Thursday, April 17
Santa Barbara, CA
4:30 PM
27-9, 15-1
4
at
3
UC Santa Barbara
24-12, 10-9
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
R
H
E
Cal Poly
0
0
0
2
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
4
9
1
UC Santa Barbara
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
0
0
3
8
0
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Torres, Jake (2-2)
L: R. Olivas (1-1)
Batting:
2B: Garza, Alejandro 1
3B: Downing, Jake 1
RBI: Garza, Alejandro 1 ; Collins, Jack 1 ; Murray Jr., Casey 1 ; Downing, Jake 1
SH: Kordic, Dylan 1
SF: Collins, Jack 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Fenn, Ryan 2 ; Garza, Alejandro 1 ; Castellon, Nate 1
SB: Fenn, Ryan 1
PO: Murray Jr., Casey 1
Batting:
2B: I. Fernandez 1
3B: N. Vargas 1
RBI: N. Vargas 2 ; I. Fernandez 1
SH: R. Kelly 1
Base Running:
RUNS: L. McCollum 1 ; C. Kosciusko 1 ; J. Holman 1
SB: L. McCollum 1
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
5
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
Photo by: Owen Main | Cal Poly Athletics
`Stangs Take Blue-Green Series Opener in Extras to Increase Road Win Streak
4/17/2025 10:10:00 PM | Baseball
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Senior center fielder Casey Murray singled through the right side of the UC Santa Barbara infield in the 11th inning Thursday, knocking in the go-ahead run as Cal Poly edged the Gauchos 4-3 in the opener of a Big West Conference baseball series at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium.
Coach Larry Lee's Mustangs let a 3-1 lead slip away in the eighth inning as the host Gauchos tallied twice on a two-out triple to center field by Nate Vargas.
But Cal Poly rallied in the 11th. Second baseman Ryan Fenn led off with a single to left-center field and, two fly balls later, stole second. Murray stroked a full-count pitch into right field to drive in Fenn and give the Mustangs a 4-3 lead.
Senior southpaw Jake Torres (2-2) retired the defending Big West Conference champion Gauchos in order in the bottom of the 11th for the victory. Torres allowed one hit in three scoreless frames with no walks and one strikeout, retiring the final seven Gaucho batters of the game.
With its fourth straight win, Cal Poly won for the 26th time in its last 30 games and improved to 27-9 overall and 15-1 in the Big West. UC Irvine (26-9, 14-2 Big West) remained one game back of the Mustangs with a 3-1 triumph at home over Hawai'i.
Third baseman Alejandro Garza extended his hitting streak to 19 games with a fourth-inning double while Fenn's hitting streak stretched to 14 games with a single in the sixth inning. Garza's streak is tied for seventh in Cal Poly's 31 Division I seasons and seven off the record streak of 26 games by Ryan Lee in 2009.
UC Santa Barbara scored first on a double by catcher Ian Fernandez in the second inning. Fernandez had to leave the game with an apparent hamstring injury and Vargas, who started as the Gauchos' designated hitter, took over behind the plate.
UCSB lost the designated hitter for the rest of the game and head coach Andrew Checketts was forced to place 10 players in the eighth spot of the batting order, including five pitchers, three pinch hitters and a pinch runner.
Cal Poly answered with two runs in the fourth for a 2-1 lead. Left fielder Dante Vachini led off with a walk and, one out later, Garza's double to left-center field tied the game at 1-1. Garza took third on a wild pitch and came home on a sacrifice fly by catcher Jack Collins to break the tie.
The Mustangs added another run in the fifth as shortstop Nate Castellon singled to center field with one out and raced home another out later on a triple to the right-field corner by first baseman Jake Downing.
Neither team scored again until UC Santa Barbara tied the game in the eighth. Murray came within inches of making a diving catch of Vargas' deep fly ball on the warning track in right-center field.
Cal Poly almost broke the 3-3 tie in the ninth. Murray singled to center leading off the frame and advanced to second on Dylan Kordic's sacrifice bunt. A wild pitch allowed Murray to take third, but he was tagged out moments later on an unsuccessful suicide squeeze bunt.
Junior right-hander Tyler Bremner, a first-team All-Big West selection a year ago with an 11-1 record and 2.54 ERA, struck out eight of Cal Poly's nine batters in the first three innings and finished his seven-inning stint on the mound with a career-high 13. He was not involved in the decision after throwing 119 pitches.
