Naess Tosses Gem to Advance Mustangs Past UC San Diego in Combined Shutout

Thursday, May 21

Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark / Irvine, CA

6:00 PM

34-21

UC San Diego

24-27

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
UC San Diego	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	1
Cal Poly	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	X	1	3	2

Photo by: The Big West

Naess Tosses Gem to Advance Mustangs Past UC San Diego in Combined Shutout

5/21/2026 11:25:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

IRVINE, Calif. — Griffin Naess of Cal Poly and UC San Diego's Steele Murdock combined to throw 263 pitches and allowed between them just one run and five hits in a magnificent pitchers' duel Thursday night on Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark.

Naess prevailed in a 1-0 Mustang victory over the Tritons in Game 3 of the 2026 edition of The Big West Championship. The lone run of the game came on a 50-foot nubber to the left of the mound off the bat of Cal Poly shortstop Nate Castellon in the second inning.

Naess (7-4) pitched at least six innings of shutout baseball for the ninth time in his Cal Poly career and seven scoreless frames for the fourth time, throwing a career-high 129 pitches over 7 2/3 innings and striking out 11, his second-highest total as a Mustang, while issuing three walks and two hits.

Murdock (4-3) threw 134 pitches over eight frames and gave up the lone run and three hits with four walks and 11 strikeouts as well.

"That was two starting pitchers slugging it out," said UC San Diego head coach Eric Newman. "The competitiveness was high level. That was high-level stuff. We got beat on a ball that didn't get out of the infield. Sometimes that happens."

"Great college baseball game," added Cal Poly head coach Larry Lee. "Very pitching dominant, both sides. Both starters were on top of their game and we were fortunate to come out with a one-nothing win.

"In every type of tournament like this, I think there's one of these games where you're going to play a tightly contested game," Lee said. "And you just got to try to figure a way out of how to win that game. And fortunately we were on the winning side."

In each of Naess' three seasons at Cal Poly, he has earned seven victories. The total of 21 moves him to No. 9 alone in the Mustang record book, 11 shy of record-holder Dan Chergey.

"The pitches were working for me tonight," said the junior right-hander. "The change, curveball and fastball were the main three that were working. I've been throwing my cutter recently a lot, but I didn't throw it too much today."

Naess also beat Murdock in the first meeting between the two right-handers five weeks ago at Triton Ballpark, allowing two runs and four hits over six innings in the 11-3 Cal Poly triumph.

"Griffin was the best I think I've seen him in the three years since he's been here, and he's had a lot of really quality starts for us and a lot of big ball games," said Lee. "He just took it to a completely different level. He had a firm fastball. He had the curveball early in the ball game and continued that throughout. And then the changeup was his primary pitch. When you have three quality pitches going in the same game, that makes it very difficult to get comfortable in the batter's box."

Jake Downing and Gavin Spiridonoff both drew four-pitch walks opening the second inning for Cal Poly. Cam Hoiland's sacrifice bunt to third advanced both runners 90 feet. After Murdock secured the second out of the inning with a strikeout, Castellon's full-count dribbler to the left of the mound was fielded by Murdock, but he had no play and Downing sprinted home with the only run of the game.

"Doesn't need to be pretty," Castellon said of what proved to be the game-winning hit. "As long as it brings someone in, that's all that matters. The scorebooks show it was a hard line drive."

Cal Poly really had just one other scoring threat, leaving runners at first and second in the opening frame.

UC San Diego, on the other hand, stranded nine runners on the basepaths. The Tritons had runners at second and third with one out in the first inning, loaded the bases with two outs in the eighth and had a potential game-tying runner at third with one out in the ninth.

Naess earned a strikeout to end the first inning. Bonn relieved Naess with two outs and the bases loaded in the eighth and secured a grounder to Castellon to snuff out the rally and, after his wild pickoff throw to first base allowed pinch-runner Raphael Dunne to advance to third in the ninth, Bonn recorded a strikeout and a long fly ball to the gap in left-center field that was run down by Dante Vachini just shy of the warning track before crashing into the wall for the final out of the game, giving Bonn his 13th save, one shy of the school record.

"We had a couple opportunities there as the game got on," said Newman. We weren't able to cash them in. And I mean, that's playoff baseball. You've got to find a way to cash in an RBI here and there."

Besides Castellon's RBI single, Cal Poly's only other hits were singles by Dylan Kordic and Ryan Tayman. UC San Diego also finished with three hits, all singles by Anthony Potestio, J.C. Allen and Trevian Martinez.

UC Santa Barbara jumped to a 6-0 lead in the first two innings and went on to defeat Cal State Fullerton 7-4 in Thursday's first game as Jackson Flora improved to 11-0 with seven quality innings, giving up just one run and three hits with two walks and nine strikeouts. Catcher Nate Vargas drove in three runs with an RBI double in the first inning and a two-run home run, his 11th of the year, in the second frame.

Cal Poly (34-21) faces UC Santa Barbara (38-16) in the winner's bracket final Friday at 1 p.m. with Mustang Carson Turnquist (7-2, 3.55 ERA) to face Gaucho Calvin Proskey (0-0, 1.99 ERA) in a matchup of junior right-handers.

Turnquist has earned victories in each of his last five starts, compiling a 2.60 ERA with 38 strikeouts over 27 2/3 innings. Proskey has appeared in six games, all starts, with 17 strikeouts over 22 2/3 frames, after missing the first eight weeks of the season due to injury.

Cal State Fullerton (24-31) and UC San Diego (24-27) play an elimination contest Friday night at 6.

CASTELLON brings in DOWNING to put the Stangs on the board ??#RideHigh pic.twitter.com/q2VUQahpUU
— Cal Poly Baseball (@CalPolyBSB) May 22, 2026

Big West win powered by the mound??

Castellon RBI, Naess and Bonn dealing brings it home ??#RideHigh pic.twitter.com/E5cwMBptuQ
— Cal Poly Baseball (@CalPolyBSB) May 22, 2026

Support Cal Poly Baseball through Project Omaha and help fund scholarships and holistic student-athlete support, ensuring the program has the resources to compete at the highest level amid the evolving landscape of college athletics, including the NCAA’s increase to 34 full scholarships. Donations directly support student-athletes, helping attract and retain elite talent while upholding academic excellence. As part of the initiative, a matching fund specific to Project Omaha has been established by the University, providing permanent investment into the program’s operational budget and further strengthening Cal Poly Baseball’s competitive foundation.

Make your impact today by supporting Project Omaha, powered by Players Edge.