Cal Poly Clinches Cal State Fullerton Series With 6-3 Victory

Sunday, April 10

1 pm

19-11, 2-1

Cal State Fullerton

18-13, 4-2

Cal State Fullerton

Cal Poly

Cal Poly Clinches Cal State Fullerton Series With 6-3 Victory

4/10/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – Kevin Morgan produced three hits and an RBI, Kyle Marinconz and Dylan Doherty both drove in a pair of runs and Jarred Zill earned his third win with 7 1/3 solid innings on the mound as Cal Poly clinched its Big West Conference baseball series against defending conference champion Cal State Fullerton with a 6-3 victory Sunday afternoon before 1,591 in Baggett Stadium.

The Nos. 5-9 hitters in Cal Poly's lineup recorded all six runs scored and six of the nine hits as the Mustangs beat the Titans twice in three games this weekend and for the sixth time in their last nine meetings.

With Sunday's win, Cal Poly improved to 19-11 for the season and 2-1 in Big West games. Cal State Fullerton, which has won 28 conference titles and four national championships in its 41-year Division I history, fell to 18-13 and 4-2.

Cal State Fullerton hit just .172 and scored only five runs in the three-game series. The Titans struck out 26 times and did not steal a base.

"Starting pitching, that was the key for us this weekend," said Mustang head coach Larry Lee. "We only allowed five runs the entire weekend and our offense did enough against one of the best pitching staffs in the country.

"We cashed in enough times to win two games," Lee added. "Our defense was not flawless, but we overcame our Friday night errors to win Saturday and Sunday."

Timmy Richards smashed a one-out home run in the first inning to give Cal State Fullerton an early 1-0 lead before Cal Poly scored six unanswered runs to turn the game around.

Morgan singled through the right side of the infield to tie the game and Dylan Doherty drew a bases-loaded walk as Cal Poly grabbed a 2-1 lead in the second.

Cal Poly opened the game up with three runs in the fourth on a throwing error by the Titans and a two-run single through the right side by Marinconz. The Mustangs added an insurance run in the fifth on Doherty's RBI single to right-center field.

Cal State Fullerton tallied single runs in the sixth (Jerrod Bravo sacrifice fly) and ninth (Ruben Cardenas solo home run) frames.

Morgan went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and one RBI Sunday and was 5-for-8 in the final two games of the series from the designated hitter's spot in the batting order. In the first 28 games this season, Cal Poly's designated hitters compiled a combined .208 batting average (22 of 106).

"Morgan had a great weekend," said Lee. "We have been looking for someone to provide another quality bat in our lineup and Morgan had great competitive at-bats.

"We've been short a couple of bats all season, and from the DH spot Morgan provided us with what we needed all season long," Lee added.

Hitting .179 after the Santa Clara game last Tuesday, Morgan improved his average to .297 by going 6-for-9 in the Cal State Fullerton series with two runs scored and a pair of RBI.

Marinconz was 2-for-5 with two RBI Sunday. Brett Barbier, with one single, and Michael Sanderson, who drew a walk, have reached base in all 30 Cal Poly games this season.

Zill (2-1) (pictured above) allowed two runs and three hits over 7 1/3 innings for the win, walking three and striking out four. Justin Bruihl struck out the two batters he faced in the eighth inning and Spencer Howard pitched the ninth, striking out one.

The loss went to Titan starter Blake Quinn (3-2) as he gave up five runs (four earned) and five hits in 3 1/3 innings with three walks and six strikeouts.

Cal State Fullerton's four hits included a single and home run by Richards.

In addition to Morgan's performance in the series, Cal Poly's offense also was fueled by Nick Meyer (3-for-8), Marinconz (4-for-13, one double, two RBI) and Barbier (3-for-10, one double). Josh George, who went 3-for-11 with two runs scored, hit a sacrifice fly in the 10th inning to give the Mustangs a walk-off 1-0 victory Saturday.

"The success we had with the position players we put out there this weekend makes us relevant for next weekend," Lee said.

After a midweek game against Cal on Tuesday at 5 p.m. in Baggett Stadium, Cal Poly will visit Hawai'I for three Big West games next weekend in Honolulu.

Cal (19-9) lost two of three games at Oregon over the weekend while Hawai'I (16-15) earned a 3-0 series sweep at UC Davis to improve to 5-1 in Big West games.