14-7
Wichita State
7-15
Cal Poly Evens Series Against Wichita State With 7-2 Victory
3/25/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
WICHITA, Kansas – Scoring three times in the first inning, Cal Poly led all the way in a 7-2 victory over Wichita State on Friday night at Eck Stadium, evening the three-game non-conference baseball series at a game apiece.
John Schuknecht doubled to drive in one run and Ben Polshuk and Cooper Moore singled to drive in two more runs in the opening frame and Coach Larry Lee's Mustangs added two insurance runs in both the sixth and ninth frames, improving to 14-7.
Wichita State, despite outhitting Cal Poly 9-8, fell to 7-15.
Mustang redshirt freshman Spencer Howard (1-0) tossed 4 2/3 scoreless innings in relief of starter Kyle Smith for the victory. In his first collegiate win, the Templeton High School graduate (pictured above) allowed just two hits and no walks with four strikeouts.
Cal Poly's eight hits included a single and double by John Schuknecht for two RBI and Nick Meyer with two singles. Brett Barbier's 12-game hitting streak came to an end, though he walked twice.
Cal Poly's two insurance runs in the sixth came courtesy of a sacrifice fly by Kyle Marinconz and an RBI single by Schuknecht. And the Mustangs added two more in the ninth on a passed ball and a bases-loaded walk issued to Dylan Doherty.
Cal Poly is now 8-1 when scoring in the first inning and 13-1 when scoring first.
Wichita State was led offensively by Tanner Kirk and Greyson Jenista, each with two singles.
The Shockers scored their two runs in the bottom of the first inning on a groundout by Ryan Tinkham and an RBI single by Chase Rader.
Wichita State used five pitchers in the game. Starter Zach Lewis (0-4) lasted just two-thirds of an inning, allowing three runs on two hits and a pair of walks, and suffered the loss.
Final game of the series will be played Saturday at 9 a.m. PDT with sophomore right-hander Erich Uelmen (3-0, 2.02 ERA) on the mound for Cal Poly.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Howard, Spencer (1-0)
L: Lewis, Zach (0-4)
Batting:
2B: Marinconz, Kyle 1 ; Schuknecht, John 1
RBI: Marinconz, Kyle 1 ; Schuknecht, John 2 ; Polshuk, Ben 1 ; Moore, Cooper 1 ; Doherty, Dylan 1
SH: Marinconz, Kyle 1
SF: Marinconz, Kyle 1
Base Running:
RUNS: McKenna, Alex 1 ; Barbier, Brett 1 ; Schuknecht, John 1 ; Sanderson, Michael 2 ; Moore, Cooper 1 ; Doherty, Dylan 1
SB: Schuknecht, John 1 ; Moore, Cooper 1
HBP: Sanderson, Michael 1 ; Doherty, Dylan 1
Batting:
2B: Mucha, Mikel 1 ; Young, Travis 1
RBI: Tinkham, Ryan 1 ; Rader, Chase 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Mucha, Mikel 1 ; Tinkham, Ryan 1
