No. 3/4/5 Cal Poly Suffers Fourth Straight Loss, Falls to UC Riverside 7-3

Friday, May 2

Riverside, CA

6 pm

36-9, 12-4

UC Riverside

20-21, 8-5

Cal Poly

UC Riverside

No. 3/4/5 Cal Poly Suffers Fourth Straight Loss, Falls to UC Riverside 7-3

5/2/2014 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – UC Riverside snapped a 1-1 tie with four runs in the third inning and never looked back, handing No. 3/4/5 Cal Poly its fourth straight loss with a 7-3 victory Friday night at the Riverside Sports Complex.

Right fielder David Andriese doubled to knock in two runs and left fielder Thomas Walker contributed a two-run single to cap the third-inning rally for the Highlanders (20-21, 8-5 Big West).

Cal Poly, which did not lose back-to-back games in the first 10 weeks of the season, fell to 36-9 and 12-4.

Mustang junior southpaw Matt Imhof (8-3) recorded the shortest outing as a starter in his Cal Poly career, going just three innings and allowing five runs (four earned) on seven hits with two walks and a pair of strikeouts. He had a pair of 3 1/3-inning stints earlier in his Mustang career.

Junior right-hander Danny Zandona (pictured at right) pitched 4 2/3 innings in relief, giving up two runs and six hits with three strikeouts. Bryan Granger, another junior righty, secured the final out on one pitch.

Cal Poly scored single runs in the second, sixth and seventh innings, but left two runners on base five times and a total of 11 for the game.

Mustang junior left fielder Zack Zehner led off the second inning with a single and eventually scored on a safety squeeze bunt by sophomore shortstop Peter Van Gansen.

In the sixth, Van Gansen singled to knock in the second Mustang run of the game.

Cal Poly closed the gap to three runs at 6-3 with an unearned run in the seventh and senior third baseman Jimmy Allen came to the plate representing the potential game-tying run. Allen hit into a force play at second base to end the threat.

Cal Poly's 13 hits included two each by Zehner, Allen, Van Gansen, junior center fielder Jordan Ellis, senior catcher Chris Hoo and sophomore second baseman Mark Mathias, who has hit safely in 32 of his last 34 games. Mathias and junior right fielder Nick Torres had the lone extra-base hits for the Mustangs, a seventh-inning double and a ninth-inning double, respectively.

UC Riverside also collected 13 hits, including three each by Andriese, Walker and second baseman Joe Chavez. One of Chavez's hits was a solo home run leading off the seventh inning, his second of the year.

Winning pitcher Jacob Smigelski (6-5) allowed two runs and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings with one walk and four strikeouts. Southpaw Dylan Stuart tossed 3 1/3 innings for his third save, giving up one unearned run and six hits with a walk and three strikeouts.

Second game of the series will be played Saturday night at 6 with freshman right-hander Justin Calomeni (7-2, 3.67 ERA) on the mound for Cal Poly, facing UC Riverside senior right-hander Zach Varela (5-2, 2.98 ERA).