Sunday, April 6
San Luis Obispo, CA
1:00 PM
22-8, 12-0
12
vs
11
UC San Diego
14-16, 5-7
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
UC San Diego
3
0
0
0
1
2
0
4
1
11
12
2
Cal Poly
0
0
0
0
1
4
2
5
X
12
11
0
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Sagouspe, Tanner (3-1)
L: Villar, Jake (0-3)
S: Downs, Chris (2)
Batting:
2B: Crossland, Michael 1 ; Davidson, Garrett 1
HR: Leopard, Alex 2 ; Martinez, Trevian 1 ; Thacker, Cooper 1
RBI: Hackworth, Patrick 1 ; Lomanto, Colton 1 ; Leopard, Alex 4 ; Martinez, Trevian 1 ; Allen, J.C. 1 ; Thacker, Cooper 3
SH: Davidson, Garrett 1 ; Thacker, Cooper 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hackworth, Patrick 1 ; Crossland, Michael 1 ; Lomanto, Colton 1 ; Leopard, Alex 3 ; Martinez, Trevian 1 ; Allen, J.C. 1 ; Davidson, Garrett 2 ; Thacker, Cooper 1
CS: Leopard, Alex 1
HBP: Hackworth, Patrick 1 ; Lomanto, Colton 1
Batting:
2B: Vachini, Dante 1 ; Garza, Alejandro 1 ; Murray Jr., Casey 1
RBI: Vachini, Dante 1 ; Fenn, Ryan 1 ; Garza, Alejandro 1 ; Collins, Jack 2 ; Murray Jr., Casey 2 ; Kordic, Dylan 1 ; Thomas, Braxton 1 ; Downing, Jake 2
SF: Collins, Jack 1 ; Murray Jr., Casey 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Fenn, Ryan 2 ; Garza, Alejandro 3 ; Murray Jr., Casey 1 ; Kordic, Dylan 1 ; Castellon, Nate 2 ; Knowles, Dylan 1 ; Downing, Jake 2
SB: Fenn, Ryan 2 ; Garza, Alejandro 1 ; Downing, Jake 1
HBP: Knowles, Dylan 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
2
H
3
RBI
2
AB
4
R
3
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
2
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
C
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
Photo by: Owen Main | Cal Poly Athletics
Mustangs Score 12 in Last Four Innings to Sweep Fourth Straight Big West Series
4/6/2025 8:00:00 PM | Baseball
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Through 5 1/2 innings on a sunny Sunday afternoon, the usually potent Cal Poly offensive attack, averaging 8.8 runs and 12.6 hits during its current 24-game surge, was silenced to the tune of one run and three hits by UC San Diego freshman right-hander Steele Murdock.
The Tritons had built a 6-1 advantage with Murdock on the mound. After throwing 78 pitches, Murdock exited the game with no walks and four strikeouts to his credit.
Cal Poly jumped all over the UC San Diego bullpen, seizing the opportunity for a comeback by scoring 11 runs on eight hits, four walks, one error, four stolen bases and a pair of sacrifice flies for a come-from-behind 12-11 victory inside Baggett Stadium.
UC San Diego held 6-1 and 10-7 leads in the high-scoring three-hour, 38-minute marathon, but Cal Poly, just like it did when erasing deficits in all three games of the Cal State Fullerton series, swept the three-game set against the Tritons by overcoming early arrears.
The Mustangs earned their Big West-opening 12th consecutive win, second alone in the conference record book — Fresno State won 18 straight to open the 1988 league season — and won for the 21st time in their last 24 games since a 1-5 start. Cal Poly is 22-8 overall.
UC San Diego fell to 14-16 for the season and 5-7 in the Big West. The Tritons were 10-0 when scoring eight or more runs in a game before Sunday's setback.
Cal Poly played the entire series without its leading hitter, first baseman Zach Daudet, who is suffering from a pinched nerve in his neck as well as an infection. Daudet hit .410 in 27 games with 10 doubles, four home runs and 16 RBIs.
Enter Jake Downing.
The freshman from Redwood City and Serra High School (San Mateo), a second baseman by trade, drew the nod from head coach Larry Lee one day prior to the series opener and did not disappoint, going a team-leading 6-for-10 at the plate with a double, triple and four RBIs. He also handled 22 fielding chances flawlessly, including an over-the-shoulder catch down the right-field line in the series opener Friday.
"Looking at our roster five minutes before we stretched in Thursday's practice, I just thought Jake would be the best option at first base," said Lee. "He had never practiced there, never played there in an intrasquad or anything.
"Usually, a Thursday practice is very watered down. We only do certain things on defense," Lee added. "With Jake now at first base, we had to give him a crash course, worked on a few types of team defenses and added a few things to be able to educate him with the entire team out there.
"We went over a number of different things and I knew within two minutes on our first drill that he was capable of playing a good level of defense over there," Lee said. "He's very athletic, can run and he adds another left-handed bat to our lineup."
On Sunday, Downing went 3-for-4 at the plate with three singles, two RBIs and two runs scored. For good measure, he stole a base
"He was almost flawless this weekend and he'll take what he learned this week into Tuesday's game and perhaps next weekend as well."
