Tayman ties Cal Poly records with another grand slam in road win at Fresno State

FRESNO, Calif. (KEYT) - Ryan Tayman smashed his third grand slam of the year, tying a school Division I record, and homered for the fourth straight game, driving in five runs, to power Cal Poly to a 10-4 victory over Fresno State in a non-conference midweek game Tuesday on Pete Beiden Field at Bob Bennett Stadium.

Tayman hit a solo home run in the fifth inning to extend Cal Poly's early lead to 3-0 and his grand slam on a 1-1 pitch in the sixth broke the game open. He is the 59th Mustang in the school's 32-year Division I history to produce a multi-homer game. Only one has hit three homers in a single game, Boyd Dodder at Nevada in 1997.

With the win, played in off-and-on misty light rain since the fourth inning, Cal Poly improved to 8-3 in road games and 17-10 overall by pounding out double-digit hits for the 13th time in its last 17 contests.

Fresno State, which battled New Mexico to an 18-18 draw in 10 innings Sunday in Albuquerque, called after 4 hours and 41 minutes due to a travel curfew, fell to 8-17-1 for the season.

Cal Poly led 2-0 in the second inning. Braxton Thomas and Dylan Kordic belted back-to-back doubles for the first run and Jake Downing's RBI single up the middle tallied the second run.

Tayman's solo home run to left-center field in the fifth made it 3-0.

After Fresno State pulled to within a run at 3-2 with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth, Cal Poly loaded the bases on two walks and a Bulldog error in the infield before Tayman's four-run blast, also to left-center field, gave the Mustangs a 7-2 cushion.

His third grand slam of the year ties Grant Desme's performance during the 2007 season against Rice, Santa Clara and Nevada. Earlier this season, Tayman hit grand slams in back-to-back games against Fresno State on March 10 and Cal State Bakersfield on March 13, both at Baggett Stadium.

Cal Poly added another run in the eighth as Nate Castellon doubled and came home on Cam Hoiland's bouncer over first base for an RBI single in a 10-pitch at-bat and added its final two tallies in the ninth on Antonio Castro's RBI single up the middle and a Bulldog throwing error.

Tayman was the lone Mustang with multiple hits, adding a first-inning single to his pair of home runs and lifting his total for the season to nine and his batting average to .333 at the midpoint of Cal Poly's 2026 season.

Center fielder Casey Murray Jr. doubled moments after Tayman's grand slam in the sixth inning, extending his hitting streak to 17 games.

Fresno State was held to six hits by six Mustang pitchers. Designated hitter Griffen Sotomayor singled twice and knocked in three runs for the Bulldogs.

Cal Poly starter Luke Kalfsbeek allowed two runs and one hit over 4 1/3 innings. The win went to lefty Chris Downs, who pitched a one-two-three sixth inning. Sean McGrath and Nick Bonn also tossed one scoreless frame.

When Downs entered the game in the fifth, the first batter he faced, Michael Boyd, lined the ball back at Downs. He was able to get his glove up in front of his face just in time to avoid serious injury and made the throw to first base for the out. On the next play, Downs covered first base on a grounder to Downing for the second out of the inning.

The loss was charged to Fresno State starter Erik Rico (0-1) as he allowed the pair of runs in the second inning, his final inning of work on the mound.

A 13-3 winner over Fresno State in early March at Baggett Stadium, Cal Poly has now won nine of its last 10 games against Fresno State and 31 of the last 43 matchups. The Bulldogs still lead the all-time series, however, with 121 wins against 75 losses since the first meeting in 1945. One more game between the Central California rivals will be played May 12 in Fresno.

Cal Poly, first in the Big West with a 10-2 record, wrapped up a five-game road trip with Tuesday's triumph and returns home to resume conference play and the Blue-Green Rivalry with a three-game series against UC Santa Barbara inside Baggett Stadium.

First pitches for the Big West series, scheduled for Thursday through Saturday due to Easter Sunday, are set for 6:05, 6:05 and 1:05 p.m.

(Article courtesy of Cal Poly Athletics)