Friday, May 23
Fullerton, CA
3:00 PM
38-17
3
vs
15
UC Irvine
41-13
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Cal Poly
0
0
0
0
0
3
0
3
10
1
UC Irvine
2
0
1
6
6
0
X
15
15
0
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hansen, Trevor (9-2)
L: Volmerding, Josh (5-5)
Batting:
2B: Fenn, Ryan 1 ; Castellon, Nate 1 ; Kordic, Dylan 1
RBI: Garza, Alejandro 1 ; Murray Jr., Casey 1 ; Kordic, Dylan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Fenn, Ryan 1 ; Garza, Alejandro 1 ; Castellon, Nate 1
Batting:
2B: Martinez, Anthony 1 ; Penso, Blake 1
HR: McCombs, Jacob 1 ; Penso, Blake 1
RBI: Yeaman, Colin 1 ; Martinez, Anthony 2 ; McCombs, Jacob 4 ; Call, Chase 1 ; Penso, Blake 5 ; Reyes, Alonso 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bermudez, Will 2 ; Yeaman, Colin 4 ; Martinez, Anthony 1 ; McCombs, Jacob 2 ; Call, Chase 2 ; Penso, Blake 2 ; Carney, Frankie 2
HBP: McCombs, Jacob 1 ; Call, Chase 1
PO: Reyes, Alonso 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
INF
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
Photo by: Big West Conference
Mustangs Stumble Against Anteaters and Move to Saturday Elimination Game
5/23/2025 9:00:00 PM | Baseball
PRESS CONFERENCE
FULLERTON, Calif. — A pair of six-run innings powered UC Irvine to a 15-3 victory over Cal Poly in the winner's bracket final of the 2025 Big West Conference Baseball Championships on Friday at Cal State Fullerton's Goodwin Field.
The Anteaters rode a three-run home run from Jacob McCombs and a two-run shot off the bat of Blake Penso in a six-run fourth-inning rally and a two-run double by Anthony Martinez plus a three-run double by Penso in another six-run outburst in the fifth frame for a 15-0 lead.
Cal Poly averted a shutout with a three-run uprising in the sixth, but fell to 38-17 overall and into Saturday's 3 p.m. loser's bracket final against Hawai'i. Should the Mustangs prevail, they would have a rematch with UC Irvine (41-13) in the final round Saturday night and, if necessary, Sunday afternoon.
Hawai'i eliminated host Cal State Fullerton with a 16-4 decision in Friday's second game.
Trailing 15-0, Cal Poly 's trio of Ryan Fenn, Alejandro Garza and Casey Murray Jr. all extended their hitting streaks to 15, 14 and 12 games, respectively, in the sixth frame.
Fenn led off with a double and came home on an RBI single by Garza. After another single by Nate Castellon, Murray knocked in Garza with a single and Castellon scored on a groundout by Dylan Kordic.
The Mustangs had a couple other rallies fall short — second and third with two outs in the second, a runner at third with two outs in the fourth and also loaded the bases with nobody out in the seventh.
UC Irvine right-hander Trevor Hansen (9-2) earned his second win against Cal Poly this season, scattering nine hits over six-plus innings with one walk and six strikeouts. He allowed all three runs in the sixth frame.
Hansen also was the winning pitcher in the Anteaters' 4-0 shutout against the Mustangs (7 2/3 innings, six hits, three walks, six strikeouts) in late April and tossed six innings in a no-decision in May 2024 (six innings, two runs, four hits, one walk, eight strikeouts) against the Mustangs, a game won by UC Irvine 4-3 in 10 innings.
Friday's loss was charged to Mustang sophomore southpaw Josh Volmerding (5-5) as he surrendered nine runs and 11 hits over 3 2/3 innings with two walks and three strikeouts. Volmerding struck out a career-high 11 Anteaters in a 4-0 loss four weeks ago at Baggett Stadium.
Cal Poly, which despite the lopsided loss collected double-digit hits (10) for the 36th time in its last 48 games, was led at the plate by Fenn and Castellon, each with a single and double.