Third baseman Alejandro Garza and catcher Jack Collins each added two hits — Garza with two RBIs and Collins with one — as Cal Poly produced double-digit hits (11) for the 19th time in its last 23 games.
Trailing 6-1 in the sixth, Cal Poly pulled to within one run with a four-run rally highlighted by an RBI double from Casey Murray Jr. and a run-scoring single by Downing.
The Mustangs scored twice in the seventh for a 7-6 advantage, their first lead of the game. Second baseman Ryan Fenn singled and Garza walked to set the table for back-to-back sacrifice flies by Collins and Murray.
The Tritons regained the upper hand with a four-run eighth. Left fielder Trevian Martinez belted a solo home run to left field to tie the game at 7-7 and shortstop Cooper Thacker shattered the deadlock with a three-run blast to left-center field.
Cal Poly was not quite done.
The Mustangs erupted for five runs in the bottom of the eighth and a 12-10 lead. Downing singled to knock in the first run and Fenn's grounder to shortstop drove in the second run. Fenn barely beat the throw to first on a Triton double-play attempt, resulting in the ejection of UC San Diego head coach Eric Newman.
Garza, Collins and right fielder Dylan Kordic all followed with run-scoring singles to turn a one-run deficit into a 12-10 Mustang advantage,
The Tritons rallied for a run in the ninth and had runners at first and second with two outs before Chris Downs induced Garrett Davidson to ground out to first base, ending the game.
UC San Diego's first six leadoff hitters all reached base while Cal Poly was 0-for-5. However, the last three Triton leadoff hitters made out while the final three Mustang leadoff batters ignited rallies by getting aboard.
Tanner Sagouspe (3-1) earned the win with three innings of relief pitching, at one time striking out five consecutive Triton batters, and Downs notched his second save with one inning of work.
UC San Diego used six pitchers — Jake Villar (0-3) suffering the loss as he allowed two markers — the tying and go-ahead runs -- without getting an out.
Right fielder Alex Leopard was 4-for-5 at the plate for UC San Diego, including a pair of two-run home runs in the first and sixth innings and two singles. He drove in four runs and scored three times himself.
Cal Poly is hitting .340 in its 21-3 run, led by Daudet at .441 and Downing with a .432 mark. Downing went 5-for-13 in the Cal State Fullerton series and 8-for-23 in six games, all when he replaced an injured Fenn from March 7-15.
For the UCSD series, in addition to Downing's .600 average, Garza was 6-for-12 with a double and four RBIs while Fenn was 5-for-14 with a double and three RBIs.
Of Cal Poly's 22 wins so far this season, the Mustangs trailed in 11 of the games.
"Over and over, we're just making sure our guys play the game hard, play to win, be relentless and play the full nine innings," said Lee. "After each game you should be exhausted mentally and physically, and you should learn from every opportunity you get.
"This team has really bought into a lot of things that we're trying to accomplish," Lee added. "It's tough as a head coach, being able to put these guys in situations where they're capable of being successful. We're on a good run, but you're only as good as your last game."
Though Cal Poly has built some impressive numbers over the last seven weeks, the road gets a little tougher in the next three weeks as the Mustangs host third-place Hawai'i, visit defending Big West champion UC Santa Barbara and entertain second-place UC Irvine for three-game weekend series.
"The next three weeks, we go through the gauntlet — Hawaii, at home, at UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine at home — three of the best teams, all competing for the conference title and conference tournament participation," said Lee. "We have our work cut out for us and it's so important to win every game we can. We can't afford to lose baseball games, especially at home.
"After so many weeks of the season and four weeks of conference, we're in a good situation, but we know we have to continue to get better," Lee added. "There are parts of our game that aren't quite up to standard yet and, when you play elite teams, those flaws are going to show a little bit more."
Cal Poly hosts San Jose State for a non-conference midweek game Tuesday at 5 pm.
The Tritons had built a 6-1 advantage with Murdock on the mound. After throwing 78 pitches, Murdock exited the game with no walks and four strikeouts to his credit.
Cal Poly jumped all over the UC San Diego bullpen, seizing the opportunity for a comeback by scoring 11 runs on eight hits, four walks, one error, four stolen bases and a pair of sacrifice flies for a come-from-behind 12-11 victory inside Baggett Stadium.
UC San Diego held 6-1 and 10-7 leads in the high-scoring three-hour, 38-minute marathon, but Cal Poly, just like it did when erasing deficits in all three games of the Cal State Fullerton series, swept the three-game set against the Tritons by overcoming early arrears.
The Mustangs earned their Big West-opening 12th consecutive win, second alone in the conference record book — Fresno State won 18 straight to open the 1988 league season — and won for the 21st time in their last 24 games since a 1-5 start. Cal Poly is 22-8 overall.
UC San Diego fell to 14-16 for the season and 5-7 in the Big West. The Tritons were 10-0 when scoring eight or more runs in a game before Sunday's setback.
Cal Poly played the entire series without its leading hitter, first baseman Zach Daudet, who is suffering from a pinched nerve in his neck as well as an infection. Daudet hit .410 in 27 games with 10 doubles, four home runs and 16 RBIs.
