31-21, 20-8
Long Beach State
17-33, 11-17
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Long Beach State | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 0 |
| Cal Poly | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | X | 11 | 7 | 0 |
Tayman and Garza Inch Closer to History as Mustangs Take Series Opener
5/14/2026 11:00:00 PM | Baseball
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Ryan Tayman smashed his 16th home run of the season, Alejandro Garza and Dante Vachini both contributed two hits and one RBI and Griffin Naess earned his sixth victory as Cal Poly defeated Long Beach State 11-3 in the opener of a Big West baseball series Thursday night inside Baggett Stadium.
Tayman moved into a four-way tie for second all-time in single-season home runs with his solo shot on an 0-2 count with two outs in the eighth inning. The junior catcher is tied with Steve Wood (1998 and 2000) and Boyd Dodder (1997), and two behind record-holder Monty Waltz (1985).
Both Garza and Vachini produced a single and a double, with the two-baggers earning the RBIs -- Garza in the second inning and Vachini in the seventh. Garza now has 21 doubles, 45 RBIs and 25 multiple-hit games this season while Vachini earned his 10th double and 19th RBI.
Naess (6-4) threw 99 pitches and allowed three runs and nine hits over six frames for his sixth quality start of 2026. The junior right-hander struck out eight, the second-highest total of his Mustang career, and walked one, earning his 20th career win to move into a tie for No. 9 with Paul Souza (1990-93) and Shannon Stephens (1992-95) on the all-time Cal Poly list.
With the win, Cal Poly kept pace with UC Santa Barbara atop the Big West standings at 20-8. The Gauchos edged UC Riverside 1-0 as Jackson Flora took a no-hitter into the eighth inning and finished with a complete-game two-hit shutout and 12 strikeouts.
UC San Diego clinched third place at 17-11 with a 10-6 win at home against Cal State Fullerton (14-14). Hawai'i improved to 16-13 and clinched fourth place with a 7-0 shutout against CSUN, dropping the Titans into fifth place. Only UC Irvine (13-15), a 6-3 winner at Cal State Bakersfield, has a chance to overtake Cal State Fullerton for the final qualifying spot in next week's Big West tournament at UC Irvine. The Titans own the tiebreaker against the Anteaters if those two clubs finish tied for fifth place. Eliminated from contention for a berth in the tournament as a result of Thursday's results were CSUN (4-0 loss at Hawai'i on Wednesday), Long Beach State and UC Davis.
Cal Poly is 10 games above the .500 mark for the first time this season at 31-21 while Long Beach State fell to 17-33.
Cal Poly earned its 19th come-from-behind win of the year despite being outhit 10-7. In addition, the Mustangs produced two crooked numbers on the scoreboard in unusual fashion, scoring three times in the second inning on three consecutive hits through the right side of the Dirtbag infield and breaking the game open with six runs in the seventh, driving in four on ground balls.
Long Beach State led 1-0 just two batters into the game as Kaiden Smaka tripled into the right-field corner and came home on Smith Chandler's RBI single up the middle.
A single by Garza and two walks loaded the bases for Cal Poly with one out in the bottom of the first. Casey Murray Jr.'s grounder to shortstop knocked in the tying run.
The deadlock was snapped in the bottom of the second. Cam Hoiland walked, Vachini singled and both Nate Castellon and Garza produced RBI singles. Tayman's sacrifice fly to left-center field cashed in the third run of the inning for a 4-1 Mustang lead.
The Dirtbags made it a one-run game in the sixth frame on solo home runs by Dylan Lina, his 11th of the year, and Conner Stewart, his first. At the time, Dirtbag reliever Caleb Anderson was on cruise control, in the midst of retiring 11 consecutive Mustang batters.
Then in the seventh, two walks and a single by Murray loaded the bases. Jake Downing grounded out to second base for an RBI, Gavin Spiridonoff's fielder's choice to shortstop drove in another run, Hoiland's safety squeeze bunt made it 7-3 and Vachini doubled down the left-field line for the fourth run of the inning.
Tyler Gebb replaced Anderson on the mound and surrendered an RBI grounder hit by Castellon and Vachini capped the rally by scoring on a wild pitch.
Cal Poly added a final insurance run in the eighth with Tayman's home run.
The loss was charged to Dirtbag starter Ka'imi Kahalekai (0-5) as he allowed four runs on four hits and five walks over 2 1/3 innings.
Garza and Vachini were the only Mustangs with multiple hits. Long Beach State's 10 hits included a double and home run by Stewart, a home run and single by Lina and two singles by Chandler.
Friday's second game of the series will start at 6:05 p.m. with redshirt junior right-hander Carson Turnquist (6-2, 3.77 ERA) of Cal Poly to face Long Beach State freshman right-hander Luke Howe (5-3, 4.57 ERA).
The series finale Saturday begins at 1:05 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Naess, Griffin (6-4)
L: Kahalekai, Ka'imi (0-5)
Batting:
2B: Stewart, Conner 1
3B: Smaka, Kaiden 1
HR: Lina, Dylan 1 ; Stewart, Conner 1
RBI: Lina, Dylan 1 ; Chandler, Smith 1 ; Stewart, Conner 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Lina, Dylan 1 ; Smaka, Kaiden 1 ; Stewart, Conner 1
CS: Chandler, Smith 1
PO: Chandler, Smith 1
Batting:
2B: Garza, Alejandro 1 ; Vachini, Dante 1
HR: Tayman, Ryan 1
RBI: Murray Jr., Casey 1 ; Downing, Jake 1 ; Garza, Alejandro 1 ; Vachini, Dante 1 ; Castellon, Nate 2 ; Spiridonoff, Gavin 1 ; Hoiland, Cam 1 ; Tayman, Ryan 2
SH: Hoiland, Cam 1
SF: Tayman, Ryan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Murray Jr., Casey 1 ; Kordic, Dylan 1 ; Garza, Alejandro 1 ; Vachini, Dante 2 ; Castellon, Nate 1 ; Spiridonoff, Gavin 1 ; Hoiland, Cam 2 ; Tayman, Ryan 2
SB: Garza, Alejandro 1
HBP: Garza, Alejandro 1 ; Hoiland, Cam 1
