Morgan's Ninth-Inning Single Lifts Cal Poly Over Pepperdine, 6-5

Tuesday, March 1

6 pm

7-2

Pepperdine

3-5

Pepperdine

Cal Poly

Morgan's Ninth-Inning Single Lifts Cal Poly Over Pepperdine, 6-5

3/1/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Designated hitter Kevin Morgan singled through the right side of the infield, scoring shortstop Kyle Marinconz from second base and giving Cal Poly its second walk-off win of the young baseball season, 6-5 over Pepperdine on Tuesday night in Baggett Stadium.

Cal Poly led 3-1 after six innings before the lead changed hands four times in the final two frames.

With the win, Coach Larry Lee's Mustangs improved to 7-2 on the year. Pepperdine fell to 3-5.

Pepperdine erased the 3-1 deficit with three runs in the eighth inning. Left fielder Matthew Kafner tied the game with a two-run double and came home on third baseman Chris Fornaci's single to right field.

Cal Poly answered right back with two runs in the bottom of the eighth to take a 5-4 lead. Morgan scored on a wild pitch and center fielder Alex McKenna came home on right fielder John Schuknecht's grounder to shortstop that was misplayed for an error.

Pepperdine tied the game in the ninth with an unearned run on a passed ball, setting the stage for Morgan's heroics in the bottom of the ninth.

Marinconz singled off the glove of Pepperdine shortstop Manny Jefferson and first baseman Cooper Moore laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance Marinconz to second base.

A strikeout later, Morgan (pictured above) grounded a 3-2 pitch between the first and second baseman for a single and the throw from right field to the plate was offline, allowing Marinconz to score the winning run.

Both McKenna and Marinconz singled three times to spark Cal Poly's 11-hit offensive attack. McKenna is now hitting .400 while Marinconz elevated his batting average to .312. Both are true freshmen.

Morgan added two hits. All of Cal Poly's 11 hits were singles.

Pepperdine collected nine hits, including a single and double by Kanfer and Jefferson. Center fielder Matt Gelalich added a triple.

The win went to junior right-hander Justin Calomeni (1-0), the fourth Cal Poly pitcher of the game. In his first appearance of the season on the mound, Calomeni secured the final two outs of the ninth inning, both strikeouts.

Mustang starter Jarred Zill allowed one run and four hits over five innings with three walks and eight strikeouts.

Max Gamboa (0-1), the fourth pitcher for Pepperdine in the 3-hour, 59-minute contest, absorbed the loss, surrendering three runs and four hits over the final 1 2/3 innings of the game.

Cal Poly built its 3-1 lead with single runs in the second, fifth and sixth innings.

Moore's grounder to second base scored the run in the second inning, Schuknecht was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force in the run in the fifth and McKenna's infield single cashed in the sixth-inning run.

Cal Poly and Pepperdine will play a rematch next Tuesday in Malibu.

The Mustangs' other walk-off win this season was a 7-6 triumph over Pacific on Feb. 20 as catcher Nick Meyer singled to score Michael Sanderson from second base in the 10th inning.

Cal Poly wraps up a season-opening 12-game home stand with a three-game series against the University of San Francisco on Friday through Sunday in Baggett Stadium, weather permitting.