Jakob Wright made short work of the scoring effort with his second swinging strikeout on Jared Thomas to end the inning.

A flurry of defensive miscues that included a balk, wild pitch, and failed pickoff attempt ended with Texas finally taking its first lead of the game, 1-0. After shutting down the rest of the inning, Wright finished his outstanding game with 95 pitches, 5.1 innings, 7 strikeouts, and just one earned run allowed.

The Mustang bats fell cold due to consistently perfect innings from the Texas defense and pitcher Johnson. Cal Poly would not find another hit until Ryan Stafford singled to left field. He advanced on a balk but was caught stealing shortly after.

Reliever Jacob Torres picked up where Wright left off as the Mustangs continued to hold Texas in place until the bottom of the eighth inning when Texas hit back-to-back doubles that increased the lead to 2-0. Right-hander Tanner Sagouspe came through to end the inning after striking out his two only batters, giving Cal Poly one last chance to recover.

Ryan Stafford wasted no time getting on base with his second single of the game. Evan Cloyd came up to bat as the potential tying run at the plate with Stafford on first and two outs. Cloyd battled hard to a 3-2 count before grounding out to the Texas shortstop as the Longhorns closed the game out 2-0.

After a promising start to 2024's first road series, the Mustangs and game two starter Steven Brooks will return Saturday evening, Feb. 23 against the Longhorns.
{Article courtesy of Cal Poly Athletics).