NORTHRIDGE, Calif. -Casey Murray Jr. belted a two-run home run to give Cal Poly the lead for good in the third inning and Christopher Downs pitched 4 1/3 innings of one-run two-hit baseball as Cal Poly held on for a 10-9 Big West baseball victory over CSUN on Sunday at Robert J. Hiegert Field.
Murray's blast, his fifth of the year, wiped out a 4-3 CSUN lead and Downs improved to 5-0 with two strikeouts and no walks for Coach Larry Lee's Mustangs, who won the series, two games to one, improved to 34-16 overall and 20-7 in Big West games and fell five spots in the RPI to 45.
CSUN fell to 14-32 and 9-18.
The decision, coupled with UC Irvine's 5-3 win at Cal State Bakersfield and Cal State Fullerton's 10-2 loss to Hawai'i, locks Cal Poly into the second seed for the Big West Conference Championship, slated for May 21-25 at Goodwin Field.
All nine Cal Poly position starters collected hits as part of a 14-hit offensive attack, giving the Mustangs double-digit hits in 31 of their last 43 games. First baseman Zach Daudet led the way with his sixth three-hit game of the season, producing a single, an RBI double and his solo home run in the second inning.
Second baseman Ryan Fenn, designated hitter Cam Hoiland and right fielder Dylan Kordic each added a pair of hits -- Fenn extending his hitting streak to 10 games and Kordic six. Alejandro Garza singled to extend his hitting streak to nine games and Murray has hit in seven straight games with his home run. Daudet has hit in five consecutive contests.
Daudet and Murray each produced a pair of RBIs.
Cal Poly held early 2-0, 3-1 and 6-4 leads and extended the advantage to 10-5 with a run in the fourth, two more in the sixth and one in the seventh. CSUN tallied four runs in the eighth — the key hit was a three-run home run by pinch hitter Xavier Rios — to cut the Mustang lead to a single run.
Senior southpaw Jake Torres restored order with a pair of infield groundouts to close out the eighth frame and allowed a one-out single but nothing else in the ninth for a three-inning save.
Freshman lefty Luke Kalfsbeek secured the first five outs of the game but allowed four runs and six hits before giving way to Downs, who retired the first 11 Matador batters he faced before giving up a run on two hits in the sixth inning. Downs finished the frame before handing the ball off to Torres.
CSUN outhit Cal Poly 15-14, led by third baseman Kyle Panganiban and shortstop Trent Abel, each with three hits. The Matadors, who did not commit an error in splitting the first two games of the series, committed three miscues Sunday.
The loss was charged to CSUN starter Dante Zamudio (1-1), who surrendered five runs on four hits, two walks, a pair of errors and a wild pitch in 2 2/3 frames. Five more Matador pitchers followed Zamudio to the mound.
Kordic earned his sixth outfield assist of the year, throwing out a Matador runner at the plate, ending the first inning. Thirteen of the 27 outs recorded by Mustang defenders were in the outfield.
With three more crooked numbers on the scoreboard Sunday, the Mustangs have assembled crooked-number rallies (two or more runs in an inning) 86 times in 50 games this season.
For the series, Daudet went 9-for-17 with two doubles, a pair of home runs and four RBIs while Fenn was 6-for-12 with a pair of doubles and three RBIs. Kordic, Garza and catcher Jack Collins all had five hits as the Mustangs hit .361 in the series.
Cal Poly wraps up regular season play next Thursday through Saturday with a three-game Big West series against UC Riverside inside Baggett Stadium. Game times are 6 p.m. both Thursday and Friday and 1 o'clock Saturday.
(Article courtesy Cal Poly Athletics).
Cal Poly clinches #2 seed in upcoming Big West Baseball Championships News Channel 3-12.
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