Saturday, April 22
UC Riverside
4
vs
8
Cal Poly
Mustangs Even Series, 8-4
4/22/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
UC Riverside saw its three-game Big West Conference winning streak come to an end as Cal Poly evened up the teams’ series at one game all with an 8-4 victory Saturday afternoon at the Riverside Sports Complex. The Highlanders fall to 20-14, 3-2 Big West, while the Mustangs improve to 22-18, 6-5.
For the second straight day, UCR fell behind in the first inning as the Mustangs manufactured a run without gaining a hit. Jimmy Gardiner led off with a walk, then stole second and advanced to third and scored on consecutive groundouts.
UCR evened the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the inning when sophomore 1B Aaron Wible delivered a sacrifice fly to plate junior CF Brett Bigler, who had tripled. The Highlanders scored twice more in the second but could have had more. Back-to-back singles to open the inning and sacrifice bunt put runners at second and third. With two outs, senior RF Aaron Grant hit a grounder deep into the hole between first and second. Cal Poly 2B Pat Pezet ranged to his left and smothered the ball before throwing to first. Grant was able to beat it out for a hit and in doing so, scored junior DH Nick Salotti. Junior 2B Kyle Barratt, who had started the play at second base, never stopped hustling and came home when he saw no Mustang covering the plate. The Highlanders weren’t done as a walk and a single put runners on first and second when senior 3B Brian Steinmeyer singled to left. Grant charged home from second but was thrown out at the plate by Gardiner, ending the inning.
That would be the last threat for the Highlanders. Cal Poly regained the lead in the top of the third, scoring three times off of UCR senior RHP Haley Winter (3-3). Winter allowed three consecutive singles for the first run and Josh Lansford tied the game on an RBI groundou. With two outs, Grant Desme hit an RBI single to give the Mustangs a lead they would not relinquish.
Cal Poly extended its advantage with two runs in the fifth to knock out Winter. Back-to-back singles to open the inning marked the end of Winter’s day as sophomore RHP Adam Reifer came on in relief. But Reifer’s first batter, Jimmy Van Ostrand, smashed a two-run double off the wall in center to increase the Mustang lead to 6-3.
The Highlanders put runners on second and third with two out in the fifth but Salotti struck out to end that rally. A squeeze bunt by Gardiner in the sixth added another run for the visitors before Wible hit his second sacrifice fly of the day in the seventh to make it 7-4. Brent Morel put the game out of reach with a solo home run in the eighth.
Winter lasted just four innings, allowing six runs on nine hits and two walks. He struck out one. Reifer gave up two runs on five hits in his four innings of work.
Gary Daley (5-5) picked up the victory for Cal Poly, giving up four runs (three earned) on seven hits in seven innings. He walked three and struck out seven. Rocky Roquet pitched the final two innings.
Bigler continued to shine at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Wible, despite driving in two runs, was 0-for-2 and saw his 11-game hitting streak end. Grant also had two RBI.
For the second straight day, UCR fell behind in the first inning as the Mustangs manufactured a run without gaining a hit. Jimmy Gardiner led off with a walk, then stole second and advanced to third and scored on consecutive groundouts.
UCR evened the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the inning when sophomore 1B Aaron Wible delivered a sacrifice fly to plate junior CF Brett Bigler, who had tripled. The Highlanders scored twice more in the second but could have had more. Back-to-back singles to open the inning and sacrifice bunt put runners at second and third. With two outs, senior RF Aaron Grant hit a grounder deep into the hole between first and second. Cal Poly 2B Pat Pezet ranged to his left and smothered the ball before throwing to first. Grant was able to beat it out for a hit and in doing so, scored junior DH Nick Salotti. Junior 2B Kyle Barratt, who had started the play at second base, never stopped hustling and came home when he saw no Mustang covering the plate. The Highlanders weren’t done as a walk and a single put runners on first and second when senior 3B Brian Steinmeyer singled to left. Grant charged home from second but was thrown out at the plate by Gardiner, ending the inning.
That would be the last threat for the Highlanders. Cal Poly regained the lead in the top of the third, scoring three times off of UCR senior RHP Haley Winter (3-3). Winter allowed three consecutive singles for the first run and Josh Lansford tied the game on an RBI groundou. With two outs, Grant Desme hit an RBI single to give the Mustangs a lead they would not relinquish.
Cal Poly extended its advantage with two runs in the fifth to knock out Winter. Back-to-back singles to open the inning marked the end of Winter’s day as sophomore RHP Adam Reifer came on in relief. But Reifer’s first batter, Jimmy Van Ostrand, smashed a two-run double off the wall in center to increase the Mustang lead to 6-3.
The Highlanders put runners on second and third with two out in the fifth but Salotti struck out to end that rally. A squeeze bunt by Gardiner in the sixth added another run for the visitors before Wible hit his second sacrifice fly of the day in the seventh to make it 7-4. Brent Morel put the game out of reach with a solo home run in the eighth.
Winter lasted just four innings, allowing six runs on nine hits and two walks. He struck out one. Reifer gave up two runs on five hits in his four innings of work.
Gary Daley (5-5) picked up the victory for Cal Poly, giving up four runs (three earned) on seven hits in seven innings. He walked three and struck out seven. Rocky Roquet pitched the final two innings.
Bigler continued to shine at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Wible, despite driving in two runs, was 0-for-2 and saw his 11-game hitting streak end. Grant also had two RBI.
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