Cal Poly designated hitter Tate Shimao circles the bases after hitting his first collegiate home run in the sixth inning of Saturday's 9-8 win over Utah at Smith's Ballpark.
Cal Poly Evens Baseball Series Against Utah with 9-8 Triumph
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah -- Tate Shimao hit his first collegiate home run, Ryan Stafford gave Cal Poly the lead for good with a two-run double and Ryan Baum allowed no earned runs over 5 1/3 innings in relief as the Mustangs defeated Utah 9-8 on Saturday afternoon.
The win at Smith's Ballpark, delayed 45 minutes by rain and lighting in the ninth inning, evened the non-conference baseball series at a game apiece, with the rubber matchup set for Sunday at noon PDT. Cal Poly improved to 17-31 while Utah fell to 21-28-1.
As it did on Friday, Cal Poly jumped to a 2-0 lead with single runs in the first and fourth innings. Utah turned the game around with a six-run rally in the bottom of the fourth and led 7-4 before the Mustangs regained the upper hand with a five-run sixth-inning uprising.
Utah trimmed Cal Poly's lead to 9-8 with a run in the eighth and Kai Roberts singled with one out in the ninth before the game was halted by weather conditions.
Ryan Baum evened his record at 4-4 with
5 1/3 innings of relief Saturday against Utah.
After the delay, Kyle Scott was summoned from the bullpen in relief of Baum and, after giving up a four-pitch walk, struck out TJ Clarkson, the Utes' home run leader with 12, and induced Jayden Kiernan, one of the nation's top hitters with a .415 average, to ground into a force play at second base, ending the game.
Jake Steels produced his fifth three-hit game of the season, all singles, and Ryan Stafford doubled twice and singled once, driving in three runs in his team-leading 23rd multiple-hit game of the year. Ryan Fenn, Collin Villegas and Aaron Casillas each added two hits as Cal Poly outhit Utah 15-11.
Mustang starter Steven Brooks allowed a single and a walk in his first three innings on the mound before running into trouble in the fourth as Utah sent nine batters to the plate and scored six times, two via Kiernan's fourth home run of the year.
One week after tossing 6 1/3 scoreless innings at UC Davis, Baum (4-4) earned Saturday's victory by scattering six hits over 5 1/3 frames with one walk and three strikeouts. Both runs he allowed were unearned as Cal Poly committed four errors.
Scott earned his fifth save by securing the final two outs after the rain delay.
Steels and Stafford singled in the first inning and a grounder to third base by Villegas gave Cal Poly a 1-0 lead. Villegas doubled leading off the fourth and scored on an RBI single by Casillas for a 2-0 Mustang advantage.
After Utah moved in front 6-2, Cal Poly cut the deficit in half in the fifth on a run-scoring double by Stafford and an RBI single by Villegas.
Trailing 7-4, Cal Poly's first six batters of the sixth inning all produced hits.
Shimao trimmed Utah's lead to 7-6 with his two-run home run down the right-field line and Stafford's two-run double to the gap in right-center field gave Cal Poly an 8-7 advantage. A grounder to second by Casillas added what proved to be a needed insurance run.
Zac McCleve, a submarine side-armer who gave up the grounder to Casillas, retired all 12 Cal Poly batters he faced with five strikeouts.
Utah scored an unearned run in the eighth on a dropped fly ball in the outfield, allowing leadoff hitter Karson Bodily to reach third base, and a groundout. Baum notched the final two outs of the inning and the first out of the ninth before giving up the single to Roberts just prior to the rain delay.
Forty-five minutes later, the tarp was removed from the infield and Cal Poly held on to the one-run lead for the win.
The loss was charged to Jaden Harris (2-4) as he allowed all five runs and six hits in the sixth inning. Utah starter Merit Jones gave up four runs and eight hits over 4 2/3 innings with two walks and three strikeouts.
Graduate student southpaw Travis Weston (2-3, 6.75 ERA) will make his first start in seven weeks Sunday. He threw 11 pitches in one perfect inning of Tuesday's win against Fresno State in his first appearance on the mound since injuring his arm against UC Irvine on March 28.
Utah will counter with sophomore right-hander Cam Day (3-5, 10.03 ERA).