Fenn now has 24 multiple-hit games this season while Castellon has 21. Fenn has produced seven straight multi-hit games (19-for-31, .613) and is 32-for-62 (.516) during his hitting streak. Castellon is 28-for-57 (.491) over his last 14 games with 18 RBIs, has a six-game hitting streak (11-for-23, .478) and has hit safely in 13 of his last 14 contests.
Dante Vachini added a single in a 1-for-2 day at the plate and is 21-for-38 (.552) in his last 10 games with a pair of four-hit contests and a seven-game hitting streak.
Martinez paced UC Irvine's 15-hit offensive attack with three hits, including a double, and a pair of RBIs. Penso, Will Bermudez, Colin Yeaman and Chase Call each added two hits.
Cal Poly will start junior southpaw Luke Kovach (1-0, 6.23 ERA) against the Rainbow Warriors (35-20). The Mustangs won two of three games versus Hawai'i in mid-April at Baggett Stadium.
FULLERTON, Calif. — A pair of six-run innings powered UC Irvine to a 15-3 victory over Cal Poly in the winner's bracket final of the 2025 Big West Conference Baseball Championships on Friday at Cal State Fullerton's Goodwin Field.
The Anteaters rode a three-run home run from Jacob McCombs and a two-run shot off the bat of Blake Penso in a six-run fourth-inning rally and a two-run double by Anthony Martinez plus a three-run double by Penso in another six-run outburst in the fifth frame for a 15-0 lead.
Cal Poly averted a shutout with a three-run uprising in the sixth, but fell to 38-17 overall and into Saturday's 3 p.m. loser's bracket final against Hawai'i. Should the Mustangs prevail, they would have a rematch with UC Irvine (41-13) in the final round Saturday night and, if necessary, Sunday afternoon.
Hawai'i eliminated host Cal State Fullerton with a 16-4 decision in Friday's second game.
Trailing 15-0, Cal Poly 's trio of Ryan Fenn, Alejandro Garza and Casey Murray Jr. all extended their hitting streaks to 15, 14 and 12 games, respectively, in the sixth frame.
Fenn led off with a double and came home on an RBI single by Garza. After another single by Nate Castellon, Murray knocked in Garza with a single and Castellon scored on a groundout by Dylan Kordic.
The Mustangs had a couple other rallies fall short — second and third with two outs in the second, a runner at third with two outs in the fourth and also loaded the bases with nobody out in the seventh.
UC Irvine right-hander Trevor Hansen (9-2) earned his second win against Cal Poly this season, scattering nine hits over six-plus innings with one walk and six strikeouts. He allowed all three runs in the sixth frame.
Hansen also was the winning pitcher in the Anteaters' 4-0 shutout against the Mustangs (7 2/3 innings, six hits, three walks, six strikeouts) in late April and tossed six innings in a no-decision in May 2024 (six innings, two runs, four hits, one walk, eight strikeouts) against the Mustangs, a game won by UC Irvine 4-3 in 10 innings.
Friday's loss was charged to Mustang sophomore southpaw Josh Volmerding (5-5) as he surrendered nine runs and 11 hits over 3 2/3 innings with two walks and three strikeouts. Volmerding struck out a career-high 11 Anteaters in a 4-0 loss four weeks ago at Baggett Stadium.
Cal Poly, which despite the lopsided loss collected double-digit hits (10) for the 36th time in its last 48 games, was led at the plate by Fenn and Castellon, each with a single and double.
Fenn now has 24 multiple-hit games this season while Castellon has 21. Fenn has produced seven straight multi-hit games (19-for-31, .613) and is 32-for-62 (.516) during his hitting streak. Castellon is 28-for-57 (.491) over his last 14 games with 18 RBIs, has a six-game hitting streak (11-for-23, .478) and has hit safely in 13 of his last 14 contests.
Dante Vachini added a single in a 1-for-2 day at the plate and is 21-for-38 (.552) in his last 10 games with a pair of four-hit contests and a seven-game hitting streak.
Martinez paced UC Irvine's 15-hit offensive attack with three hits, including a double, and a pair of RBIs. Penso, Will Bermudez, Colin Yeaman and Chase Call each added two hits.
Cal Poly will start junior southpaw Luke Kovach (1-0, 6.23 ERA) against the Rainbow Warriors (35-20). The Mustangs won two of three games versus Hawai'i in mid-April at Baggett Stadium.
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