Cal Poly Finalizes UC Davis Series Sweep With 11-4 Victory

Sunday, May 15

1 pm

24-22, 13-8

UC Davis

16-30, 8-10

UC Davis

Cal Poly

Cal Poly Finalizes UC Davis Series Sweep With 11-4 Victory

5/15/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – Two freshmen -- catcher Chris Hoo and left fielder Jimmy Allen -- capped a four-run rally with key hits and right-hander Chase Johnson, another freshman, earned his second collegiate victory on Senior Day as Cal Poly completed its third series sweep of the season with an 11-4 victory over UC Davis on Sunday before 1,179 in Baggett Stadium.

Hoo doubled to drive in the tying run and Allen tripled to knock in the go-ahead run in the fifth inning as Cal Poly rallied from an early 4-1 deficit for the win, improving to 24-22 for the season and 13-8 for third place in the Big West.

UC Davis, which went into the series having won seven of its last nine games, fell to 16-30 and 8-10 with Sunday's loss. Cal Poly is now 22-5 in its all-time series against the Aggies with seven straight series wins.

After seven Mustang seniors were honored in a pregame ceremony, Cal Poly scored a run in the bottom of the first inning as designated hitter DJ Gentile, playing his final Sunday home game, singled through the left side of the UC Davis infield for an RBI.

The Aggies responded with two runs in the second frame and single tallies in the third and fourth innings for a 4-1 cushion.

Then in the Mustang fifth, Cal Poly took advantage of three UC Davis errors for a quartet of unearned runs. Shortstop Mike Miller stole third as part of a double steal and scored on a throwing error. A wild pitch allowed the second run to score and Hoo's double to left tied the game at 4-4. Allen (pictured above) snapped the deadlock by hitting a 1-1 pitch down the left-field line for an RBI triple and a 5-4 Cal Poly lead.

The hits by Hoo and Allen were the only Mustang hits of the inning.

The Mustangs added single runs in the sixth and seventh frames and broke the game open with another four-run rally in the eighth highlighted by an RBI single by Gentile, a run-scoring double by third baseman J.J. Thompson and a two-run single to center field by right fielder Mitch Haniger.

Both Gentile and Haniger drove in three runs. Gentile singled twice to go with a sacrifice fly while Haniger hit a solo home run in the seventh inning -- his fifth of the season and fourth in his last seven games -- to go with his two-run single in the eighth.

Gentile leads the Mustangs with nine multiple-RBI games and 32 RBI this season.

Miller, Hoo, Allen and second baseman Denver Chavez also had two hits each as Cal Poly put together a 15-hit offensive attack, tying the season high accomplished twice before.

UC Davis collected seven hits, including two doubles and an RBI by catcher Alex Dreyfuss, a single and solo home run by shortstop Scott Heylman and two singles by left fielder David Popkins.

Johnson (2-5) pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings in relief of starter Joey Wagman for the win, allowing just one walk and one hit with one strikeout. Frankie Reed tossed 1 1/3 scoreless frames while Jeff Johnson pitched a scoreless ninth. Both recorded two strikeouts.

The loss went to Aggie starter Dayne Quist (2-6) as he allowed five runs (one earned) and 10 hits in 4 2/3 innings. The southpaw struck out three and walked one.

In addition to Gentile, Thompson and Reed, the other seniors honored prior to the game were pitchers Tommy Erlin, Eugene Wright and Steven Fischback along with outfielder Jono Grayson.

Haniger went 5-for-12 in the series with two doubles, one home run and three RBI while Allen and Crocker each collected four hits. Gentile and Chavez both went 3-for-8 -- Gentile driving in four runs and Chavez two.

The Mustangs, who swept Valparaiso and Cal State Northridge earlier this season, also won series against UC Riverside and Cal State Fullerton. All five series wins were in Baggett Stadium, where Cal Poly is 19-7. The Mustangs are 5-15 on the road with no series wins so far.

The weekend series with UC Davis drew a total of 3,778 fans.

Cal Poly plays its final home game of the 2011 season Tuesday night, hosting Santa Clara (17-28) at 6 o'clock in Baggett Stadium.

The Mustangs will play their final seven games on the road -- a Big West series at Pacific next weekend, a single game May 24 at Stanford and a three-game non-conference series May 27-29 at Cal State Bakersfield.