Cal Poly baseball can’t quite complete comeback in loss to #6 Stanford
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. - No. 26 Cal Poly and Nos. 6/7/8 Stanford combined for 18 runs and 27 hits in a non-conference baseball slugfest Tuesday night before the largest midweek crowd ever at Baggett Stadium.
In the end, however, Stanford's 9-1 lead was a bit too large for Cal Poly to overcome as the visiting Cardinal went home with a 10-8 victory before an audience of 2,738 fans.
Cal Poly scored seven times from the fifth through eighth innings to trim the deficit to two and brought the potential tying run to the plate three times in the eighth inning, but couldn't produce the key hit needed to catch Stanford.
Stanford improved to 21-11 with its 12th win in its last 15 games while Cal Poly, which had won 15 of its last 19 games after a 7-9 start, slipped to 22-14.
Trailing 9-1, Cal Poly scored four times in the fifth inning on a two-run triple by Brett Borgogno and a two-run home run down the right-field line by John Lagattuta.
The Mustangs added a run in the seventh on Reagan Doss' third hit of the game, an RBI single down the right-field line, and closed the gap to 10-8 with two more runs in the eighth, loading the bases before grounders to shortstop resulted in force plays at second base and RBIs for Matthias Haas and Mark Armstrong.
Tommy O'Rourke and Ryan Bruno shut the door on Cal Poly by striking out the final four Mustang batters of the game.
Cody Jensen (1-0), the second of seven pitchers used by Stanford, earned the win with 2 1/3 scoreless innings on the mound, scattering three hits and striking out three. Bruno earned his first save.
Mustang starter Noah Larkin (2-2) suffered the loss, allowing five runs in 1 1/3 innings. Kyle Scott, the fourth of Cal Poly's five pitchers, allowed just one unearned run over three innings and Jason Franks struck out two in a 1-2-3 ninth.
Cal Poly's 12 hits included two each by Haas, Ryan Stafford and Joe Yorke. Lagatutta's home run was his fourth of the year.
Stanford collected 15 hits, including three by Braden Montgomery and Drew Bowser. Tommy Troy drove in two runs with a home run and double while Adam Crampton contributed a three-run double in Stanford's six-run second-inning rally.
Cal Poly resumes Big West Conference play with a three-game weekend series at UC Riverside. Game times are 6 p.m. both Friday and Saturday and 1 o'clock Sunday at the Riverside Sports Complex.
The Mustangs are 9-3 for second place in the Big West, two-and-a-half games behind first-place UC Santa Barbara (13-2). The Gauchos host Long Beach State this weekend.
(Cal Poly Athletics)
