Three Hits by Stewart Lift Cal Poly to Win Over Minnesota

Friday, March 25

6 pm

8-10

Minnesota

7-8

Minnesota

Cal Poly

Three Hits by Stewart Lift Cal Poly to Win Over Minnesota

3/25/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – Junior catcher Elliot Stewart snapped a 2-for-22 slump with three hits and an RBI as Cal Poly defeated Minnesota 5-1 in the opener of a three-game non-conference baseball series Friday night in Baggett Stadium.

But the win might have come with a price as the Mustangs, already minus three starters, could lose two more for the rest of the weekend series.

Sophomore third baseman Evan Busby was hit in the back of the head by an errant pickoff throw at second base while sophomore right fielder Mitch Haniger was removed from the game in the ninth inning with a sore back.

Cal Poly, already without junior second baseman Matt Jensen (wrist injury), junior shortstop Mike Miller (wrist injury) and freshman first baseman/outfielder Tim Wise (hamstring injury), improved to 8-10 with Friday's win. Minnesota, playing the 15th of 17 consecutive road games to start the season, slipped to 7-8.

Senior right-hander Steven Fischback (2-1) struck out a season-high nine batters, two shy of his career high, and did not walk a batter while giving up one run and three hits in seven innings of work on the mound. Eugene Wright and Jeff Johnson each pitched one scoreless inning in relief.

The loss went to Minnesota right-hander TJ Oakes (1-3), who surrendered three runs and five hits in seven innings. He walked three and also struck out three.

Oakes and Fischback sailed through the first four innings in scoreless fashion before Cal Poly broke through for two runs in the bottom of the fifth. After a single, walk and sacrifice bunt put Mustang runners at second and third with one out, two freshmen drove in the runs.

Jimmy Allen grounded out to second base to push across the first run of the game and David Armendariz singled up the middle to give Cal Poly a 2-0 lead.

Minnesota scored its lone run of the game in the top of the sixth on back-to-back two-out doubles by AJ Pettersen and Andy Henkemeyer, but the Mustangs got the run back in the bottom of the sixth on Stewart's RBI double to left-center field.

Cal Poly tallied two insurance runs in the eighth, thanks to a pair of errors by Minnesota and shortstop J.J. Thompson's RBI single to left field. Both runs were unearned.

Cal Poly outhit Minnesota 7-3 and played errorless defense in the Mustangs' quickest game of the year (2 hours, 1 minute). The three Mustang pitchers used in the game struck out 12 Gopher batters. Stewart (pictured above) singled twice and doubled once to lift his batting average 45 points to .267.

Second game of the series will be played Saturday at 4 p.m., with Cal Poly junior right-hander Mason Radeke (2-1, 3.06 ERA) to face Minnesota senior southpaw Phil Isaksson (1-1, 2.49 ERA).

The series finale is set for Sunday at 10 a.m.