Baseball
After a weekend sweep of Oklahoma State, the Cal Poly baseball team dropped its first game of the season 5-2 to Santa Clara on Tuesday night. Freshman right-hander Danny Zandona made his first start as a Mustang and cruised through three innings before giving up two runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth, without retiring a batter.
He was pulled in favor of Reed Reilly who allowed one more run in the inning. The Cal Poly relievers didn’t allow a run the rest of the way as Chase Johnson pitched the ninth inning, striking out two batters. Johnson, who started as a freshman last year, has faced nine batters this year and has seven strikeouts.
The Mustangs couldn’t muster a hit through their first 11 batters, but broke through in the fifth with two runs. Nick Torres singled up the middle to start the inning and after two outs Ryan Drobny walked to bring up Evan Busby. He doubled to the gap in left-center field to bring the team’s only two runs on the night. Busby doubled again in the seventh and was the only Mustang with more than one hit.
The Mustangs begin a nine-game road trip this weekend with a four-game series at Loyola Marymount. They return home on March 9 for a three-game set against Washington in Baggett Stadium.
Women’s basketball
The Mustangs have rattled off seven straight wins, and senior forward Kristina Santiago is in the top-10 nationally in points per game and field goal percentage.
The team plays its final two regular season games this weekend when they face Long Beach State on Thursday at 7 p.m. and conference-leader Cal State Fullerton at 4 p.m. on Saturday. Cal Poly lost to both squads before the winning streak. Two weekend wins would move the Mustangs into the drivers seat in the Big West.
The top four finishers in the conference host the opening round of the Big West Conference Tournament on March 6.
Men’s basketball
The Cal Poly men’s basketball team has been unpredictable this season, never having won or lost more than three games in a row all season. Despite their struggles, the Mustangs sit fourth in the crowded Big West Conference.
The Mustangs travel to UC Santa Barbara this Saturday for a rivalry game with the Gauchos which are in third place in the Big West. The game tips at 8:05 and will be broadcast on ESPN3.com.
The Gauchos fended off a late Mustang rally in their first meeting of the season in San Luis Obispo as UC Santa Barbara triumphed 58-57. The Mustangs hit just 13 of 24 free throw attempts during the game.
The Mustang Daily will report live from Isla Vista, follow us on Twitter (@MDailySports) for in-game updates.