The Cal Poly baseball team scored three times and came within a home run of hitting for the cycle in the second inning on its way to an 8-2 victory over No. 16 Cal on Wednesday night at Baggett Stadium.
The final score wasn’t indicative of how tight the game actually was for the Mustangs, who snapped a three-game losing skid and avenged a 10-8 loss after being ahead 7-1 in Berkeley on April 22.
Cal Poly (19-23) received a solid start from right-hander Brian Grening, who improved to 3-3 on 5 2/3 innings of work while striking out five and limiting the powerful Golden Bears offense to two solo home runs.
Right-hander Kevin Castner relieved Grening in the sixth and was lights out the rest of the way, striking out five en route to picking up the save.
“I had good command and my fastball-slider combo was really working tonight,” Castner said.
His only hiccup came in the eighth when he allowed a single and a walk with no outs. Castner got a fly out and struck out two to maintain the Mustangs’ 3-2 advantage.
Cal Poly added two scores in the seventh and three more in the eighth, in part due to three errors by the Cal defense.
“That’s how it should be done,” Mustangs head coach Larry Lee said. “You get a lead, you tack on and you finish the game.”
The Mustangs have scored first in 34 of their 42 games this year but only have a record of 15-19 in those games, compared to 18-5 in the same situation last year.
In the second, catcher Justin Hensley knocked in second baseman Pat Pezet with a triple to deep left-center field that Cal’s Brett Jackson got a glove on but couldn’t quite corral.
Hensley, in his fifth start for injured Josh Thomas, came in to score on the play when the relay throw was dropped – one of four errors committed by Cal (27-14-2).
“Hensley continues to get better and better,” Lee said. “He’s receiving well behind the plate and he brings a lot of energy to our ball club.”
The Cal offense, which entered the contest tied for 20th in the country in home runs and second in offense in the Pac-10 Conference while averaging 7.3 runs per game, was handcuffed throughout the night.
First baseman David Cooper and second baseman Josh Satin provided the only scoring for the Golden Bears with their 17th and 14th homers this season, respectively.
“Today I just tried to make pitches and hit corners,” Grening said. “Not too many swings and misses, but my fastball definitely was able to set up my curveball.”
The Mustangs played consistent defense to stifle Cal and get their bats up to the plate. In the fourth, Cal Poly ended the inning with a certifiable web gem.
Rightfielder Adam Melker singlehandedly took a bat away from Cal’s Jeff Kobernus when he robbed Kobernus of a foul ball by leaping up the wall and fully extending.
In the seventh, the Mustangs had runners at the corners with one out without hitting a ball out of the infield. Leftfielder Luke Yoder got on with a swinging bunt, and then centerfielder Logan Schafer bunted to break out of an 0-for-18 slump.
A fielder’s choice by third baseman Brent Morel brought up first baseman Wes Dorrell, who drove in Yoder with a sac fly to left field. The throw home was cut off by Kobernus, who tried to get Morel at second but threw the ball into right field.
Rightfielder Blake Smith had drifted to center on the fly and was nowhere to be found, allowing Morel to score the second run of the inning.
The Mustangs followed it in the eighth when Schafer got an RBI single and came around to score on another error by Kobernus for the final tally.
“Sometimes it’s something that little that gets you going,” Schafer said.
The Mustangs open a three-game out-of-conference series by hosting UNLV (19-25) at 6 p.m. Friday. First pitch Saturday is also at 6 p.m., with Sunday’s start slated for 1 p.m.