Bernstein Earns Second Win as Cal Poly Defeats CSU Bakersfield 13-2

Tuesday, February 24

6 pm

2-6

CSU Bakersfield

3-5

CSU Bakersfield

Cal Poly

Bernstein Earns Second Win as Cal Poly Defeats CSU Bakersfield 13-2

2/24/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Junior Mark Mathias, the reigning Big West Conference Field Player of the Year, collected two hits in his 2015 debut while freshman right-hander Andrew Bernstein earned his second win in as many starts as Cal Poly defeated CSU Bakersfield 13-2 Tuesday night in Baggett Stadium.

Mathias (pictured at right) went 2-for-4 at the plate, driving in one run and scoring three times in the non-conference baseball game. He doubled off the left-center field wall to knock in a run in the third inning.

Bernstein (2-0) (pictured below at left) allowed two runs and three hits in seven innings for the win, walking two and striking out eight. Nick Suniga and Jarred Zill each pitched a scoreless inning in relief.

Cal Poly snapped a three-game losing streak and improved to 2-6 on the year with the win while CSU Bakersfield fell to 3-5.

Junior shortstop Peter Van Gansen produced his first four-hit game as a Mustang, going 4-for-6 with four singles and three RBI, his fifth multiple-hit game of the season and extending his hitting streak to eight games. Sophomore second baseman Alec Smith was 3-for-5, including a two-run single in Cal Poly's five-run third-inning rally.

Senior center fielder Jordan Ellis contributed a single and double as Cal Poly outhit CSU Bakersfield 13-4.

Sophomore right-hander Garrett Nimmo (0-1) suffered the loss, allowing six runs and five hits in 1 1/3 innings.

Cal Poly scored a run in the first on senior right fielder Zack Zehner's groundout, added five more in the second highlighted by Smith's two-run single, and tallied one in the third on Mathias' RBI double.

The Mustangs scored twice more in the fifth on an RBI single by Van Gansen and a wild pitch and added four more in the eighth, all unearned, on a passed ball, Kevin Morgan's two-run double down the left-field line and another RBI single by Van Gansen.

Bakersfield scored its two runs in the third on a two-run infield single by designated Soloman Williams.

Mathias underwent labrum surgery on his right shoulder on Dec. 2 and missed Cal Poly's first seven games. He likely will be limited to the role of designated hitter for about a month before returning to his defensive position at second base.

Cal Poly, which opened the season with three games at Baylor, returns to the Lone Star State this weekend for three games against 2014 College World Series participant Texas Christian (6-1).