Rafael Salinas
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In a rare mid-week afternoon game at Baggett Stadium, the Cal Poly baseball team closed out its 18-game homestand with a 6-2 victory over the Saint Mary’s Gaels on Tuesday. Cal Poly freshman starter Justin Calomeni gave up one run on four hits over five innings to help the Mustangs improve to 27-5 on the season.
Calomeni averaged 89-92 mph on his fastball, according to head coach Larry Lee, and he identified the slider and the changeup as key to Calomeni’s success this season.
“He needs to continue to throw the slider that he threw today, and then the next step is to continue to develop his changeup,” Lee said. “It’s such a big part of my philosophy of pitch-calling.”
Calomeni had an all-around impressive performance, as did the offense. The Mustangs put the pressure on from the start as sophomore second baseman Mark Mathias went 2 for 5 with two runs scored, including a leadoff single to center field to start the game.
Junior outfielder Jordan Ellis followed with a single between the first and second baseman to set the table for junior right fielder Nick Torres and sophomore designated hitter Brian Mundell.
Torres skied a deep fly ball to center that enabled the runners to tag up, and Mundell sent his own long sacrifice fly to left to drive in the first run of the afternoon.
The following inning, junior Zack Zehner led off with a single and stole a base to put him in scoring position, and sophomore shortstop Peter Van Gansen drove him in with a sharp single for Cal Poly’s second run.
The lone run against Calomeni came on a softly hit, well-placed ball in the top of the third inning. A bloop single just out of reach of Van Gansen put a man on first, and an RBI single by Connor Hornsby drove in the Gaels’ first run.
The Mustangs continued to tack on runs from there to pull away from Saint Mary’s. The bottom half of the lineup got on base on seven of their eleven at-bats, a stat Lee identified as a key contribution to the Mustangs’ success thus far.
“Offensively we’ve done well in having a flow through the one through nine order, the lower half of the lineup knows what their role is, they have a high on base percentage,” Lee said.
Van Gansen, the No. 8 hitter, drew three walks, including two that came with the bases loaded. He finished the day 1 for 1 with 3 RBIs.
“I was more patient at the plate (today), trying to see pitches and do my job, which is to get on base and help our guys win any way we can,” Van Gansen said.
The Mustangs finally see the road again as they travel to Hawaii for a 3-game series, then to Cal State Bakersfield for one and then return home for a 3-game series against Cal State Fullerton beginning on April 17.