Cal Poly wins opener at Big West Championship to set up showdown with top-seed Irvine

FULLERTON, Calif. - Griffin Naess pitched 6 2/3 innings of shutout ball and Ryan Fenn had four hits with 2 RBI as Cal Poly beat host Cal State Fullerton 7-2 to move into the winner's bracket at the Big West Championship.

The #2 seed Mustangs will play top-seed UC Irvine on Friday at 3 p.m. The Anteaters beat Hawai'i 7-5.

This is a double-elimination tournament with the winner getting an automatic berth into the NCAA Regionals.

The Mustangs scored 3 runs in the second inning to take a 4-0 lead highlighted by a solo home run by Casey Murray Jr.

Ryann Fenn had run-scoring single in that uprising and another RBI in the fifth inning with a double to score Zach Daudet who had 3 hits with 2 runs scored.

Cam Hoiland also had 3 hits for Cal Poly with two runs scored while Dante Vachini had 2 RBI on 2 hits.

Naess scattered 8 hits and struck out 4 for the Mustangs who improve to 38-16.