Cal Poly Falls to Baylor 8-6 in Season Opener at Baylor Ballpark

Friday, February 13

Waco, TX

4:30 pm

0-1

Baylor

1-0

Cal Poly

Baylor

Cal Poly Falls to Baylor 8-6 in Season Opener at Baylor Ballpark

2/13/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

WACO, Texas -- John Schuknecht's 4-for-5 night at the plate sparked a 12-hit Cal Poly offensive attack, but the Mustangs committed three errors, threw four wild pitches and left 10 runners stranded on the basepaths in an 8-6 season-opening baseball loss to Baylor on Friday at Baylor Ballpark.

The game was tied at 2-2, 4-4 and 5-5 before Baylor (1-0) scored three times in the eighth inning to take an 8-5 lead. Cal Poly (0-1) tallied a run in the ninth with nobody out before Sean Spicer came out of the bullpen to retire three straight Mustang batters for the save.

Baylor has won nine of its last 10 home openers. Cal Poly had opened its last three seasons with series sweeps.

Schuknecht (pictured at right) doubled once and singled three times for his first four-hit game as a Mustang, driving in one run. He was part of the middle of Cal Poly's lineup which produced eight of the Mustangs' 12 hits, four of the five runs scored and three of the five RBIs.

First baseman Brian Mundell was 2-for-5 with a double while right fielder Zack Zehner was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI. Shortstop Peter Van Gansen also contributed two hits with one RBI.

Baylor's seven hits included two each by designated hitter Darryn Sheppard, center fielder Logan Brown and catcher Cameron Miller.

Mustang starting pitcher Casey Bloomquist threw 81 pitches in four-plus innings and allowed five runs (three earned) and four hits with four walks and three strikeouts He was charged with three wild pitches, one more than all of last season. Senior right-hander Danny Zandona (0-1) suffered the loss, though he allowed no runs and one hit in his first three innings of work before allowing two baserunners in the ninth.

The win went to Nick Lewis (1-0), the fourth of five Baylor pitchers, despite allowing two runs and four hits in 2 1/3 innings.

After giving up a run in the first inning, Cal Poly took its only lead of the game in the second on an RBI double by Zehner and a run-scoring single by Van Gansen.

The Mustangs knotted the score at 4-4 in the fourth on a single by Van Gansen plus a fielding error in the outfield followed by Brett Barbier's run-scoring single.

The game again was tied at 5-5 in the seventh on a double by Schuknecht and an RBI single by Zehner.

After Baylor broke the deadlock with three runs in the eighth, Mundell opened the ninth with a single, moved to third on two wild pitches and scored on Schuknecht's run-scoring single. But the rally fizzled as Spicer retired Zehner, Jake Lesinski and Ryan Drobny to end the game.

Second game of the series will be played Saturday at 1 p.m. PST with Cal Poly to send sophomore right-hander Slater Lee to the mound against Baylor junior right-hander Ryan Smith.

Final game of the series will be played Sunday at 10 a.m. PST.