Sunday, May 25
Fullerton, CA
3:00 PM
41-17
6
vs
4
UC Irvine
41-15
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Cal Poly
0
2
0
0
0
2
1
0
1
6
8
2
UC Irvine
0
0
0
0
0
4
0
0
0
4
5
0
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Sagouspe, Tanner (4-2)
L: Ojeda, Ricky (13-1)
Batting:
2B: Kordic, Dylan 1
3B: Murray Jr., Casey 1
HR: Murray Jr., Casey 1
RBI: Murray Jr., Casey 3 ; Hoiland, Cam 1 ; Collins, Jack 1 ; Vachini, Dante 1
SH: Daudet, Zach 1 ; Collins, Jack 1
SF: Vachini, Dante 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Castellon, Nate 2 ; Murray Jr., Casey 2 ; Kordic, Dylan 2
HBP: Castellon, Nate 1
Batting:
HR: McCombs, Jacob 1
RBI: McCombs, Jacob 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Carney, Frankie 1 ; Yeaman, Colin 1 ; Martinez, Anthony 1 ; McCombs, Jacob 1
HBP: Yeaman, Colin 1 ; McCombs, Jacob 2 ; Call, Chase 2 ; Castagnola, James 2
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
3
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
2
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
C
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
OF/LHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
Photo by: Owen Main | Cal Poly Athletics
Cal Poly Baseball Secures Second Big West Championship and Automatic NCAA Berth
5/25/2025 8:00:00 PM | Baseball
PRESS CONFERENCE
FULLERTON, Calif. — The Cal Poly baseball team can call itself Big West champions for the second time in program history.
Moments after Cal Poly squandered a 4-0 lead, Jack Collins singled to drive in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning and Dylan Kordic doubled to lead off the ninth and scored on Dante Vachini's sacrifice fly for an insurance run as the Mustangs defeated top-seeded UC Irvine 6-4 on Sunday at Goodwin Field.
Bouncing back from a 15-3 loss to the Anteaters on Friday with three straight victories, Coach Larry Lee's Mustangs (41-17) clinched the Big West's automatic qualifying berth in the NCAA regionals, with first-round pairings to be announced Monday at 9 a.m. on ESPN2.
The 16 regional hosts were announced Sunday with UCLA, Oregon State, and Oregon selected in the West.
Sunday's win didn't come easily.
After building up a 4-0 lead in the first six innings, Cal Poly saw it evaporate in just two pitches as a two-out error allowed UC Irvine (41-15) to score its first run and Jacob McCombs smashed the next pitch down the right-field line for a three-run home run, tying the game at 4-4.
Though Ricky Ojeda entered the game in the next half-inning with his 13-0 record, two saves and a 2.70 ERA, Cal Poly wasted little time regaining the upper hand as Kordic drew a walk to lead off the seventh, advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on Jack Collins' RBI single through the left side of the Anteater infield.
Kordic also led off the ninth with a double to the gap in right-center field, took third on a sacrifice bunt by Collins, and trotted home on Vachini's sacrifice fly to center field for an insurance run.
The only easy part of the game for the Mustangs was Tanner Sagouspe's 1-2-3 ninth with fly balls to each of his outfielders for his fourth win of the year. Otherwise, UC Irvine had baserunners in every inning, leaving the bases loaded in the first and third frames and stranding 14 runners on the basepaths for the game.
"Our players showed their toughness, resiliency, and ability this past weekend," said Lee. "I couldn't be more proud of how they performed under the pressure that each game presented.
"There were numerous individual contributions that led to our success," Lee added. "This weekend will prepare us for what lies ahead."
Collins struggled offensively in Cal Poly's first three games of the tournament, going 0-for-11 with seven strikeouts. The junior catcher made strong contributions the rest of the way, however, with a two-run home run and three runs scored against UC Irvine on Saturday and his single and sacrifice bunt on Sunday.
In five tournament games, Collins also picked off two runners at first base, his third and fourth of the season, and threw out two more runners trying to steal second, giving him a Big West-leading 20 for the year.
"Baseball is a tough game," Collins said. "It happens sometimes where you're going to have tough games, but you can't let that get to you or things will start to spiral from there. Every game is a new day and I just try to do my best every day."
Sophomore right-hander Ethan Marmie gave the Mustangs some length by pitching 5 2/3 innings, but even that wasn't easy as he walked four and hit a school-record seven Anteater batters, breaking the mark of five set by Steven Brooks against Cal State Bakersfield and Griffin Naess versus Cal State Fullerton, both in 2024. Marmie also tied the NCAA Division I single-game mark for hit batsmen.
But Marmie walked a tightrope successfully, leaving the game with three strikeouts and a 4-0 lead before the error and home run wiped out his quest for his fifth win of the year. Sagouspe tossed 3 1/3 innings in relief with two strikeouts for the victory.
Casey Murray Jr. played a pivotal role in Cal Poly's early four-run production. The senior center fielder tripled to push across the first Mustang run of the day and came home himself on Cam Hoiland's grounder to shortstop in the second inning.
In the sixth, Nate Castellon singled with two outs and Murray blasted his eighth home run of the year, a no-doubter over the left-field wall, for a 4-0 Mustang lead. Murray was the lone Mustang with multiple hits and extended his hitting streak to 15 games.
Ryan Fenn singled in the third inning to stretch his hitting streak to 18 games, but Alejandro Garza saw his 16-game streak come to an end, grounding into a pair of double plays in an 0-for-4 day at the plate.
Junior right-hander Finnegan Wall, who had pitched just 22 1/3 innings all year, went six innings as UC Irvine's starter Sunday, allowing four runs and five hits with one walk and three strikeouts before giving way to Ojeda in the seventh.
