UC Irvine defeated Cal Poly 11-4 in the opening game of a Big West Conference baseball series on May 2 at Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark.
The result keeps Cal Poly in first place in the conference, as UC San Diego lost to Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara tied for second with a win over Cal State Bakersfield. Cal State Fullerton dropped to fourth after losing to UC Davis.
Cal Poly took an early lead with Dylan Kordic’s two-run double in the second inning but fell behind as UC Irvine scored seven runs across the sixth and seventh innings. Ryan Tayman hit his 14th home run of the season for Cal Poly, while Alejandro Garza drove in a run to tie the game in the fifth inning. A wild pitch broke the tie, followed by Daniel Polasek’s two-run single and Zach Fjelstad’s three-run triple for UC Irvine.
Trevor Hansen earned his fifth win of the season for UC Irvine, pitching six innings and allowing four runs on six hits. Ricky Ojeda pitched two scoreless innings, and Peyton Rodgers closed out the ninth with two strikeouts. Griffin Naess took the loss for Cal Poly after giving up five runs over five-and-a-third innings.
UC Irvine recorded eleven hits, including multiple singles from Lucas Schermer and Efren Ortega. Rowan Felsch contributed a three-run home run that erased an early deficit for his team. For Cal Poly, Castellon and Tayman each had two hits among their team’s seven total hits.
Cal Poly holds a record of 25-19 overall and leads conference play at 15-7. The next game is scheduled for Saturday afternoon with Carson Turnquist starting for Cal Poly against Finnegan Wall of UC Irvine.
