Lauren RabainoThe Cal Poly baseball team took two of three from Washington at Husky Stadium over the weekend.
Sunday, sophomore righthander Steven Fischback (2-1) earned the win with six strong innings and eight strikeouts in a 12-1 flattening of the Huskies (5-6).
The Mustangs (5-6) broke a 1-1 tie in the top of the fifth with a seven-run frame highlighted by two-run round-trippers by senior catcher Josh Thomas and sophomore leftfielder Luke Yoder, as well as a two-run single to left from junior outfielder Ryan Lee.
The Mustangs cruised from there, giving up just three more hits over the final 4.5 innings while adding four more tallies and 10 more hits.
Overall, the Mustangs had 20 hits in 44 at-bats as the Huskies had to burn through six pitchers to finish the game.
Included in the hit total were sophomore rightfielder Adam Melker’s two doubles on a 3-for-4 day and a three-hit performance by senior second baseman Pat Pezet.
Junior centerfielder Logan Schafer raised his season batting average to .426 with a two-hit game, and also recorded six putouts patrolling the outfield turf. Eleven different Mustangs reached base on the day.
Yoder batted .333 with three home runs over the series, in which the other win, a five-hit, 6-2 victory came on behalf of junior righthander Eric Massingham (1-2) on Friday night.
Cal Poly opens its home slate of games at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Baggett Stadium against UC Santa Barbara.
The contest will signify the beginning of a week in which the Mustangs will play five games in as many days. Wednesday night’s 6 p.m. game pits the Mustangs against Santa Clara before UCLA heads to San Luis Obispo for a three-game set staggered for 6 p.m. Thursday, 6 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday.
Softball team goes 2-3 at Bulldog Classic
The Cal Poly softball team split a pair of contests Sunday to conclude their 2-3 tour of the Bulldog Classic hosted by Fresno State, falling 3-2 to No. 16 DePaul before routing Santa Clara 8-3.
Freshman southpaw Anna Cahn (2-5) surrendered a meager four hits in five innings of work against DePaul (17-6), which scored twice in the bottom of the seventh to rally for the win. In their eighth contest against a ranked foe through 20 games, the Mustangs took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second on sophomore first baseman Krysten Cary’s first home run of the year.
Their second run came in the sixth as senior designated player Sarah Iwata scored on a Cahn single to center field.
In the latter portion of the doubleheader, the Mustangs (9-11) closed their trip on a positive note thanks to 10 hits, including run-scorers by Cahn, Cary and junior leftfielder Jessica Rogers that provided Cal Poly a 4-0 lead after a half-inning.
The Mustangs conclude non-conference play at the Capital Classic Tournament at Sacramento State from Friday through Sunday. In the first contest, they’ll take on No. 9 Oklahoma at 10 a.m. Friday.
Men’s tennis team splits two matches in Utah
Taking just two of six singles competitions Friday, the Cal Poly men’s tennis team fell at BYU 4-3, snapping the Mustangs’ four-match winning streak.
Cal Poly (7-4) took two of the doubles competitions to clinch that point but lost four of six singles match-ups in defeat.
In doubles action, junior Darryn Young and sophomore Robert Foy edged Tom Young and Jonathan Sanchez 9-7, and freshmen Drew Jacobs and Blake Wardman prevailed 8-6 over Cassidy Mears and Evan Urbina.
Young and Jacobs accounted for the Mustangs’ singles victories in the No. 2 and 3 slots, 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 and 1-6, 6-4, 6-3, respectively.
Cal Poly, which edged Weber State 4-3 Thursday, takes on Central Florida in La Jolla at noon Wednesday.
Men’s soccer team defeats UCLA in exhibition
A 50th-minute Mario Fernandez score carried the Cal Poly men’s soccer team to a 1-0 win over UCLA in front of 832 at Alex G. Spanos Stadium on Saturday.
The Mustangs will continue their exhibition play in hosting Santa Clara at 7 p.m. April 19.
– Graig Mantle contributed to this report