Cal Poly defeated UC Irvine 8-6 in the final game of their Big West baseball series on May 3, taking advantage of three ninth-inning errors to score two unearned runs at Anteater Ballpark.
The victory keeps Cal Poly one game ahead of UC Santa Barbara in the conference standings. The Mustangs’ overall record improved to 27-19, marking the first time this season they have been eight games above .500. Head coach Larry Lee reached his 1,200th career win, including 740 victories at Cal Poly and 460 at Cuesta College.
“My message after Friday’s loss was it is just one game,” said Lee. “Learn from what you did and what you didn’t do well. Win on Saturday and your odds are in your favor for Sunday.”
Cal Poly started strong with a three-run home run by Dante Vachini in the second inning but saw UC Irvine respond quickly with a home run by Rowan Felsch. The teams traded leads throughout the game before entering the ninth tied at six runs each. In that inning, Cal Poly capitalized on three consecutive infield errors by UC Irvine to bring home Antonio Castro and Vachini for the go-ahead runs.
Senior closer Nick Bonn earned his first win of the season after pitching three scoreless innings for Cal Poly. The Mustangs had nine hits, including two each from Vachini and Casey Murray Jr., while UC Irvine collected twelve hits but could not overcome their defensive mistakes.
“As for in-game action, we try to take the emotion out of the equation when things are not going well,” said Lee. “We try to deal in reality. It doesn’t matter how you got there. After each inning, it becomes so many innings to play and you are up, even, or down in the scoring column.”
Looking ahead, Cal Poly will visit Santa Clara before continuing conference play next weekend against Cal State Fullerton.
