Friday, April 15
Irvine, CA
6 p.m.
21-13, 8-3
4
at
3
UC Irvine
21-12, 9-5
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Cal Poly
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
4
4
8
0
UC Irvine
0
0
2
0
0
1
0
0
0
3
8
1
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Warrecker, Bryce (1-0)
L: Taylor, Troy (1-2)
S: Franks, Jason (1)
Batting:
2B: Marinconz, Nick 1
3B: Villegas, Collin 1
RBI: Lee, Brooks 1 ; Villegas, Collin 2 ; Haas, Matthias 1
SH: Marinconz, Nick 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Lee, Brooks 1 ; Doss, Reagan 1 ; Lagattuta, John 1 ; Haas, Matthias 1
SB: Lee, Brooks 1
Batting:
2B: Fitzgerald, Ben 1 ; Hadeen, Woody 1
HR: Kendle, Caden 1
RBI: Fitzgerald, Ben 1 ; Church, Nathan 1 ; Kendle, Caden 1
SH: Gleed, Dub 1 ; Nakawake, Taishi 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Fitzgerald, Ben 1 ; Kendle, Caden 1 ; Hadeen, Woody 1
HBP: Gleed, Dub 2
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
lf/1b
AB
5
R
0
H
2
RBI
2
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
pr/cf
AB
1
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
OF
/ BaseballSS
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballC
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
A two-run ninth-inning triple by Collin Villegas, shown in game earlier this season, drove in the tying and winning runs in Cal Poly's come-from-behind 4-3 victory at UC Irvine on Friday night.
Photo by: Owen Main | Cal Poly Athletics
Cal Poly Scores Four in Ninth Inning for 4-3 Victory over UC Irvine
4/15/2022 10:22:00 PM | Baseball
IRVINE, Calif. -- A two-run triple by Collin Villegas capped a four-run ninth-inning rally as No. 26 Cal Poly, held to just one run in the first 17 innings of the series, edged UC Irvine 4-3 in a Big West Conference baseball game Friday night at Anteater Ballpark.
The Mustangs, 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position entering the ninth, trailing 3-0, finally got on the scoreboard with RBI singles by Matthias Haas and Brooks Lee, cutting the deficit to a run with one out.
Reagan Doss singled to put runners at first and third before Villegas, who attended Beckman High School, Concordia College and Irvine Valley College, all in Irvine, before transferring to Cal Poly two years ago, smashed a 3-2 pitch from Troy Taylor deep to center field.
Luke Spillane gloved the ball as he fell to the ground on the warning track nearly 390 feet from home plate. The ball popped out, Lee and Doss both scored and Villegas ended up at third as he gave Cal Poly the lead for the first time in the series.
"It was a fast ball, 3-2 count, the guy was throwing hard and I was just looking fast ball the whole way," said Villegas. "I looked up, I thought it was caught and I just kept on running the bases. Luckily he dropped it."
Villegas, who lifted his batting average 100 points during a recent hitting surge and is now sporting a .309 average with 14 extra-base hits and 25 RBIs in his last 18 games, played before a large contingent of family and friends Friday night.
"I had a bunch of people out there to support me tonight and I was happy I was able to put on a good show for them and help the Mustangs win," said Villegas, who walked twice and was hit by a pitch in Thursday's 7-1 loss and was 2-for-5 Friday.
Bryce Warrecker (1-0), who missed the first two months of the season due to an injury, earned the victory. He entered the game with runners on first and second in the eighth and, after a sacrifice bunt moved the runners to second and third, secured a strikeout and fly ball to right field to get out of the jam.
Jason Franks tossed a 1-2-3 ninth for his fifth save, all since and including a come-from-behind 6-4 win over CSUN on March 18 when Cal Poly scored five in the eighth to wipe out a 4-1 deficit and beat the Matadors 6-4, igniting a stretch of 11 wins in its next 12 games. Villegas capped that rally as well with a two-run double.
The loss went to Troy Taylor (1-2) as he pitched the ninth inning and allowed all four runs on four hits and a walk.
The win evened the three-game conference series at a game apiece, setting up Saturday's rubber game. Cal Poly is 21-13 for the season and 8-3 for second place in the Big West while UC Irvine fell to 21-12 and 9-5 (fourth place).
John Lagattuta opened the ninth by drawing a walk and advanced to second on defensive indifference. Haas singled up the middle to score Lagattuta and, after a strikeout for the first out of the inning, Haas also took second on defensive indifference before Lee's single up the middle made it 3-2.
Doss singled to center field before Villegas cashed in the tying and go-ahead runs with his long triple to center field. A double play ended the inning and Franks, facing the bottom three in the UC Irvine batting order, nailed down the victory with two strikeouts and a ground ball to second base.
