Cal Poly Baseball dropped their third straight series to begin the 2024 season against the University of Utah in yet another weekend of rescheduled games.
Friday’s game was rescheduled to a doubleheader on Sunday due to inclement rain in the San Luis Obispo area.
Despite the series loss, the Mustangs (3-7) snapped their five-game losing streak in game two of Sunday’s doubleheader against the Utes (9-2) in walk-off fashion.
Errors prove costly in blowout loss
With runners on the corners in the top of the first inning, junior catcher Ryan Stafford attempted a pickoff at the runner at third and had him caught in a rundown. Stafford threw the ball off the runner’s back, the ball ricocheting into left field, scoring the runner and advancing the first base runner to second base.
This was the first of seven costly errors for the Mustangs in their 12-2 loss against the Utes in Saturday’s series opener.
After coming off of solid back-to-back outings to begin the season, redshirt sophomore lefty Jakob Wright took the mound for his third Friday start of the season and was knocked out of the game in just the fourth inning. Wright’s final line was 3 2/3 innings pitched allowing five runs (two earned) on five hits, two walks and two hit batters while striking out five.
Wright’s short outing was mainly the result of three errors committed by the defense while he was on the mound, quickly upping his pitch count to 92.
Six total relievers were used in relief of Wright to finish out the three-and-a-half hour affair, totaling seven more runs allowed along with four more errors committed by the defense.
Cal Poly’s offense struggled mightily once again with situational hitting as they only mustered one hit with runners in scoring position in 13 at-bats.
Brooks shines, offense wastes opportunities
Senior first baseman Joe Yorke perhaps summed up the opening game of Sunday’s series-concluding doubleheader the best. Despite the 4-0 loss, the fan-favorite noted the game’s one high point for the Mustangs.
“Steven Brooks was unbelievable today,” Yorke said. “And he’s been like that all year long.”
The junior yet again shined, despite taking his third loss this season. This time around, the shine came in the form of his eight innings pitched. He gave up six hits and four earned runs, but also recorded three strikeouts and didn’t walk a single batter while throwing 94 pitches.
It seemed at first as though Brooks would be all but unhittable on Sunday afternoon. He retired the first 10 batters he faced and only allowed one hit through the first seven innings. However, it was in the eighth that the Utes finally overcame the dominance of the Cal Poly righty.
After Brooks recorded the first two outs of the inning without any trouble, Utah proceeded to rattle off the final five of their six total hits. The hit parade was highlighted by a two-strike, bases-clearing, three-run double by senior outfielder Kai Roberts.
The Utes weren’t done, though. The very next at-bat, a two-strike RBI single off the bat of redshirt junior infielder Tyler Quinn sealed the Mustangs’ fate. Brooks would get the next hitter to ground out, but by then the damage was done as Utah won the game—and series—six outs later.
Despite the loss, Brooks felt that not just he performed well, but the team behind him as well.
“I was able to attack hitters really well, and they were getting out on early pitches, which helped me be efficient,” Brooks said. “The defense also played well [today], and helped me get deeper into the game.”
Offensively, it was Stafford and senior center fielder Jake Steels who led the way for Cal Poly, both going 2-for-4. Though the Mustangs outhit their visitors and totaled one fewer strikeout, those were about the only two things that went right during Sunday’s first game.
The Mustangs were hitless with two outs (0-for-9), 0-for-15 with runners in scoring position and went just 3-for-24 with runners on. And while Utah’s totals weren’t much better, they still made the most of their opportunities, stranding just four runners to the Mustangs’ 15.
“Big Joe” comes up big, snaps Mustangs’ losing streak
Despite some middle-innings stress, the Mustangs were able to hang on for a 4-3 walk-off win in the nightcap, courtesy of Yorke’s bases-loaded RBI single in the bottom of the ninth.
“It definitely stings to lose a close one like [Sunday afternoon’s game],” Yorke said. “So we fought our hardest and did our best and ultimately came out with a win.”
The Mustangs were all over Utah pitching from the game’s very beginning. With two outs in the first, Stafford doubled to right center before Yorke drove him in with a single to left, for the Mustangs’ first lead in a ballgame since February 21.
“Hopefully tonight was a step in the right direction,” head coach Larry Lee said. “It was a clean game, a good game… we had opportunities and we started coming through when those opportunities presented [themselves].”
The Green and Gold tacked on two more in the very next inning, after redshirt junior DH Kemet Brown, making his first start of 2024, legged out an infield single, freshman third baseman Alejandro Garza laced an RBI double to left-center. Steels immediately followed Garza’s RBI with one of his own, roping a first-pitch single to right-center to right to bring in Garza and make it a 3-0 Mustang lead.
The Utes wouldn’t go quietly, however, as they proceeded to load the bases on Mustang redshirt senior starter Ryan Baum with no outs in the third. Their work paid off instantly, as they scored their first run via a hit-by-pitch and the second on a fielder’s choice to third. However, Baum silenced any further threat by inducing a flyout on the very next batter.
The Utes would eventually tie things up in the sixth, with a sac fly but that was all either team could muster scoring-wise until the Mustang ninth.
The Mustangs led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a single and hit batsman, before a sac bunt from junior left fielder Dylan Kordic put men in scoring position. The Utes then intentionally walked Stafford to bring up Yorke, in hopes of setting up a double play that would force extra innings. Instead, Yorke took the 1-2 fastball he was offered and promptly deposited it back into the outfield for the walk-off RBI single.
“I widened out a little bit and just tried to play pepper with the middle of the field and I got a fastball over the plate and that’s what happened,” Yorke said. “Just sticking to my approach there and not trying to get too big worked out for me.”
On the scorecard, it was redshirt junior reliever Tanner Sagoupse (2 2/3 innings pitched, one hit, four strikeouts, and no runs allowed on 34 pitches) receiving the win in relief, and continuing his stellar start to the season.
Offensively, it was Stafford—2-for-3 with a double and a walk, Garza—3-for-4 with a double and an RBI—, and Yorke—2-for-5 with 2 RBIs—who led the way for Cal Poly.
Despite just the one-run margin of victory, the Mustangs were rather dominant offensively, they hit 7-for-12 with two outs, 6-for-19 with runners on base compared to Utah’s 3-for-16 and 3-for-7 with runners in scoring position, while the visitors went just 1-for-14. Also, the Mustangs came away with three two-out RBIs to Utah’s none and left fewer men on base than the opposition.
Up next, Cal Poly will look to make it consecutive wins when they welcome the Pepperdine Waves to Baggett Stadium on Tuesday, March 5, at 5 P.M.