Sophomore infielder John Schuknecht went 1 for 3, including a game-tying double in Cal Poly’s 5-3 win over San Jose State on Tuesday night.
Mustang News Staff Report
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The No. 13 Cal Poly baseball team took on San Jose State in a non-conference game on Tuesday, overcoming a shaky start to beat the Spartans 5-3 at Municipal Stadium.
The Mustangs improved to 7-1 on the season with the win, while San Jose State fell to 2-7.
Starting on the mound for Cal Poly was freshman Justin Calomeni. The right-hander went to high school at Bellarmine College Prep — just down the road from the San Jose State’s campus — but did not seem at home early, as he gave up three runs in the first two innings.
But Cal Poly’s offense was able to provide early for Calomeni. In the first inning, leadoff hitter Tim Wise scored the first run of the game on a Brian Mundell sacrifice fly. Consecutive doubles by senior third baseman Jimmy Allen and sophomore infielder John Schuknecht helped secure a one-run lead in the top of the third inning and a no-doubt home run hit by junior right fielder Nick Torres in the fourth gave Cal Poly its largest lead of the game.
With a little run support, Calomeni dominated San Jose State’s hitters. After giving up the three early runs, he went on to retire 11 straight batters and finished with seven strikeouts in five innings of work.
After a back-and-forth first four innings that saw each team hold the lead, the remainder of the game turned into an offensive stalemate. Relief appearances by juniors Danny Zandona and Reed Reilly ensured the San Jose State offense would not come back.
Calomeni (2-0) collected the win and Reilly got his third save of the season. Allen had three hits, and shortstop Peter Van Gansen collected two hits and an RBI. Torres hit his third home run of the year to push his total to a team-leading 13 RBIs on the season.
Cal Poly continues its road swing with a three-game series at Pac-12 foe USC (7-1) this weekend. San Jose State (2-7) looks to improve its non-conference record against the University of Pacific on Wednesday. Cal Poly (7-1) continues their stretch of road games when they take on USC in the first of a three-game series Friday.
Keenan Donath contributed to this report.