UC Irvine scored twice in the third inning as both Woody Hadeen and Ben Fitzgerald both doubled and eventually came around to score. The Anteaters added a run in the sixth on an inside-the-park home run by Caden Kendle.
Hits were even at eight apiece. Villegas and Lee each had two hits for Cal Poly while Nathan Church singled thee times for UC Irvine and Kendle added two hits.
The Mustangs had at least one baserunner in eight of the nine innings but squandered numerous scoring opportunities before breaking through in the ninth.
Nick Marinconz led off the second inning with a double and the Mustangs had runners on first and second with no outs in the sixth and loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh but failed to score each time, stranding 10 runners on base for the game.
While Cal Poly earned its first one-run win in six tries, UC Irvine suffered its first loss in 18 games when leading after eight innings.
Final game of the series will be played Saturday at 1 o'clock with Cal Poly senior right-hander Dylan Villalobos (0-1, 2.95 ERA to face UC Irvine sophomore righty Cameron Wheeler (2-2, 5.32 ERA).
The Mustangs, 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position entering the ninth, trailing 3-0, finally got on the scoreboard with RBI singles by Matthias Haas and Brooks Lee, cutting the deficit to a run with one out.
Reagan Doss singled to put runners at first and third before Villegas, who attended Beckman High School, Concordia College and Irvine Valley College, all in Irvine, before transferring to Cal Poly two years ago, smashed a 3-2 pitch from Troy Taylor deep to center field.
Luke Spillane gloved the ball as he fell to the ground on the warning track nearly 390 feet from home plate. The ball popped out, Lee and Doss both scored and Villegas ended up at third as he gave Cal Poly the lead for the first time in the series.
"It was a fast ball, 3-2 count, the guy was throwing hard and I was just looking fast ball the whole way," said Villegas. "I looked up, I thought it was caught and I just kept on running the bases. Luckily he dropped it."
Villegas, who lifted his batting average 100 points during a recent hitting surge and is now sporting a .309 average with 14 extra-base hits and 25 RBIs in his last 18 games, played before a large contingent of family and friends Friday night.
"I had a bunch of people out there to support me tonight and I was happy I was able to put on a good show for them and help the Mustangs win," said Villegas, who walked twice and was hit by a pitch in Thursday's 7-1 loss and was 2-for-5 Friday.
Bryce Warrecker (1-0), who missed the first two months of the season due to an injury, earned the victory. He entered the game with runners on first and second in the eighth and, after a sacrifice bunt moved the runners to second and third, secured a strikeout and fly ball to right field to get out of the jam.
Jason Franks tossed a 1-2-3 ninth for his fifth save, all since and including a come-from-behind 6-4 win over CSUN on March 18 when Cal Poly scored five in the eighth to wipe out a 4-1 deficit and beat the Matadors 6-4, igniting a stretch of 11 wins in its next 12 games. Villegas capped that rally as well with a two-run double.
The loss went to Troy Taylor (1-2) as he pitched the ninth inning and allowed all four runs on four hits and a walk.
The win evened the three-game conference series at a game apiece, setting up Saturday's rubber game. Cal Poly is 21-13 for the season and 8-3 for second place in the Big West while UC Irvine fell to 21-12 and 9-5 (fourth place).
John Lagattuta opened the ninth by drawing a walk and advanced to second on defensive indifference. Haas singled up the middle to score Lagattuta and, after a strikeout for the first out of the inning, Haas also took second on defensive indifference before Lee's single up the middle made it 3-2.
Doss singled to center field before Villegas cashed in the tying and go-ahead runs with his long triple to center field. A double play ended the inning and Franks, facing the bottom three in the UC Irvine batting order, nailed down the victory with two strikeouts and a ground ball to second base.
UC Irvine scored twice in the third inning as both Woody Hadeen and Ben Fitzgerald both doubled and eventually came around to score. The Anteaters added a run in the sixth on an inside-the-park home run by Caden Kendle.
Hits were even at eight apiece. Villegas and Lee each had two hits for Cal Poly while Nathan Church singled thee times for UC Irvine and Kendle added two hits.
The Mustangs had at least one baserunner in eight of the nine innings but squandered numerous scoring opportunities before breaking through in the ninth.
Nick Marinconz led off the second inning with a double and the Mustangs had runners on first and second with no outs in the sixth and loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh but failed to score each time, stranding 10 runners on base for the game.
While Cal Poly earned its first one-run win in six tries, UC Irvine suffered its first loss in 18 games when leading after eight innings.
Final game of the series will be played Saturday at 1 o'clock with Cal Poly senior right-hander Dylan Villalobos (0-1, 2.95 ERA to face UC Irvine sophomore righty Cameron Wheeler (2-2, 5.32 ERA).
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