Frankie Carney and Chase Call each had two of UC Irvine's five hits.
Cal Poly earned its fourth NCAA regional berth with Sunday's win, joining the 2009, 2013, and 2014 squads. The Mustangs' first Big West crown was captured in 2014 and that team split four games in the San Luis Obispo Regional at Baggett Stadium. The Mustangs have never advanced to a Division I super regional.
UC Irvine had beaten Cal Poly four times prior to Saturday night when the Mustangs avoided elimination with a 15-5 triumph. That 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.
Fenn was named MVP of the tournament after going 9-for-21 at the plate with two doubles and five RBIs. Zach Daudet was 8-for-18 with a double and two RBIs while Murray, Hoiland, and Garza each had six hits, and Vachini and Castellon had five each.
FULLERTON, Calif. — The Cal Poly baseball team can call itself Big West champions for the second time in program history.
Moments after Cal Poly squandered a 4-0 lead, Jack Collins singled to drive in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning and Dylan Kordic doubled to lead off the ninth and scored on Dante Vachini's sacrifice fly for an insurance run as the Mustangs defeated top-seeded UC Irvine 6-4 on Sunday at Goodwin Field.
Bouncing back from a 15-3 loss to the Anteaters on Friday with three straight victories, Coach Larry Lee's Mustangs (41-17) clinched the Big West's automatic qualifying berth in the NCAA regionals, with first-round pairings to be announced Monday at 9 a.m. on ESPN2.
The 16 regional hosts were announced Sunday with UCLA, Oregon State, and Oregon selected in the West.
Sunday's win didn't come easily.
After building up a 4-0 lead in the first six innings, Cal Poly saw it evaporate in just two pitches as a two-out error allowed UC Irvine (41-15) to score its first run and Jacob McCombs smashed the next pitch down the right-field line for a three-run home run, tying the game at 4-4.
Though Ricky Ojeda entered the game in the next half-inning with his 13-0 record, two saves and a 2.70 ERA, Cal Poly wasted little time regaining the upper hand as Kordic drew a walk to lead off the seventh, advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on Jack Collins' RBI single through the left side of the Anteater infield.
Kordic also led off the ninth with a double to the gap in right-center field, took third on a sacrifice bunt by Collins, and trotted home on Vachini's sacrifice fly to center field for an insurance run.
The only easy part of the game for the Mustangs was Tanner Sagouspe's 1-2-3 ninth with fly balls to each of his outfielders for his fourth win of the year. Otherwise, UC Irvine had baserunners in every inning, leaving the bases loaded in the first and third frames and stranding 14 runners on the basepaths for the game.
"Our players showed their toughness, resiliency, and ability this past weekend," said Lee. "I couldn't be more proud of how they performed under the pressure that each game presented.
"There were numerous individual contributions that led to our success," Lee added. "This weekend will prepare us for what lies ahead."
Collins struggled offensively in Cal Poly's first three games of the tournament, going 0-for-11 with seven strikeouts. The junior catcher made strong contributions the rest of the way, however, with a two-run home run and three runs scored against UC Irvine on Saturday and his single and sacrifice bunt on Sunday.
In five tournament games, Collins also picked off two runners at first base, his third and fourth of the season, and threw out two more runners trying to steal second, giving him a Big West-leading 20 for the year.
"Baseball is a tough game," Collins said. "It happens sometimes where you're going to have tough games, but you can't let that get to you or things will start to spiral from there. Every game is a new day and I just try to do my best every day."
Sophomore right-hander Ethan Marmie gave the Mustangs some length by pitching 5 2/3 innings, but even that wasn't easy as he walked four and hit a school-record seven Anteater batters, breaking the mark of five set by Steven Brooks against Cal State Bakersfield and Griffin Naess versus Cal State Fullerton, both in 2024. Marmie also tied the NCAA Division I single-game mark for hit batsmen.
But Marmie walked a tightrope successfully, leaving the game with three strikeouts and a 4-0 lead before the error and home run wiped out his quest for his fifth win of the year. Sagouspe tossed 3 1/3 innings in relief with two strikeouts for the victory.
Casey Murray Jr. played a pivotal role in Cal Poly's early four-run production. The senior center fielder tripled to push across the first Mustang run of the day and came home himself on Cam Hoiland's grounder to shortstop in the second inning.
In the sixth, Nate Castellon singled with two outs and Murray blasted his eighth home run of the year, a no-doubter over the left-field wall, for a 4-0 Mustang lead. Murray was the lone Mustang with multiple hits and extended his hitting streak to 15 games.
Ryan Fenn singled in the third inning to stretch his hitting streak to 18 games, but Alejandro Garza saw his 16-game streak come to an end, grounding into a pair of double plays in an 0-for-4 day at the plate.
Junior right-hander Finnegan Wall, who had pitched just 22 1/3 innings all year, went six innings as UC Irvine's starter Sunday, allowing four runs and five hits with one walk and three strikeouts before giving way to Ojeda in the seventh.
Frankie Carney and Chase Call each had two of UC Irvine's five hits.
Cal Poly earned its fourth NCAA regional berth with Sunday's win, joining the 2009, 2013, and 2014 squads. The Mustangs' first Big West crown was captured in 2014 and that team split four games in the San Luis Obispo Regional at Baggett Stadium. The Mustangs have never advanced to a Division I super regional.
UC Irvine had beaten Cal Poly four times prior to Saturday night when the Mustangs avoided elimination with a 15-5 triumph. That 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.
Fenn was named MVP of the tournament after going 9-for-21 at the plate with two doubles and five RBIs. Zach Daudet was 8-for-18 with a double and two RBIs while Murray, Hoiland, and Garza each had six hits, and Vachini and Castellon had five each.
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