Sunday, March 9
San Luis Obispo, CA
1:00 PM
9-6, 3-0
10
vs
4
Cal State Fullerton
4-11, 0-3
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Cal State Fullerton
0
0
3
0
0
0
0
1
0
4
5
0
Cal Poly
0
0
1
7
2
0
0
0
X
10
16
1
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Marmie, Ethan (2-1)
L: Hernandez, Chris (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Latta, Maddox 1 ; Lombardi, Niko 1
RBI: Johnstone, Carter 1 ; Kirchner, Andrew 1 ; Bardowell, Matthew 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Johnstone, Carter 1 ; Latta, Maddox 1 ; Perez, Waldie 1 ; Lombardi, Niko 1
SB: Latta, Maddox 1
Batting:
2B: Kordic, Dylan 1 ; Daudet, Zach 1
3B: Daudet, Zach 1
RBI: Vachini, Dante 1 ; Castellon, Nate 2 ; Garza, Alejandro 2 ; Murray Jr., Casey 1 ; Kordic, Dylan 1 ; Downing, Jake 1 ; Daudet, Zach 2
SH: Vachini, Dante 1 ; Castellon, Nate 1
SF: Garza, Alejandro 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Vachini, Dante 1 ; Castellon, Nate 1 ; Garza, Alejandro 1 ; Murray Jr., Casey 1 ; Knowles, Dylan 1 ; Downing, Jake 2 ; Daudet, Zach 3
HBP: Vachini, Dante 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
0
H
3
RBI
1
AB
4
R
3
H
3
RBI
2
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Baseball
C
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
OF
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
Photo by: Christina Thai
Mustangs Sweep Cal State Fullerton in Big West Opening Series
3/9/2025 7:00:00 PM | Baseball
SAN LUIS OBISPO — Sophomore right-hander Ethan Marmie earned his second career collegiate victory in as many weeks while right fielder Dylan Kordic and first baseman Zach Daudet each collected three of Cal Poly's 16 hits as the Mustangs completed a sweep of their first Big West series of the 2025 season Sunday with a 10-4 victory over Cal State Fullerton.
Cal Poly (9-6, 3-0 Big West) swept Cal State Fullerton (4-11, 0-3 Big West) for the third time in the last five years and owns a 13-3 mark against the four-time national champion Titans since the 2020 COVID season when no conference games were played.
"When I first started out at Cal Poly, Fullerton and Long Beach were like light years ahead of us," said 23rd-year Mustang head coach Larry Lee. "It took some time to turn the table."
Cal Poly has won six of its last 10 series against the Titans with a 19-12 mark. The Mustangs hold similar winning marks against the other nine teams in the Big West, including a 4-1-1 series mark in the last six years against Long Beach State, a 7-5 series advantage over UC Irvine the last 12 seasons and a 7-5 series record versus UC Santa Barbara since 2012.
"If you go back far enough, we have a winning record in conference games and conference series, but still, Fullerton has that history behind them and you don't take them lightly," said Lee. "They are just struggling at this time of the year and we've been there many times before."
Although Cal State Fullerton had the lead in each game of the weekend series at Baggett Stadium, Cal Poly was able to bounce back for the three victories. The Mustangs trailed 9-8 before scoring single runs in the ninth (wild pitch) and 11th (RBI single by Dylan Knowles) innings for Friday's 10-9 win and Cal Poly overcame 6-1 and 8-7 deficits with four late runs to claim Saturday's contest 11-8.
The Titans jumped to a 3-0 lead in Sunday's third inning, but it was the only difficult inning Marmie had on the day as he scattered five hits over 7 2/3 innings with six strikeouts, one week after notching a career-high seven strikeouts in 8 2/3 innings of his win against Seton Hall. Marmie retired 12 of 13 Titan batters from the fourth through seventh innings.
Cal Poly bounced back from Sunday's 3-0 deficit with a run in the third and exploded for seven runs in the fourth to turn the game around. The rally was highlighted by a two-run triple by Daudet, run-scoring singles by second baseman Jake Downing, left fielder Dante Vachini, third baseman Alejandro Garza and Kordic plus a bases-loaded walk drawn by center fielder Casey Murray Jr.
A two-run single by shortstop Nate Castellon in the fifth inning completed Cal Poly's scoring. Cal State Fullerton scored its final run in the eighth.
