SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. - The Sacramento State baseball team fell to the Cal Poly Mustangs by a score of 11-5 on Saturday, Feb. 28 at Baggett Stadium.
With the loss, the Hornets fall to 1-4 on the season, while the Mustangs improve to 5-1.
Sacramento State opened the scoring on a bizarre sequence in the top of the first inning. WIth a runner on first and two outs, junior Dan McCarthy struck out swinging, but on a ball that was in the dirt. In attempted to complete the out with a throw to first, Cal Poly catcher Wes Dorrell threw the ball away, allowing senior Blake Crosby to score and give the Hornets a 1-0 lead.
The lead grew to 2-0 in the top of the third as junior Tim Wheeler hit a double to right-center field, scoring Crosby, who had gotten aboard with a two-out single.
Cal Poly took the lead for the first time in the bottom half of the third, as Ryan Lee connected on a RBI single, which was followed by a RBI bunt single by Adam Buschini and a RBI single by Dorrell, making the score 3-2 in favor of the Mustangs.
The Mustangs added insurance in the bottom of the fourth, scoring two more runs on a RBI single by Adam Melker and a RBI double by Buschini to left, making the score 5-2.
Sacramento State fought back to cut the lead down to one in the top of the fifth, as with one out, sophomore Brent Hottman doubled down the left field line, and was brought home on a RBI single by senior Hunter Martinez. Then, with two down,. Wheeler connected on a triple down the right field line, scoring Martinez, making the score 5-4.
Cal Poly rallied back in the bottom of the fifth to push five runs across the board to take a commanding 10-4 lead. Back-to-back errors by the Hornets to start the inning gave the Mustangs runners on first and third with no one out. Buschini connected on a RBI single, and following a flyout that advanced each runner a base, Melker scored on a wild pitch that moved Buschini to third base. Luke Yoder then doubled to left center, scoring Buschini, and later in the inning J.J. Thompson and Kyle Smith each connected on RBI singles to round out the scoring in the inning.
The Hornets got a run back in the top of the seventh, as Martinez connected on a one out single, and came around to score on the first career triple by Crosby. The Mustangs took the run right back in the bottom of the seventh as Melker walked to open the inning, advanced to second on a wild pitch, moved to third following a flyout and scored on another wild pitch. That closed out the scoring, with Cal Poly taking home the 11-5 victory.
Freshman Jesse Darrah (1-1) picked up the loss for the Hornets, allowing five earned runs on eight hits in 3.2 innings. Jared Eskew (2-0) picked up the win for the Mustangs, allowing three earned runs on eight hits in six innings of work, striking out seven Hornet batters.
Crosby led the Hornets offensively with a 3-for-5 performance at the plate, with a triple, a RBI and two runs scored. Wheeler added two hits and two RBI, while Martinez contributed two hits, two runs and a RBI.
The Hornets and Mustangs will close out the series on Sunday, March 1 at 1 p.m. The scheduled pitching matchup will pit Hornet sophomore righthander Brandon Sandoval (0-0) against Mustang lefthander Matt Leonard (0-0).
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. - The Sacramento State baseball team fell to the Cal Poly Mustangs by a score of 11-5 on Saturday, Feb. 28 at Baggett Stadium.
