Cal Poly extends Big West baseball start to 7-0
DAVIS, Calif. - Alejandro Garza and Zach Daudet both collected three hits apiece and combined for a trio of doubles while Griffin Naess tossed 5 2/3 innings in a 4-2 win over UC Davis on Friday evening at Dobbins Stadium.
Cal Poly is now 16-8 overall and still unbeaten in conference play, extending its best Big West start in Division I program history to 7-0 after the series opener at UC Davis (12-11, 3-4 BWC).
Head Coach Larry Lee knows the weight and value of the rolling start to conference play: “It’s needed. We’ve had great conference records over the years, but there always seems to be a team that runs away with the title. We’ve won eight and nine series but have still been far behind because some teams will win those extra few games here and there. We want to stay up top.”
Garza (3-for-5), Zach Daudet (3-for-3), Ryan Fenn (2-for-5), and Casey Murray Jr. (2-for-4) all tallied multi-hit efforts, contributing to the Mustangs reaching double-digit hits for the 14th time this season, 13 of those coming in Cal Poly’s 15-3 stretch since the upset over Texas A&M.
Entering the week, the Mustangs were 17th in Division I baseball for doubles before Garza hit a pair alongside one each from Zach Daudet and Dylan Kordic.
Cal Poly only needed three pitchers to get the job done. Griffin Naess earned the decision and his 10th career win as a Mustang, improving to 3-2 this season.
Following Naess’ solid start, Chris Downs only allowed a pair of hits through 2 2/3 innings and has still not given up a run in his last 15 1/3 innings.
“[Downs] has developed more than any of our pitchers,” Head Coach Larry Lee said of the towering southpaw. “He pounds the zone with strikes and provides so many hard challenges for batters.”
Tanner Sagouspe earned his fourth save of the year after closing the last two outs of the ninth, causing a game-ending double play to seal Cal Poly’s seventh straight Big West win.
The Mustangs continued to excel in clutch two-out situations during Friday’s series opener. Casey Murray Jr. and Dante Vachini opened the game with a pair of runs in as many innings, each slapping an RBI single with two outs on the board to put Cal Poly ahead early.
Including Murray and Vachini’s RBI singles, Cal Poly finished the game rallying behind two outs in three different innings. Lee has been enjoying his team’s clutch hitting, “It’s all about having a ‘one out at a time’ mindset. I’ve been very happy with how every hitter throughout our lineup can contribute on any given day.”
UC Davis answered the quick Mustang lead with Tyler Howard’s solo homer over the right-field corner in the bottom of three.
Jack Collins’ 33rd RBI on the year, second-best in the Big West, on a sac fly in the top of five forced UC Davis starter Noel Valdez out of the game while the Mustangs retook their two-run lead.
Adding once more to the Mustangs’ lead in the fifth, Dylan Kordic legged out a double to right field, rounding Garza for the second time and giving the Mustangs a three-run gap to work with during the latter half of the game.
The Aggies managed to scrape one more run back against Naess in the sixth, but Downs and Sagouspe shut down the opposition through the remaining three innings, allowing only two total hits combined against twelve batters.
Due to inclement weather expected in Davis throughout Sunday, the series finale has been combined with Saturday’s game for a doubleheader starting at 1 pm. Game three of the series, and number two in tomorrow’s doubleheader, will take place about 45 minutes after the conclusion of the day’s first game.
(Article courtesy of Cal Poly Athletics).