Vachini, Castellon, Garza and Downing each had two hits for Cal Poly while Castellon, Garza and Daudet all drove in a pair of runs. The Mustangs have produced double-digit hits in seven of their last eight games and hit .385 in their series versus the Titans.
As Cal Poly's designated hitter, Knowles made his first career start Sunday. He notched his second career walk-off hit Friday with his 11th-inning RBI single, adding to his run-scoring single against North Dakota State a year ago.
Daudet, who earned his first four-hit game as a Mustang on Saturday, followed with three more hits Sunday before the Titans ended his streak of seven hits in seven at-bats with a grounder to shortstop in the seventh frame.
Downing replaced Ryan Fenn at second base for the entire series and went 5-for-13 at the plate along with fielding six chances without an error. Fenn was sidelined with a rib injury, the result of being hit by a pitch in the Texas A&M series two weeks ago.
Cal Poly compiled double-digit runs in each game of the series, outscoring the Titans 31-21. Last time the Mustangs swept a three-game series with double-digit runs in each contest was at Pacific in 2007. Cal Poly scored 10 or more runs in five consecutive games in 2009.
Catcher Jack Collins, who had four hits and three RBIs in the series, went hitless Sunday for the first time this season, his 14-game hitting streak coming to an end.
Cal Poly won just one of its first six games this season before turning things around. Sunday's victory was the Mustangs' eighth in nine outings.
During the 1-5 start, Cal Poly hit just .196 with 17 runs and 39 hits. Since and including the historic 3-2 win at then-No. 1 Texas A&M on Feb. 23, the Mustangs have hit .349 with 91 runs and 118 hits.
"Things kind of just developed," said Lee. "In the first two weekends, we faced some elite pitching ands elite players. The first week (against UCLA), we weren't really ready to take on a team at that level. Then in the second week, we went to Texas A&M and played a lot better with three competitive games. We lost a one-run game and won the Sunday game. That started it.
"We continued to progress on the mound, defensively and especially at the plate," Lee added. "The games over the last week or two, we really swung the bats well, created a lot of opportunities and cashed in. A lot of guys in each lineup had multiple hits and we're doing a lot of the little things correctly that lead to multiple runs in an inning."
Lee tried several lineup combinations during the first two weeks of the season, finally settling on Vachini in the leadoff spot
"I told our players before the first game that the lineup for the first game is not going to be the lineup in the last game of the season," said Lee. "Opportunities may come and you need to be ready.
"Moving Vachini to the leadoff spot changed everything," Lee added "He or Fenn would have been our leadoff hitter and I decided Fenn would be a little better in the No. 2 hole. Vachini's on-base percentage is extremely high, and so is Castellon's (.513)."
Vachini is hitting .321 after the Cal State Fullerton series and Castellon is at .340 . Castellon was 6-for-11 in the series while Vachini went 5-for-14.
"Vachini and Castellon are the two freshmen that play every day," said Lee. "Those guys aren't scared. They play like veterans, they have great makeup and they maximize whet they get out of themselves. It's contagious, even for the older guys, the way they carry themselves. And it makes a big difference. Everybody needs to have that inner confidence."
Cal Poly visits San Jose State (10-5) on Tuesday before resuming Big West play next weekend at Long Beach State. The Dirtbags (6-9) lost two of three games to UC Irvine over the weekend.
Cal Poly (9-6, 3-0 Big West) swept Cal State Fullerton (4-11, 0-3 Big West) for the third time in the last five years and owns a 13-3 mark against the four-time national champion Titans since the 2020 COVID season when no conference games were played.
"When I first started out at Cal Poly, Fullerton and Long Beach were like light years ahead of us," said 23rd-year Mustang head coach Larry Lee. "It took some time to turn the table."
Cal Poly has won six of its last 10 series against the Titans with a 19-12 mark. The Mustangs hold similar winning marks against the other nine teams in the Big West, including a 4-1-1 series mark in the last six years against Long Beach State, a 7-5 series advantage over UC Irvine the last 12 seasons and a 7-5 series record versus UC Santa Barbara since 2012.
"If you go back far enough, we have a winning record in conference games and conference series, but still, Fullerton has that history behind them and you don't take them lightly," said Lee. "They are just struggling at this time of the year and we've been there many times before."
Although Cal State Fullerton had the lead in each game of the weekend series at Baggett Stadium, Cal Poly was able to bounce back for the three victories. The Mustangs trailed 9-8 before scoring single runs in the ninth (wild pitch) and 11th (RBI single by Dylan Knowles) innings for Friday's 10-9 win and Cal Poly overcame 6-1 and 8-7 deficits with four late runs to claim Saturday's contest 11-8.