Checketts used four relievers the rest of the way, Raymond Olivas (1-1) suffering the loss by allowing the go-ahead Mustang run in the 11th.
Cal Poly outhit UC Santa Barbara 9-8, led by Fenn, Garza and Murray, each with a pair of hits. Fenn now has 10 multiple-hit games in his last 16 starts while Garza has eight in his last 10 games.
With two singles, right fielder LeTrey McCollum was the lone Gaucho with multiple hits.
Cal Poly is now 2-1 in extra-inning games this season.
Second game of the series will be played Friday at 6 p.m. and will be televised by ESPNU. Sophomore southpaw Josh Volmerding (4-1, 5.09 ERA) will start on the mound for Cal Poly.
Coach Larry Lee's Mustangs let a 3-1 lead slip away in the eighth inning as the host Gauchos tallied twice on a two-out triple to center field by Nate Vargas.
But Cal Poly rallied in the 11th. Second baseman Ryan Fenn led off with a single to left-center field and, two fly balls later, stole second. Murray stroked a full-count pitch into right field to drive in Fenn and give the Mustangs a 4-3 lead.
Senior southpaw Jake Torres (2-2) retired the defending Big West Conference champion Gauchos in order in the bottom of the 11th for the victory. Torres allowed one hit in three scoreless frames with no walks and one strikeout, retiring the final seven Gaucho batters of the game.
With its fourth straight win, Cal Poly won for the 26th time in its last 30 games and improved to 27-9 overall and 15-1 in the Big West. UC Irvine (26-9, 14-2 Big West) remained one game back of the Mustangs with a 3-1 triumph at home over Hawai'i.
Third baseman Alejandro Garza extended his hitting streak to 19 games with a fourth-inning double while Fenn's hitting streak stretched to 14 games with a single in the sixth inning. Garza's streak is tied for seventh in Cal Poly's 31 Division I seasons and seven off the record streak of 26 games by Ryan Lee in 2009.
UC Santa Barbara scored first on a double by catcher Ian Fernandez in the second inning. Fernandez had to leave the game with an apparent hamstring injury and Vargas, who started as the Gauchos' designated hitter, took over behind the plate.
UCSB lost the designated hitter for the rest of the game and head coach Andrew Checketts was forced to place 10 players in the eighth spot of the batting order, including five pitchers, three pinch hitters and a pinch runner.
Cal Poly answered with two runs in the fourth for a 2-1 lead. Left fielder Dante Vachini led off with a walk and, one out later, Garza's double to left-center field tied the game at 1-1. Garza took third on a wild pitch and came home on a sacrifice fly by catcher Jack Collins to break the tie.
The Mustangs added another run in the fifth as shortstop Nate Castellon singled to center field with one out and raced home another out later on a triple to the right-field corner by first baseman Jake Downing.
Neither team scored again until UC Santa Barbara tied the game in the eighth. Murray came within inches of making a diving catch of Vargas' deep fly ball on the warning track in right-center field.
Cal Poly almost broke the 3-3 tie in the ninth. Murray singled to center leading off the frame and advanced to second on Dylan Kordic's sacrifice bunt. A wild pitch allowed Murray to take third, but he was tagged out moments later on an unsuccessful suicide squeeze bunt.
Junior right-hander Tyler Bremner, a first-team All-Big West selection a year ago with an 11-1 record and 2.54 ERA, struck out eight of Cal Poly's nine batters in the first three innings and finished his seven-inning stint on the mound with a career-high 13. He was not involved in the decision after throwing 119 pitches.
Checketts used four relievers the rest of the way, Raymond Olivas (1-1) suffering the loss by allowing the go-ahead Mustang run in the 11th.
Cal Poly outhit UC Santa Barbara 9-8, led by Fenn, Garza and Murray, each with a pair of hits. Fenn now has 10 multiple-hit games in his last 16 starts while Garza has eight in his last 10 games.
With two singles, right fielder LeTrey McCollum was the lone Gaucho with multiple hits.
Cal Poly is now 2-1 in extra-inning games this season.
Second game of the series will be played Friday at 6 p.m. and will be televised by ESPNU. Sophomore southpaw Josh Volmerding (4-1, 5.09 ERA) will start on the mound for Cal Poly.
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