Mustangs flex muscles to clinch series win over CSUN
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (KEYT) - Jake Downing, Alejandro Garza and Nate Castellon all smashed home runs, Carson Turnquist earned his fourth victory and Nick Bonn notched his 10th save as Cal Poly clinched its Big West baseball series against CSUN with a 5-4 triumph Saturday afternoon.
Downing broke up a scoreless game at Baggett Stadium with a two-run homer to left-center field in the fourth inning, his first of the year and second of his Cal Poly career. One inning later, Castellon and Garza both belted solo home runs to left field for a 4-0 lead. Castellon hit his third of the season and sixth of his career while Garza now has 11 career homers after hitting his fifth of 2026.
Turnquist (4-2) pitched five scoreless frames before allowing three runs in the sixth and exiting the game. The junior right-hander scattered seven hits and, for the second straight weekend, struck out 11 opposing batters, his career high, while issuing three walks. He threw a season-high 105 pitches.
Bonn, who suffered losses and blown saves the last two weeks at Oregon State and UC San Diego, wriggled out of an eight-inning jam and struck out the Nos. 3-4-5 hitters in the Matador lineup in the ninth to earn his 10th save, best in the Big West and second in the nation.
An 8-5 winner in the series opener Friday night, Cal Poly clinched its sixth conference series in seven tries and improved to 23-18 for the season. The Mustangs remain tied with UC San Diego, which beat UC Irvine 9-4, for first place in the Big West. Both teams are 14-6. Fourth-place Cal State Fullerton (12-8) scored three times in the ninth inning to defeat UC Santa Barbara 9-7 as the Gauchos fell from first place to third at 13-7.
Mustang center fielder Casey Murray went 3-for-4 at the plate with two runs scored, giving him 12 multiple-hit games this season. Downing and right fielder Dylan Kordic each added a pair of hits for Cal Poly, continuing their recent success at the plate.
A .150 hitter in late March, Downing is 14-for-27 (.519) in his last six games to bump his average up 63 points to .279. Kordic is 13-for-28 (.464) with four home runs and 12 RBIs over his last eight games, and the .167 hitter in late March is now batting .291.
First baseman Gavin Spiridonoff had his six-game hitting streak snapped Saturday. The freshman was 12-for-20 (.600) during the streak, lifting his batting average 73 points, before going 0-for-4 Saturday. Spiridonoff still owns a .313 mark.
CSUN outhit the Mustangs 10-9, led by shortstop Trent Abel with two doubles and a single. Outfielder Matthew Thomas added two singles. The Matadors snapped Cal Poly's streak of eight consecutive games producing double-digit hits.
After the barrage of home runs by Cal Poly in the fourth and fifth innings, Kordic doubled in the fifth to drive home Murray from second base and give the Mustangs a 5-0 cushion.
The Matadors struck for three runs in the sixth to close the gap to 5-3. Kyle Panganiban tripled to right field to score two runs and Thomas singled to left for the third tally.
The Mustang lead was trimmed to one run in the seventh. Two singles preceded a run-scoring double to left by Trent Abel, but Mateo Rickman, representing the potential game-tying run, was caught in a rundown between third and home and was tagged out by Garza a few steps shy of the plate.
Bonn issued a leadoff walk in the eighth, but recorded his first strikeout and induced Vaughn Coleman to ground into an around-the-horn inning-ending 5-4-3 double play. The senior right-hander then struck out the side in the ninth, the last two looking, to close out the game.
The loss was charged to CSUN's Traig Oughton (4-1) as he gave up all five Cal Poly runs and eight hits over 3 2/3 innings in relief of starter Charles Rogers.
Saturday's start time was moved up three hours due to an incoming storm front. Some rain fell during the fifth inning, but the game was completed moments prior to the arrival of the heavier precipitation.
Final game of the series is set for a 1:05 p.m. first pitch Sunday with Cal Poly's Corden Pettey (2-2, 5.32 ERA) facing CSUN's Charles Rogers (0-1, 7.00 ERA) in a matchup of freshman right-handers. Rogers, who pitched a scoreless first inning Saturday, also tossed the first inning last Saturday and Sunday against UC Davis.
(Article courtesy of Cal Poly Athletics).
