Cal Poly’s baseball team played aggressive, swinging and manufacturing runs early to beat 2003 national champions Rice 10-3 Saturday afternoon at Baggett Stadium.
Following a difficult 10-7 loss Friday night against the Owls, the Mustangs stampeded over freshman left-hander Taylor Wall, who gave up five earned runs in three and one-third innings work, in the first game of a double-header.
Cal Poly scored at least two runs in the first four innings, giving the Mustangs a 9-1 cushion after four innings of play.
Setting the tone early, senior center fielder Ryan Lee hit the first pitch Cal Poly saw for a base hit. After a sacrifice bunt and a stolen base, Lee was sitting on third with one out and a chance to score. Junior third baseman Adam Buschini took advantage of the opportunity, hitting a sacrifice fly to center field to bring in the first run of the game.
“Those guys in front of me are doing great,” Buschini said of driving in the first run. “With them always getting on, it helps me out a lot.”
Buschini had a game-high three RBIs on 1 of 2 hitting. He bunted in his second runner on a well-executed safety squeeze, before being rewarded with a free-swinging at bat in the eighth inning that resulted in an RBI double for the team’s tenth run.
“We came out swinging and we played hard,” Buschini said. “You know, the first game of a double-header is always important. Now we the have momentum going into the second game.”
On the mound, junior right-hander DJ Mauldin gave Cal Poly a solid outing, giving up three runs on 10 hits before leaving the game after the seventh inning. Mauldin retired the first five batters he faced. He struck out four and only recorded one walk. His teammates backed him up with a strong defensive performance, as well.
Cal Poly made Rice earn every base they got as they played flawless defense, committing no errors. On the other side, the Owls committed three costly mistakes during the first four innings, giving the Mustangs golden opportunities to bring players across the plate. Cal Poly scored three unearned runs during the first four innings.
Cal Poly’s offensive attack lasted through five Rice pitchers, while Rice only worked their way through two Mustangs pitchers. The Owls had just as many hits as the Mustangs, 12, but were never able to string them together to threaten Cal Poly.
Junior center fielder Steven Sultzbaugh and junior designated hitter Diego Seastrunk came through for the Owls offensively, knocking in two of their three runs. Sultzbaugh went 2-2 with a walk and an RBI. Seastrunk capitalized on a rare mistake by Mauldin to hit a towering homerun over the right field wall as he went 2-4.
Every player on the Cal Poly squad contributed to the run-scoring party Saturday afternoon as every player either scored a run or batted in a runner. Among those players, sophomore designated hitter DJ Gentile hit 3-4 with a double and a run and freshman left fielder hit 2-3 with a double and two RBIs.