Cal Poly pummels Pepperdine with 9-run first inning
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. - Joe Yorke produced his second five-hit game in Cal Poly's last four contests and the Mustangs scored nine times in the first inning and coasted to a 16-4 victory over Pepperdine in a non-conference baseball game Tuesday night inside Baggett Stadium.
Yorke, who had two doubles and three singles last Friday against CSU Bakersfield, duplicated the feat Tuesday with two more doubles and a trio of singles in a 5-for-6 night at the plate, driving in three runs and stretching his hitting streak to 14 games.
Yorke is 14-for-24 (.583) in his last five games with four doubles and six RBIs. During the hitting streak, the Mustang first baseman is 30-for-65 (.462) with five doubles, one home run and 11 RBIs, lifting his average for the season 76 points from .252 to .328.
Yorke accumulated Cal Poly's 19th game of five or more hits and is the first to do it twice in the Mustangs' 28-year Division I history.
Yorke doubled to left in the first inning, knocked in two runs with a single later in the frame, doubled down the left-field line for another RBI in the third inning, singled leading off the fifth and, after grounding into a double play in the sixth, singled to center field in the seventh.
With its fourth straight win, Cal Poly, playing its final home midweek game, improved to 28-20 for the season. Pepperdine, which lost for the 12th time in its last 16 games, fell to 20-23. The two teams play again next Tuesday in Malibu.
Cal Poly sent 13 batters to the plate in the first inning, putting a nine-spot on the scoreboard with 10 hits.
Brooks Lee hit a solo home run, his 10th of the year, to right field for the first run of the game. Collin Villegas followed with an RBI double, Ryan Stafford singled to drive in the third run and John Lagattuta smashed a three-run home run off the center field batter's eye, his fifth of the year, for a 6-0 Mustang lead.
Lee continued the onslaught with a run-scoring double and Yorke singled to knock in the final two runs of the inning.
Yorke's third RBI of the game on a third-inning double made it 10-2 and Cal Poly added four more in the fifth -- Ryan Stafford with a two-run triple -- and single runs in the sixth (Brett Borgogno hit by a pitch with the bases loaded) and seventh (a fielder's choice by Villegas).
Zach Button (7-1) earned the victory, allowing two runs and four hits over 3 2/3 innings in relief of starter Steven Brooks. Button struck out three. Kaden Sheedy, Derek True and
Sebastian Kirchner combined for 3 2/3 scoreless innings to close things out.
The loss was charged to Pepperdine starter Davis Luikart (0-1) as he allowed eight runs and eight hits while securing just two outs. The Waves used seven pitchers in the game.
Lee, who has homered in three of his last seven games, finished with three hits and two RBIs, lifting his average to .374, while Stafford and Nick Marinconz each had two of Cal Poly's 19 hits.
Pepperdine collected 13 hits, including three by catcher Cole Sheehan. John Peck added two hits, including his sixth home run of the year, and Charles Masino and Ryan Johnson also had two hits for the Waves.
Cal Poly returns to Big West Conference play this weekend with a three-game series at Cal State Fullerton (19-27), a 9-2 winner over No. 15 UCLA on Tuesday night.
(Article courtesy of Cal Poly Athletics).
