Mustangs power past Pepperdine
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (KEYT) - Dylan Kordic and Ryan Tayman belted multi-RBI home runs and Sean McGrath struck out six over 4 1/3 innings as Cal Poly rallied from an early 3-0 deficit to beat Pepperdine 7-3 in a midweek non-conference baseball game Tuesday afternoon.
Kordic smashed a three-run shot to right field, his third of the year, in the fourth inning to turn a 3-1 deficit into a 4-3 Mustang lead and Tayman added his 11th blast of the season, a two-run effort in the fifth, for Cal Poly, which beat the Waves for the sixth straight time.
In relief of starter Luke Kalfsbeek, McGrath (2-2) scattered five hits, walked one and the lone run he allowed was unearned for the Mustangs, who improved to 19-16 for the year. Pepperdine fell to 11-25.
Josh Morano (two innings) and Troy Cooper (one inning) did not allow any runs over the final three frames of the game as Cal Poly notched its 11th come-from-behind win of the season.
Third baseman Alejandro Garza blooped a single down the right-field line to knock in Cal Poly's first run of the game in the third inning. Tayman accounted for the final Mustang tally in the seventh with an RBI single up the middle.
Garza continued his torrid hitting pace with a three-hit performance, his sixth multiple-hit effort in seven games, 11th in 16, and his team-leading 18th of the season. Garza, who was 8-for-13 in the Oregon State series last weekend, on Tuesday singled twice, doubled once, and over his last 16 games has lifted his average 100 points to .369.
Tayman also had three hits with a single, double and home run, while center fielder Casey Murray Jr. added two singles. Designated hitter Braxton Thomas and left fielder Xander McLaurin each contributed a double.
Cal Poly, which produced 11 hits in each of the last two games at Oregon State, added 13 more to the total Tuesday while holding Pepperdine to eight. Julian Nunez, Kai Laxa and Joe Cardinale each had a pair of hits for the Waves.
Nunez doubled down the left-field line to push across the first Pepperdine run of the game and Laxa followed with an infield RBI single for a 2-0 first-inning Waves lead. It was 3-0 when Nunez blooped a run-scoring single to shallow left-center field in the second frame.
Gabe Maya (0-1), who relieved Pepperdine starter Austin Plisinski and gave up the three-run home run to Kordic, the first batter he faced, suffered the loss.
Cal Poly, which beat Pepperdine 12-2 on March 3, visits Pepperdine in Malibu next Tuesday for the third and final meeting of the season.
Next on the docket for the Mustangs is a three-game Big West Conference series at UC San Diego this weekend. Game times are Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. At 11-4, the Tritons are one game ahead of Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara, both 10-5.
(Article courtesy of Cal Poly Athletics)