Enter Jake Downing.
The freshman from Redwood City and Serra High School (San Mateo), a second baseman by trade, drew the nod from head coach Larry Lee one day prior to the series opener and did not disappoint, going a team-leading 6-for-10 at the plate with a double, triple and four RBIs. He also handled 22 fielding chances flawlessly, including an over-the-shoulder catch down the right-field line in the series opener Friday.
"Looking at our roster five minutes before we stretched in Thursday's practice, I just thought Jake would be the best option at first base," said Lee. "He had never practiced there, never played there in an intrasquad or anything.
"Usually, a Thursday practice is very watered down. We only do certain things on defense," Lee added. "With Jake now at first base, we had to give him a crash course, worked on a few types of team defenses and added a few things to be able to educate him with the entire team out there.
"We went over a number of different things and I knew within two minutes on our first drill that he was capable of playing a good level of defense over there," Lee said. "He's very athletic, can run and he adds another left-handed bat to our lineup."
On Sunday, Downing went 3-for-4 at the plate with three singles, two RBIs and two runs scored. For good measure, he stole a base
"He was almost flawless this weekend and he'll take what he learned this week into Tuesday's game and perhaps next weekend as well."
Third baseman Alejandro Garza and catcher Jack Collins each added two hits — Garza with two RBIs and Collins with one — as Cal Poly produced double-digit hits (11) for the 19th time in its last 23 games.
Trailing 6-1 in the sixth, Cal Poly pulled to within one run with a four-run rally highlighted by an RBI double from Casey Murray Jr. and a run-scoring single by Downing.
The Mustangs scored twice in the seventh for a 7-6 advantage, their first lead of the game. Second baseman Ryan Fenn singled and Garza walked to set the table for back-to-back sacrifice flies by Collins and Murray.
The Tritons regained the upper hand with a four-run eighth. Left fielder Trevian Martinez belted a solo home run to left field to tie the game at 7-7 and shortstop Cooper Thacker shattered the deadlock with a three-run blast to left-center field.
Cal Poly was not quite done.
The Mustangs erupted for five runs in the bottom of the eighth and a 12-10 lead. Downing singled to knock in the first run and Fenn's grounder to shortstop drove in the second run. Fenn barely beat the throw to first on a Triton double-play attempt, resulting in the ejection of UC San Diego head coach Eric Newman.
Garza, Collins and right fielder Dylan Kordic all followed with run-scoring singles to turn a one-run deficit into a 12-10 Mustang advantage,
The Tritons rallied for a run in the ninth and had runners at first and second with two outs before Chris Downs induced Garrett Davidson to ground out to first base, ending the game.
UC San Diego's first six leadoff hitters all reached base while Cal Poly was 0-for-5. However, the last three Triton leadoff hitters made out while the final three Mustang leadoff batters ignited rallies by getting aboard.
Tanner Sagouspe (3-1) earned the win with three innings of relief pitching, at one time striking out five consecutive Triton batters, and Downs notched his second save with one inning of work.
UC San Diego used six pitchers — Jake Villar (0-3) suffering the loss as he allowed two markers — the tying and go-ahead runs -- without getting an out.
Right fielder Alex Leopard was 4-for-5 at the plate for UC San Diego, including a pair of two-run home runs in the first and sixth innings and two singles. He drove in four runs and scored three times himself.
Cal Poly is hitting .340 in its 21-3 run, led by Daudet at .441 and Downing with a .432 mark. Downing went 5-for-13 in the Cal State Fullerton series and 8-for-23 in six games, all when he replaced an injured Fenn from March 7-15.
For the UCSD series, in addition to Downing's .600 average, Garza was 6-for-12 with a double and four RBIs while Fenn was 5-for-14 with a double and three RBIs.
Of Cal Poly's 22 wins so far this season, the Mustangs trailed in 11 of the games.
"Over and over, we're just making sure our guys play the game hard, play to win, be relentless and play the full nine innings," said Lee. "After each game you should be exhausted mentally and physically, and you should learn from every opportunity you get.
"This team has really bought into a lot of things that we're trying to accomplish," Lee added. "It's tough as a head coach, being able to put these guys in situations where they're capable of being successful. We're on a good run, but you're only as good as your last game."
Though Cal Poly has built some impressive numbers over the last seven weeks, the road gets a little tougher in the next three weeks as the Mustangs host third-place Hawai'i, visit defending Big West champion UC Santa Barbara and entertain second-place UC Irvine for three-game weekend series.
"The next three weeks, we go through the gauntlet — Hawaii, at home, at UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine at home — three of the best teams, all competing for the conference title and conference tournament participation," said Lee. "We have our work cut out for us and it's so important to win every game we can. We can't afford to lose baseball games, especially at home.
"After so many weeks of the season and four weeks of conference, we're in a good situation, but we know we have to continue to get better," Lee added. "There are parts of our game that aren't quite up to standard yet and, when you play elite teams, those flaws are going to show a little bit more."
Cal Poly hosts San Jose State for a non-conference midweek game Tuesday at 5 pm.
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