The Titans jumped to a 3-0 lead in Sunday's third inning, but it was the only difficult inning Marmie had on the day as he scattered five hits over 7 2/3 innings with six strikeouts, one week after notching a career-high seven strikeouts in 8 2/3 innings of his win against Seton Hall. Marmie retired 12 of 13 Titan batters from the fourth through seventh innings.
Cal Poly bounced back from Sunday's 3-0 deficit with a run in the third and exploded for seven runs in the fourth to turn the game around. The rally was highlighted by a two-run triple by Daudet, run-scoring singles by second baseman Jake Downing, left fielder Dante Vachini, third baseman Alejandro Garza and Kordic plus a bases-loaded walk drawn by center fielder Casey Murray Jr.
A two-run single by shortstop Nate Castellon in the fifth inning completed Cal Poly's scoring. Cal State Fullerton scored its final run in the eighth.
Vachini, Castellon, Garza and Downing each had two hits for Cal Poly while Castellon, Garza and Daudet all drove in a pair of runs. The Mustangs have produced double-digit hits in seven of their last eight games and hit .385 in their series versus the Titans.
As Cal Poly's designated hitter, Knowles made his first career start Sunday. He notched his second career walk-off hit Friday with his 11th-inning RBI single, adding to his run-scoring single against North Dakota State a year ago.
Daudet, who earned his first four-hit game as a Mustang on Saturday, followed with three more hits Sunday before the Titans ended his streak of seven hits in seven at-bats with a grounder to shortstop in the seventh frame.
Downing replaced Ryan Fenn at second base for the entire series and went 5-for-13 at the plate along with fielding six chances without an error. Fenn was sidelined with a rib injury, the result of being hit by a pitch in the Texas A&M series two weeks ago.
Cal Poly compiled double-digit runs in each game of the series, outscoring the Titans 31-21. Last time the Mustangs swept a three-game series with double-digit runs in each contest was at Pacific in 2007. Cal Poly scored 10 or more runs in five consecutive games in 2009.
Catcher Jack Collins, who had four hits and three RBIs in the series, went hitless Sunday for the first time this season, his 14-game hitting streak coming to an end.
Cal Poly won just one of its first six games this season before turning things around. Sunday's victory was the Mustangs' eighth in nine outings.
During the 1-5 start, Cal Poly hit just .196 with 17 runs and 39 hits. Since and including the historic 3-2 win at then-No. 1 Texas A&M on Feb. 23, the Mustangs have hit .349 with 91 runs and 118 hits.
"Things kind of just developed," said Lee. "In the first two weekends, we faced some elite pitching ands elite players. The first week (against UCLA), we weren't really ready to take on a team at that level. Then in the second week, we went to Texas A&M and played a lot better with three competitive games. We lost a one-run game and won the Sunday game. That started it.
"We continued to progress on the mound, defensively and especially at the plate," Lee added. "The games over the last week or two, we really swung the bats well, created a lot of opportunities and cashed in. A lot of guys in each lineup had multiple hits and we're doing a lot of the little things correctly that lead to multiple runs in an inning."
Lee tried several lineup combinations during the first two weeks of the season, finally settling on Vachini in the leadoff spot
"I told our players before the first game that the lineup for the first game is not going to be the lineup in the last game of the season," said Lee. "Opportunities may come and you need to be ready.
"Moving Vachini to the leadoff spot changed everything," Lee added "He or Fenn would have been our leadoff hitter and I decided Fenn would be a little better in the No. 2 hole. Vachini's on-base percentage is extremely high, and so is Castellon's (.513)."
Vachini is hitting .321 after the Cal State Fullerton series and Castellon is at .340 . Castellon was 6-for-11 in the series while Vachini went 5-for-14.
"Vachini and Castellon are the two freshmen that play every day," said Lee. "Those guys aren't scared. They play like veterans, they have great makeup and they maximize whet they get out of themselves. It's contagious, even for the older guys, the way they carry themselves. And it makes a big difference. Everybody needs to have that inner confidence."
Cal Poly visits San Jose State (10-5) on Tuesday before resuming Big West play next weekend at Long Beach State. The Dirtbags (6-9) lost two of three games to UC Irvine over the weekend.
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