Freshman right-hander Freddie Rodriguez earned his first collegiate victory, giving up just one hit in four scoreless innings, as Cal Poly defeated Fresno State 11-3 Tuesday night in Baggett Stadium.
Photo by: Owen Main | Cal Poly Athletics
Eight-Run Third Inning Rally Powers Cal Poly Past Fresno State, 11-3
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Ryan Stafford produced his first four-hit game of the season and he and Jake Steels each drove in three runs as Cal Poly defeated Fresno State 11-3 in a non-conference midweek baseball game Tuesday night before 1,728 inside Baggett Stadium.
Returning to the mound for the first time in nearly seven weeks, southpaw Travis Weston retired the Bulldogs in order in the first inning and freshman right-hander Freddy Rodriguez earned his first collegiate victory with four scoreless innings for the Mustangs (16-30).
Ryan Stafford had a 4-for-5 night with a single,
two doubles, a home run and three RBIs.
Fresno State (24-24), held scoreless for seven innings, broke through for three runs in the final two frames to avoid the shutout. By then, Cal Poly had already built a 9-0 lead, thanks in large part to an eight-run third-inning uprising featuring 10 hits.
Stafford doubled with two outs in the first inning, doubled again to drive in two runs in the third, hit his sixth home run of the season leading off the fourth inning and singled in the eighth for a 4-for-5 night at the plate. Playing left field Tuesday night, the catcher from Folsom, Calif., had a trio of four-hit games en route to a pair of Freshman All-American awards a year ago.
Steels contributed a pair of RBI singles in the third inning and added another run-scoring single in the eighth inning for his fourth three-hit game of the year. For good measure, he stole his 11th base of the season.
Cal Poly's 16-hit offensive attack also included a pair of doubles and two RBIs off the bat of Collin Villegas and a triple and single by both Tate Shimao and Tanner Sagouspe. The Mustangs produced just two triples in their first 33 games of the year and have tripled four times in the last 13 contests.
The Mustangs defeated Fresno State 15-5 on 18 hits back on March 28 in Fresno. Third and final meeting between the two Central California rivals will be played next Tuesday, also at Baggett Stadium.
Weston struck out the first Bulldog batter he faced since injuring his left arm March 25 against UC Irvine. Two fly balls ended his 11-pitch performance. Rodriguez (1-2) struck out two and also walked two but allowed just one hit over his four innings of work on the mound for the victory. Charlie Royle, Carlo Lopiccolo and Kyle Scott also pitched for the Mustangs.
The loss was charged to Fresno State junior right-hander Jaykob Acosta (1-2) as he surrendered seven runs, all earned, and eight hits over two-plus innings.
Cal Poly, which has the bye in the Big West Conference schedule this week, visits Utah of the Pac-12 Conference for three games Friday through Sunday at Smith's Ballpark in Salt Lake City. The Utes are 19-27-1 for the season following their 13-7 loss to BYU on Tuesday and host New Mexico State on Wednesday.
