Cal Poly advanced to the final of the Big West Baseball Championship with a 4-2 win over top-seeded and 23rd-ranked UC Santa Barbara on May 22 at Cicerone Field in Irvine, Calif. The Mustangs’ victory was highlighted by Cam Hoiland’s perfect day at the plate, Carson Turnquist’s strong pitching performance, and Nick Bonn tying a school record with his 14th save.
The win puts Cal Poly one victory away from securing its second consecutive conference tournament title and another trip to the NCAA Regionals. The team will play again Saturday night, with their opponent yet to be determined after an earlier elimination game.
Head coach Larry Lee said, “Big win for us. Carson went out, got himself in a jam early and minimized it, only gave up a run. And that was big for us. It allowed our offense to get back in the game and get a lead. And then Cam with the four-for-four, pretty big in a setting like this.” Lee added that while they are pleased with the result so far, “We’re extremely happy, but the job is not complete. We’ll sit back and see who we’ll face Saturday at six o’clock.”
UC Santa Barbara had beaten Cal Poly three times earlier this season but could not overcome timely hitting by the Mustangs or break through against their bullpen on Friday. Gauchos head coach Andrew Checketts said, “We got the big hits at their place, but their bullpen came in and threw strikes today… Today, they got the hits when it mattered and we didn’t.”
Turnquist pitched six innings for Cal Poly before being relieved after throwing 114 pitches; he struck out seven batters while allowing two runs on three hits. Afterward he said about his late-game approach: “I feel like I got better stuff… I’m going to go do that next inning… And I went out there and just emptied the tank with my best stuff.” Bonn secured his record-tying save by closing out UC Santa Barbara in the ninth inning.
The Mustangs tallied twelve hits overall—Hoiland singled three times and doubled once—and produced come-from-behind runs in each of their last three offensive innings.
Looking ahead to Saturday’s championship round matchup, Lee reflected on how much his team has improved since facing UC Santa Barbara earlier this season: “We’re just better than we were when we played them… But we’ve learned throughout.” If Cal Poly wins Saturday night’s contest they will claim both an automatic NCAA postseason berth as well as another conference crown.