Cal Poly defeated Virginia Tech 6-2 in the opening round of the NCAA Los Angeles Regional on May 29 at Jackie Robinson Stadium, advancing to the winners bracket where they will face Saint Mary’s. Casey Murray Jr. and Dante Vachini combined for seven hits and three RBIs, while Griffin Naess pitched seven innings, allowing two runs (one earned) with nine strikeouts.
Murray went 4-for-5 with two RBIs, recording his third career four-hit game. Vachini contributed a 3-for-4 performance and one RBI, marking his fourth three-hit contest of the year. Cal Poly improved its record to 37-22 for the season with this win.
Naess said, “My family travels to every game, so seeing them in the stands is huge. But also just knowing the pressure’s not on me, it’s on the hitters. It’s tough to hit a lot of pitches. I have all the trust in the world with our hitters, so all I have to do is just go out there and pitch my game.” He added, “If I pitch my game, then we’re going to win the game because our offense is going to put some runs on the board, play for one every inning, and we’re going to win the game.” Naess threw 48 change-ups during his outing.
Head coach Larry Lee said after the victory, “Good opening game in a regional. We did just enough. Put a lot of pressure on them. Created opportunities every inning. Cashed in on the early ones.” Lee continued, “Griff pitched a great opener for a regional and it was just what we needed to set the tone. Seven quality innings and his performance allowed our guys to play the style of baseball that we needed to play.” Cal Poly scored at least one run each inning from second through sixth.
Saint Mary’s advanced by defeating national No. 1 seed UCLA earlier in day action; their meeting against Cal Poly will be their first since splitting four games in 2019 at Baggett Stadium.
Redshirt junior right-hander Carson Turnquist will start for Cal Poly against Saint Mary’s sophomore Lukas Sarantos as both teams compete for a spot further into regional play.