Patrick TrautfieldDown by one in the bottom of the ninth is never an easy situation.
When the Mustangs stepped up to the plate to either tie or win the game against UC Riverside on Sunday at Baggett Stadium, a questionable call by home plate umpire Jason Venzon gave the game and series to the Highlanders, 11-10.
“We didn’t take care of business and it’s going to cost us,” Cal Poly head coach Larry Lee said.
With two outs in the bottom of the ninth and the Highlanders leading 11-10, pinch hitter Bryan Kepner took a pitch to the shoulder and was ready to walk, but was called back by Venzon. The crowd erupted in disagreement.
“They said he dove into it,” Lee said.
The walk would have put two runners on base, but the following 1-2 pitch to Kepner struck him out and ended the game.
“We wanted to minimize the (Big West) conference down to nine games with only three losses,” Lee said. “We needed to win this series.”
The Mustangs lost the series against UC Riverside two games to one, losing Friday’s game, 3-1, and shutting the Highlanders out Saturday, 3-0.
After letting an 8-2 lead slip away Sunday, the Mustangs fell to 21-20 overall and 8-4 in the Big West. They fall to second in the Big West standings behind Cal State Fullerton (26-12, 7-2) and will likely fall from their No. 29 spot in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper poll, which will be released today.
“Wins are extremely important, but it’s important to be strong in the Big West,” Lee said.
The game started off tied at two runs each after the first inning, but a strong offensive attack by the Mustangs in the sixth turned the game around.
When the sun finally came out over Baggett Stadium in the bottom of the sixth inning, Cal Poly junior right fielder Grant Desme hit a double down the left-field line with the bases loaded and took three RBI, making the score 8-2.
The 1,006 fans in attendance thought the game was over when the Mustangs had an 8-2 lead after the sixth inning. A home run by UC Riverside’s Jeff Dunbar in the top of the seventh changed the tide.
“With the wind blowing out, they had some good approaches and everything that was hit was hit on line,” Lee said.
Emotions were running high in the top of the eighth, both on the field and in the stands.
The Mustangs tried to bring it back when third baseman Brent Morel hit his fifth homer of the season to center field, making it 11-10 with one out. The comeback was short-lived, however, as two immediate outs ended the inning and the Mustangs’ comeback attempt.
Lee said he was satisfied with all of the facets of the game except pitching.
“Pitching is what it’s all about,” Lee said. “It’s a tough ball park to pitch in during the day time, because it plays very offensive.”
Cal Poly starting sophomore right-hander Thomas Eager allowed six earned runs on seven hits in 6 2/3 innings. Eager had a 3.32 ERA with 102 pitches, 64 of which were strikes.
The loss went to junior southpaw Grant Theophilus (0-1), who allowed two earned runs when he faced two batters in the eighth.
Cal Poly could have found its Friday night starter after sophomore right-hander Eric Massingham has toed the rubber three series in a row. He allowed only one run on five hits and had three strikeouts in six innings Friday.
“As long as he can give us four, five or six quality innings, I still think that we’re strong as the series gets into Saturday and Sunday,” Lee said. “This week it just didn’t work out like we drew it up.”
The Mustangs’ sophomore center fielder, Logan Schafer, suffered a groin injury Sunday. Lee didn’t know whether Schafer will be ready to play in next week’s nonconference series at Fresno State.
“We’ve been here before and we’ve gone through these struggles before,” Lee said. “It’s not a good feeling, but we’ll try to learn from it and prepare ourselves for the next series.”