Saturday, May 24
Fullerton, CA
3:00 PM
39-17
2
vs
1
Hawai'i
35-21
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Hawai'i
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
8
2
Cal Poly
0
0
0
2
0
0
0
0
X
2
4
0
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Morano, Josh (3-0)
L: Freddy Rodriguez (7-2)
S: Torres, Jake (4)
Batting:
2B: Ben Zeigler-Namoa 1
RBI: Ben Zeigler-Namoa 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Matthew Miura 1
CS: Elijah Ickes 1
HBP: Elijah Ickes 1
PO: Ben Zeigler-Namoa 1
Batting:
RBI: Castellon, Nate 1 ; Murray Jr., Casey 1
SF: Castellon, Nate 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Fenn, Ryan 1 ; Garza, Alejandro 1
SB: Murray Jr., Casey 1
CS: Fenn, Ryan 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Baseball
C
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
OF/LHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
Photo by: Owen Main | Cal Poly Athletics
Mustangs Beat Hawai'i and UC Irvine, Set for Championship Final Second Game
5/24/2025 6:15:00 PM | Baseball
PRESS CONFERENCE
FULLERTON, Calif. — First, Josh Morano pitched 6 1/3 innings, his longest outing of the season, to spark Cal Poly to a 2-1 victory over Hawai'i on Saturday afternoon. Then Christopher Downs threw 117 pitches, 56 more than his previous high for the year, to power the Mustangs to a 15-5 triumph over top-seeded UC Irvine on Saturday night.
Add it all up and Coach Larry Lee's baseball team finds itself playing for the Big West Conference Tournament championship and the automatic qualifying spot in next weekend's NCAA Regionals.
Cal Poly (40-17) and UC Irvine (41-14) will play one more winner-take-all game Sunday afternoon at 3:05 p.m. at Cal State Fullerton's Goodwin Field.
Morano (3-0), whose longest previous outing was five innings in a win over Fresno State in March, relieved starter Luke Kovach to start the third inning of the opener and threw 74 pitches, scattering five hits with one walk and two strikeouts.
Senior left-hander Jake Torres entered the game with one out in the ninth and Hawai'i runners at first and second and secured grounders to first and second to end the game for his fourth save.
Hawai'i scored in the first inning on two singles and an RBI double by Ben Ziegler-Namoa.
Cal Poly answered with two runs in the fourth. Ryan Fenn and Alejandro Garza singled to extend hitting streaks to 17 and 16 games, respectively, placing runners at first and third. Nate Castellon's sacrifice fly to left scored Fenn and Casey Murray Jr. extended his hitting streak to 14 games with an RBI single, scoring Garza.
Morano and Torres made the one-run lead stand up for the win.
Cal Poly was held to just four hits, its third-lowest total of the season. Hawai'i collected eight hits, including two each by Ziegler-Namoa and Elijah Ickes.
The loss went to former Mustang Freddy Rodriguez (7-2), who gave up both runs and three hits over six innings with two walks and three strikeouts.
In the nightcap, Downs (6-0) pitched 6 1/3 innings for the win against UC Irvine, allowing two runs and three hits with a trio of strikeouts, to send Cal Poly into the "extra" game of the double-elimination tournament.
Downs relieved Torres with two outs in the second inning after UC Irvine jumped to a 3-0 lead and needed just one pitch to get out of the jam, inducing Big West Field Player of the Year Colin Yeaman to fly out to center field.
The Mustangs then went to work offensively, putting together four-run rallies in the third, fourth and sixth innings and adding a three-spot in the eighth to win going away. The game was called after eight innings due to a 10-run rule in effect in tournament play after seven innings.
Three consecutive singles by Zach Daudet, Fenn and Garza drove in the quartet of runs in the third. In the fourth, it was RBI singles by Dante Vachini and Garza, a run-scoring double by Daudet and Fenn's sacrifice fly that made it 8-3 in favor of Cal Poly.
