Cal Poly ends 3-game slide with rout of San Jose State
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (KEYT) - Sean McGrath earned his first collegiate victory with five scoreless innings while Alejandro Garza notched his fourth four-hit game of the 2026 season as Cal Poly defeated San Jose State 11-4 on Tuesday inside Baggett Stadium.
A freshman right-hander, McGrath (1-2) struck out six, scattered five hits, one in each of the innings he pitched, and issued no walks before giving way to four relievers in the midweek non-conference contest. Josh Morano, Troy Cooper, Chris Downs and Arlo Pendleton each tossed an inning as Cal Poly improved to 4-1 in midweek games.
Cal Poly improved its overall mark to 18-13 with its fifth straight win over the Spartans. San Jose State fell to 13-19, losing for the seventh time in its last 10 games.
With his fifth game of three or more hits over the last three weeks, Garza has elevated his batting average 59 points to .336. The two-time All-Big West first-team honoree singled four times Tuesday, scoring twice and driving in one run in the seventh inning.
Dante Vachini, Ryan Tayman, Gavin Spiridonoff and Jake Downing all added two hits as Cal Poly outhit the visiting Spartans 16-8. One of Tayman's hits was a run-scoring double in the first inning while Spiridonoff hit his second home run of the year in the third frame, a two-run shot to left-center field.
Cal Poly sprinted to a 4-0 lead in the first inning with Tayman's double, a two-run single by Antonio Castro and a sacrifice fly by Dylan Kordic. The Mustangs added three more runs in the third frame on a run-scoring single by Kordic and Spiridonoff's two-run home run.
Garza singled leading off the sixth inning and eventually scored on a wild pitch. The Mustangs added three more in the seventh on a Spartan fielding error in the outfield and RBI singles by Garza and Cam Hoiland for an 11-1 advantage.
San Jose State scored a run in the sixth and added three unearned runs in the eighth. Alex Fernandes, Peyton Rowles and Rocco Caballero each produced two hits for the Spartans.
Suffering the loss was San Jose State starter Tyler Albanese (1-1) as the junior right-hander allowed four runs and three hits in the first inning, his only frame of the game. Spartan head coach Brad Sanfilippo used seven pitchers in the game.
Tuesday's game will be the lone meeting between the two schools this season. Another game scheduled for Feb. 17 at Excite Ballpark was rained out and will not be made up.
Cal Poly plays its next two weekend series on the road, visiting No. 7 Oregon State for three non-conference games this weekend and Big West leader UC San Diego on April 17-19.
Sandwiched between the two series will be a midweek game versus Pepperdine next Tuesday (April 14) at Baggett Stadium, starting at 5 p.m.
(Article courtesy of Cal Poly Athletics)
