Cal Poly Mustangs defeated Fresno State 15-10 on May 12 after a strong offensive showing in the final innings at Pete Beiden Field at Bob Bennett Stadium.
The game was notable for Cal Poly’s comeback, marking their 18th come-from-behind victory this season and completing a sweep of three midweek games against the Bulldogs. The win also gave Head Coach Larry Lee his 14th season with at least 30 wins, and five such seasons in the last six years.
Trailing by three runs after seven innings, Cal Poly scored five runs in the eighth inning and added three more in the ninth. Alejandro Garza started the rally with a double, followed by Dylan Kordic’s two-run home run. Ryan Tayman hit a double and later scored on Casey Murray Jr.’s home run. Jake Downing drew a walk, and Gavin Spiridonoff contributed an RBI double to give Cal Poly an 11-10 lead. Freshman pitcher Sean McGrath retired all six batters he faced over two innings to earn his first save.
Offensively, Cal Poly recorded its third game this season with at least 20 hits. Tayman, Murray, and Downing each had three hits; Downing drove in three runs. Garza now has 242 career hits at Cal Poly and is ten away from tying Jimmy Allen’s program record of 252 set between 2011 and 2014.
With this victory, Cal Poly improved to a record of 30-21 for the year while Fresno State dropped to 14-35-1. The Mustangs have won eight out of nine conference series so far this year and are tied for first place with UC Santa Barbara in the Big West Conference standings heading into their final regular-season series against Long Beach State.