Garza produced his third run-scoring single in the sixth, followed by an RBI grounder by Nate Castellon and a two-run single by Casey Murray Jr. for a 12-5 Mustang advantage.
Dylan Kordic followed singles by Castellon and Cam Hoiland with a grounder for Cal Poly's 13th run and Jack Collins capped the Mustangs' scoring with a two-run home run to left field, his 13th blast of the year and first hit of the tournament.
All nine Mustang starters collected at least one hit versus UC Irvine, marking the eighth time Cal Poly has accomplished the feat this season. Cal Poly has had at least seven starters collect hits in 11 of its last 13 games.
Cal Poly's 13-hit offensive attack was led by Garza with his three run-scoring singles, giving him 32 multiple-hit games this season, two shy of the school record of 34 set by Scott Kidd in 1997. Daudet and Hoiland each added two hits as Cal Poly compiled double-digit hits for the 37th time in its last 50 games.
Fenn (16 games), Garza (15) and Murray (13) all extended their hitting streaks. Cal Poly's four crooked numbers on the scoreboard (at least two runs in an inning) raised the total for the season to 103 in 57 games.
Catcher Blake Penso singled twice and knocked in two runs for UC Irvine, giving him seven RBIs in his last two games.
The loss was charged to Anteater starter Ryder Brooks (6-3) as he surrendered five runs and five hits over 3 1/3 innings with three strikeouts.
In the fourth inning, UC Irvine trailed 8-4 before scoring a run and loading the bases with Jacob McCombs, second on the team with 10 home runs, at the plate. A 2-1 pitch from Downs scooted past Collins, but he raced to the ball and threw to Downs covering the plate to nail Frankie Carney for the final out.
That turned out to be the Anteaters' last look at the game as Cal Poly pulled away with seven more runs for the win, giving the Mustangs their third Quad 1 victory and lifting their RPI to 30.
UC Irvine had beaten Cal Poly in all four previous meetings this season prior to Saturday night. Sophomore right-hander Ethan Marmie (4-3, 5.68 ERA), who made 12 starts as the Mustangs' Sunday starter earlier this year, gets the nod for the sixth meeting of the year. The Anteaters will counter with junior right-hander Finnegan Wall (0-0, 6.85 ERA).
The win gave Lee his third 40-victory season, following a 40-19 mark in 2013 and a 47-12 campaign in 2014. Cal Poly also won 41 games in 1977 and 1992.
NCAA regional pairings will be announced Monday at 9 a.m. on ESPN2.
FULLERTON, Calif. — First, Josh Morano pitched 6 1/3 innings, his longest outing of the season, to spark Cal Poly to a 2-1 victory over Hawai'i on Saturday afternoon. Then Christopher Downs threw 117 pitches, 56 more than his previous high for the year, to power the Mustangs to a 15-5 triumph over top-seeded UC Irvine on Saturday night.
Add it all up and Coach Larry Lee's baseball team finds itself playing for the Big West Conference Tournament championship and the automatic qualifying spot in next weekend's NCAA Regionals.
Cal Poly (40-17) and UC Irvine (41-14) will play one more winner-take-all game Sunday afternoon at 3:05 p.m. at Cal State Fullerton's Goodwin Field.
Morano (3-0), whose longest previous outing was five innings in a win over Fresno State in March, relieved starter Luke Kovach to start the third inning of the opener and threw 74 pitches, scattering five hits with one walk and two strikeouts.
Senior left-hander Jake Torres entered the game with one out in the ninth and Hawai'i runners at first and second and secured grounders to first and second to end the game for his fourth save.
Hawai'i scored in the first inning on two singles and an RBI double by Ben Ziegler-Namoa.
Cal Poly answered with two runs in the fourth. Ryan Fenn and Alejandro Garza singled to extend hitting streaks to 17 and 16 games, respectively, placing runners at first and third. Nate Castellon's sacrifice fly to left scored Fenn and Casey Murray Jr. extended his hitting streak to 14 games with an RBI single, scoring Garza.
