23-23, 10-6
UC Irvine
29-17, 11-5
Cal Poly Wins Opener of Three-Game Big West Series at UC Irvine, 9-6
5/8/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
IRVINE, Calif. – Junior right-hander Casey Bloomquist earned his sixth straight victory while Brian Mundell and Brett Barbier each drove in three runs as Cal Poly defeated No. 23 UC Irvine 9-6 in the opening game of a pivotal Big West Conference baseball series Friday night at Anteater Ballpark.
Bloomquist (6-2) scattered 10 hits over 8 1/3 innings with one walk and five strikeouts. Only two of the five runs he allowed were earned as the Mustangs committed a pair of errors in the early innings. Senior right-hander Danny Zandona secured the final two outs.
With the win, Cal Poly evened its record at 23-23, the first time the Mustangs have been at .500 this season following a 1-6 start. More importantly, Cal Poly, 13-5 over its last 18 games, is 10-6 in Big West contests, still in fourth place but closer to the top.
UC Irvine fell to 29-17 and 11-5. The Anteaters entered the game tied for first place with Cal State Fullerton and UC Santa Barbara. The Titans and Gauchos are playing each other in Fullerton this weekend, with the Titans (12-4) winning the opener 3-0 Friday night. The Gauchos fell to 11-5.
Cal Poly, the defending Big West champion, jumped on UC Irvine starter Elliot Surrey (5-5) in the first inning, scoring twice on three hits and an error. Mundell knocked in the runs with a bloop single to left-center field.
The Anteaters scored an unearned run in the third and two more in the fourth to take a 3-2 lead.
The Mustangs wasted no time getting back on top, scoring four runs in the fifth, and pulled away with three more in the seventh.
Mundell tripled home a run and Barbier (pictured above) doubled home two more in the fifth. Jordan Ellis also knocked in a run in the fifth with a double. In the seventh, Barbier doubled home one run, Ellis tripled to knock in another and Ryan Drobny's suicide squeeze bunt completed Cal Poly's scoring.
Mundell, Barbier, Ellis and Zack Zehner all had two of Cal Poly's 11 hits. The Mustangs produced three doubles and a pair of triples in the contest. Ellis now has six triples this season, best in the Big West.
Mathias added a single to extend his hitting streak to 16 games, one shy of his career best, while Zehner and Ellis both now have 10-game hitting streaks.
Shortstop Mikey Duarte, second baseman Cole Krueter and first baseman Mitchell Holland each had two of UC Irvine's 11 hits.
Surrey suffered the loss as he allowed six runs (five earned) and eight hits in 4 2/3 innings, his shortest stint of the year on the mound, He had averaged over seven innings per start this season.
Second game of the series will be played Saturday night at 7:05 and will be televised by Fox Sports Prime Ticket. Freshman southpaw Kyle Smith (5-5, 3.17 ERA) of Cal Poly will face UC Irvine junior right-hander Matt Esparza (7-1, 3.03 ERA).
The series finale Sunday will start at 1 o'clock and will be broadcast on ESPN3.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Bloomquist, Casey (6-2)
L: Surrey, Elliot (5-5)
Batting:
2B: Barbier, Brett 2 ; Ellis, Jordan 1
3B: Mundell, Brian 1 ; Ellis, Jordan 1
RBI: Mundell, Brian 3 ; Barbier, Brett 3 ; Ellis, Jordan 2 ; Drobny, Ryan 1
SH: Van Gansen, Peter 1 ; Schuknecht, John 1 ; Ellis, Jordan 1 ; Drobny, Ryan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Mathias, Mark 1 ; Van Gansen, Peter 2 ; Mundell, Brian 1 ; Zehner, Zack 2 ; Barbier, Brett 2 ; Ellis, Jordan 1
HBP: Zehner, Zack 1
Batting:
2B: Holland, Mitchell 1 ; McClanahan, Jerry 1
3B: Kreuter, Cole 1
RBI: Hiura, Keston 1 ; Cassolato, Evan 1 ; Kreuter, Cole 1 ; Palmer, Grant 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Paulino, Kris 1 ; Holland, Mitchell 1 ; McClanahan, Jerry 1 ; Cassolato, Evan 1 ; Kreuter, Cole 2
