Ryan ChartrandConstant throughout the Cal Poly baseball team’s season-high win streak, which was extended to four at Baggett Stadium on Wednesday afternoon with a 10-3 victory over Loyola Marymount, has been a dynamic offense.
Now, the Mustangs pitching staff is rolling.
Left-hander Grant Theophilus (1-1) got the win by allowing three runs in six innings, with four strikeouts in his best outing of the season. Theophilus showed great command of the strike zone, only reaching three balls in a count on four occasions in the first six innings.
“I had everything working for me – my slider, change and curve,” Theophilus said. “I had good command of all my pitches.”
He was able to keep the Lions off balance with a good mixture of fastballs and off-speed pitches, and the whole lineup had trouble with his curve and slider.
“He went deep into the game,” Mustangs head coach Larry Lee said. “He allowed us to not have to dip into the well too many times, which will help us this weekend.”
Lee also noted the jobs done by Kevin Castner and Buster Mueller out of the bullpen as they came in and shut the door on any hopes of a late-inning comeback.
The outcome was never in doubt as Cal Poly (15-18, 3-6 Big West Conference) erupted for nine runs in the first two innings.
Leftfielder Luke Yoder led things off with a single and a stolen base, and came around to score on a sac fly by third baseman Brent Morel. The Mustangs would bring up 11 batters in the first, chase LMU starter Greg Meyers (1-1) and score four more runs.
In the second, outfielder Adam Melker drove in two with a triple into the right-field corner, and was later driven in by Yoder.
Wildness plagued the Lions arms early. After two frames the Mustangs had seven hits against six walks.
It was the third-straight game Cal Poly reached double-digit hits – finishing with 12 – and its third in four to reach double-digit runs.
“We swing pretty well,” Yoder said. “Guys are getting more (at-bats) and seeing the ball a lot better.”
Morel finished 1 for 3 with a run and an RBI to extend his hitting streak to 10 games. First baseman Wes Dorrell hit his seventh double in as many games while extending his personal hitting streak to nine contests.
When Yoder flied out in the fourth, it ended a streak of eight consecutive plate appearances upon which he’d reached base.
Down by nine, LMU (18-18) loaded the bases with no outs in the seventh, thanks to two walks by a depleted Theophilus. The Lions scored on a sac fly, but the threat was extinguished when Lee made the call for Castner, who retired all six batters he faced in two innings of work.
Having won six of seven, the Mustangs’ confidence is high before they travel to take on Big West-leading UC Davis (24-11, 5-1) with hopes of climbing back into the conference race.
“It’s not going to happen overnight,” Lee said. “Each weekend we try to get a little closer to being in contention.”
Theophilus echoed Lee’s sentiments.
“We’ve just got to keep rolling like we have been,” Theophilus said. “Right now we’re playing great ball, and we feel like we can fare well against Davis this weekend.”