Morano and Torres made the one-run lead stand up for the win.
Cal Poly was held to just four hits, its third-lowest total of the season. Hawai'i collected eight hits, including two each by Ziegler-Namoa and Elijah Ickes.
The loss went to former Mustang Freddy Rodriguez (7-2), who gave up both runs and three hits over six innings with two walks and three strikeouts.
In the nightcap, Downs (6-0) pitched 6 1/3 innings for the win against UC Irvine, allowing two runs and three hits with a trio of strikeouts, to send Cal Poly into the "extra" game of the double-elimination tournament.
Downs relieved Torres with two outs in the second inning after UC Irvine jumped to a 3-0 lead and needed just one pitch to get out of the jam, inducing Big West Field Player of the Year Colin Yeaman to fly out to center field.
The Mustangs then went to work offensively, putting together four-run rallies in the third, fourth and sixth innings and adding a three-spot in the eighth to win going away. The game was called after eight innings due to a 10-run rule in effect in tournament play after seven innings.
Three consecutive singles by Zach Daudet, Fenn and Garza drove in the quartet of runs in the third. In the fourth, it was RBI singles by Dante Vachini and Garza, a run-scoring double by Daudet and Fenn's sacrifice fly that made it 8-3 in favor of Cal Poly.
Garza produced his third run-scoring single in the sixth, followed by an RBI grounder by Nate Castellon and a two-run single by Casey Murray Jr. for a 12-5 Mustang advantage.
Dylan Kordic followed singles by Castellon and Cam Hoiland with a grounder for Cal Poly's 13th run and Jack Collins capped the Mustangs' scoring with a two-run home run to left field, his 13th blast of the year and first hit of the tournament.
All nine Mustang starters collected at least one hit versus UC Irvine, marking the eighth time Cal Poly has accomplished the feat this season. Cal Poly has had at least seven starters collect hits in 11 of its last 13 games.
Cal Poly's 13-hit offensive attack was led by Garza with his three run-scoring singles, giving him 32 multiple-hit games this season, two shy of the school record of 34 set by Scott Kidd in 1997. Daudet and Hoiland each added two hits as Cal Poly compiled double-digit hits for the 37th time in its last 50 games.
Fenn (16 games), Garza (15) and Murray (13) all extended their hitting streaks. Cal Poly's four crooked numbers on the scoreboard (at least two runs in an inning) raised the total for the season to 103 in 57 games.
Catcher Blake Penso singled twice and knocked in two runs for UC Irvine, giving him seven RBIs in his last two games.
The loss was charged to Anteater starter Ryder Brooks (6-3) as he surrendered five runs and five hits over 3 1/3 innings with three strikeouts.
In the fourth inning, UC Irvine trailed 8-4 before scoring a run and loading the bases with Jacob McCombs, second on the team with 10 home runs, at the plate. A 2-1 pitch from Downs scooted past Collins, but he raced to the ball and threw to Downs covering the plate to nail Frankie Carney for the final out.
That turned out to be the Anteaters' last look at the game as Cal Poly pulled away with seven more runs for the win, giving the Mustangs their third Quad 1 victory and lifting their RPI to 30.
UC Irvine had beaten Cal Poly in all four previous meetings this season prior to Saturday night. Sophomore right-hander Ethan Marmie (4-3, 5.68 ERA), who made 12 starts as the Mustangs' Sunday starter earlier this year, gets the nod for the sixth meeting of the year. The Anteaters will counter with junior right-hander Finnegan Wall (0-0, 6.85 ERA).
The win gave Lee his third 40-victory season, following a 40-19 mark in 2013 and a 47-12 campaign in 2014. Cal Poly also won 41 games in 1977 and 1992.
NCAA regional pairings will be announced Monday at 9 a.m. on ESPN2.
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