Pepperdine
Cal Poly Falls to Pepperdine 10-6 in Championship Game of SLO Regional
6/4/2014 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – Right fielder Bryan Langlois tripled to drive in three runs in the ninth inning, snapping a 6-6 tie and sending Pepperdine to a 10-6 victory over Cal Poly in the championship game of the 2014 NCAA Division I San Luis Obispo Regional on Sunday night in Baggett Stadium.
Cal Poly had rallied all the way back from a 5-0 deficit, scoring two in the eighth inning to tie the game at 6-6, but Pepperdine loaded the bases on three infield hits and Langlois smashed a no-out full-count pitch to the gap in right-center field to clear the bases, giving the Waves the lead.
First baseman Brad Anderson's sacrifice fly made it 10-6 and Cal Poly mustered just a leadoff single by junior right fielder Nick Torres in the bottom of the ninth.
With the win, Pepperdine (42-16) advances to the Super Regionals for the first time since implementation of the 64-team field in 1999 and will face Forth Worth Regional winner and No. 7 national seed Texas Christian next weekend in Fort Worth, Texas.
Cal Poly finishes its most successful Division I season ever with a 47-12 record, a Big West Conference title and two wins in regional play.
"That is one of the more impressive baseball games," said Pepperdine head coach Steve Rodriguez. "It doesn't matter if it's postseason or not, to be able to go out there and be able to beat a team like Cal Poly with the offense they have and the way (Taylor) Chris came in and did a great job.
"I tell you what, the environment that this community and this school put together and put into this was one of the most amazing things we have seen," Rodriguez added. "I told our coaches, we have played at LSU and East Carolina, places with some hostile environments, and that eighth inning here was pretty impressive. My hats go off to Cal Poly and coach Lee."
Chandler Blanchard (1-1), the third Pepperdine pitcher of the game, earned the win, pitching two scoreless innings and allowing three hits.
Junior southpaw Taylor Chris (4-1) (pictured above) pitched 6 1/3 brilliant innings in relief of Mustang starter Danny Zandona, giving up just one run and three hits with one walk and four strikeouts, before Pepperdine broke through for four runs off him in the ninth. Chris threw 100 pitches.
"The most pitches he's thrown this year is maybe 50," said Mustang head coach Larry Lee. "He kept us in the ball game. He threw great. He's done this all year."
Pepperdine scored five times in the second inning. Five singles and a pair of walks, all with two outs, did the damage, after Zandona had retired the first five Wave batters of the game.
Cal Poly responded with single runs in the third, fourth, fifth and seventh frames and tied the game at 6-6 in the eighth on an RBI single by sophomore shortstop Peter Van Gansen and a run-scoring groundout by sophomore first baseman John Schuknecht.
"We knew we were going to come back," said Schuknecht. "It was going to be a dogfight. There was no panic in the dugout, but we felt we were going to be able to tie it up and come back. The stadium was awesome and the fans deserved that win more than we did."
Langlois' first triple of the season broke the deadlock in the ninth.
"I was really trying to get a changeup because he was really working the changeup hard to right-handed hitters," said Langlois. "I got a bunch of them and I just fouled them straight back and I finally got one up and I was able to drive it. To be able to come through, it was nice."
Cal Poly outhit Pepperdine 14-12, led by sophomore second baseman Mark Mathias' four singles. Senior third baseman Jimmy Allen added two singles and a home run while Torres produced a single and home run. For both Allen and Torres, it was their sixth round-trippers of the year.
Van Gansen and Schuknecht also had two hits for Cal Poly.
"I thought we had things going," said Lee. "We were hoping to extend this until Monday, but we came up short. I'm really proud of our guys."
Langlois, catcher Aaron Barnett, left fielder Brandon Caruso and third baseman Austin Davidson all had two hits for Pepperdine.
Cal Poly advanced to the championship final with a 6-5 win over Sacramento State earlier in the day.
The three-day, four-team San Luis Obispo Regional drew 15,510 fans for six games, including 2,937 for the championship final.
"I would like to thank our community," said Lee. "It was rocking and they were really into it. They were into every pitch and they gave us a lot of energy. For Pepperdine to beat us twice in that environment says how good they are."
Cal Poly's offensive leaders in the regional (four games) were Mathias (7-for-14, one double, three RBI), Schuknecht (6-for-13, two doubles, one triple, four RBI, five runs scored) and Torres (5-for-16, one double, one home run, five RBI).
Torres, Schuknecht, Mathias, Allen and pitcher Matt Imhof made the all-regional team.
Cal Poly hit .250 in the regional while the pitching staff compiled a 4.11 ERA with opposing hitters batting .229 against the Mustangs. Cal Poly committed four errors for a .973 fielding percentage.
2014 NCAA Division I All-San Luis Obispo Regional Team
Catcher -- Aaron Barnett (Pepperdine)
First Base -- John Schuknecht (Cal Poly)
Second Base -- Hutton Moyer (Pepperdine)
Shortstop -- Scotty Burcham (Sacramento State)
Third Base -- Jimmy Allen (Cal Poly)
Outfield -- Kyle Moses (Sacramento State), Nick Torres (Cal Poly) and Bryan Langlois (Pepperdine)
Utility -- Mark Mathias (Cal Poly)
Pitchers -- Aaron Brown (Pepperdine) and Matt Imhof (Cal Poly)
Most Outstanding Player -- Aaron Brown (Pepperdine)
Photos by Ray Ambler
