35-22
UC San Diego
27-27
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cal Poly | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 0 |
| UC San Diego | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 12 | 11 | 0 |
Cal Poly Forced Into Sunday Winner Takes All Championship Final
5/23/2026 11:30:00 PM | Baseball
IRVINE, Calif. — A trio of UC San Diego rallies of three or more runs powered the Tritons to a 12-2 triumph over Cal Poly on Saturday night, forcing an extra game Sunday to determine the winner of The Big West Baseball Championship on Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark.
UCSD put a pair of fours on the scoreboard in the second and seventh innings and a three-spot in the eighth to hand Coach Larry Lee's Mustangs their first loss in the double-elimination event. Cal Poly and the Tritons will meet for a sixth time this season Sunday at noon.
Cal Poly's juggernaut offense which produced a .307 team batting average during the 54-game regular season, including a .325 mark in 30 conference contests, has been held rather quiet in three tournament games this week.
The Mustangs opened with a 1-0 win over UC San Diego, collecting just three hits and scoring the only run of the game on a 50-foot infield single off the bat of Nate Castellon in the second inning, and followed with a dozen hits but only four runs in a 4-2 victory over UC Santa Barbara.
Saturday night, the Mustangs' hit total was seven en route to single runs in the first and seventh innings. Cal Poly produced 93 innings of two or more runs in the regular season, but has just eight single-run frames to show for its collective efforts this weekend, hitting only .232 with four extra-base hits.
The Mustangs scored in the opening frame as Alejandro Garza singled up the middle with one out and Ryan Tayman drew a two-out walk. Cam Hoiland, 4-for-4 in Friday's win over UCSB, singled to left to drive home Garza for a 1-0 Cal Poly lead.
The Tritons scored four times in the second and added one more in the fifth for a 5-1 advantage before Cal Poly put its second run on the scoreboard in the seventh on Gavin Spiridonoff's third home run of the year, a leadoff blast to left field that came off the bat at 97 miles per hour and traveled 363 feet.
UCSD pulled away with seven runs over its final two at bats, beating the Mustangs for the second time in five tries this season.
Garza singled twice and now has 248 career hits, four shy of the Cal Poly record. Jimmy Allen had 252 hits from 2011-14. Tayman added a single and double for the Mustangs.
Five Tritons -- Anthony Potestio, Addison Klepsch, Gabe Camacho, Alex Leopard and Trevian Martinez -- all had two of UC San Diego's 11 hits. Potestio, Camacho, Martinez and Nathaniel Widelski all knocked in a pair of runs.
Five of the eight Triton leadoff batters reached base safely while just one of Cal Poly's eight leadoff hitters got on base — Spiridonoff with his home run in the seventh. The game was called with one out in the bottom of the eighth due to a 10-run rule in effect during tournament play.
Austin Bowker (5-1) entered the game with a 7.20 ERA but kept Cal Poly relatively quiet for 6 2/3 innings, allowing two runs and six hits with a pair of walks and three strikeouts.
The loss went to Mustang junior southpaw Josh Volmerding (0-1) as he gave up four runs and four hits over four innings with four strikeouts. He retired the final seven batters he faced. Troy Cooper, Chris Downs and Sean McGrath all gave up at least one run in relief.
Cal Poly left the bases loaded in the first inning after scoring its initial run never had more than one runner on base in each of the remaining seven frames. The Mustangs were retired in order twice.
Cal Poly, which had its eight-game winning streak snapped by the Tritons, seeks its ninth conference championship in program history Sunday. The Mustangs claimed California Collegiate Athletic Association titles in 1989 and 1991-94 and have won three Big West crowns, including the 2014 and 2026 regular season trophies and the 2025 conference tournament.
UC San Diego reached the championship round earlier Saturday with a 7-0 shutout of No. 23 and top-seeded UC Santa Barbara as Nathan Ries (3-3) pitched a complete-game four-hitter with two walks and four strikeouts.
Sunday's starting pitchers for the championship finale on ESPN+ will be freshman right-hander Corden Pettey (3-2, 5.03 ERA) for Cal Poly and redshirt sophomore right-hander Trevor Rector (0-3, 12.41 ERA) for UC San Diego. Pettey has missed his last two starts due to injury and owns victories against Washington State, Cal State Bakersfield and CSUN while Rector has appeared in just eight games (six starts, none of them longer than three innings) with 15 strikeouts over 12 1/3 innings.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Bowker, Austin (5-1)
L: Volmerding, Josh (0-1)
S: Henson, Kayden (3)
Batting:
2B: Tayman, Ryan 1
HR: Spiridonoff, Gavin 1
RBI: Hoiland, Cam 1 ; Spiridonoff, Gavin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Garza, Alejandro 1 ; Spiridonoff, Gavin 1
Batting:
2B: Potestio, Anthony 1 ; Camacho, Gabe 1 ; Leopard, Alex 1
3B: Leopard, Alex 1
RBI: Potestio, Anthony 2 ; Klepsch, Addison 1 ; Camacho, Gabe 2 ; Allen, J.C. 1 ; Leopard, Alex 1 ; Martinez, Trevian 2 ; Widelski, Nathaniel 2
SH: Maher, Thomas 1
SF: Potestio, Anthony 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Potestio, Anthony 1 ; Klepsch, Addison 2 ; Camacho, Gabe 2 ; Leopard, Alex 2 ; Martinez, Trevian 1 ; Costello, Nick 1 ; Widelski, Nathaniel 1 ; Maher, Thomas 2
SB: Klepsch, Addison 1 ; Widelski, Nathaniel 1
HBP: Potestio, Anthony 1
