Mustang News Staff Report
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Over the past weekend, the Cal Poly baseball, softball, wrestling and tennis teams were in action across the country.
Wrestling
Though the Cal Poly wrestling squad’s season is over, freshman Nick Fiegener and senior Dominic Kastl qualified for the NCAA Division I National Wrestling Championships in St. Louis at the Scottrade Center. Kastl qualified after a second place finish at the Pac-12 Championships held at Oregon State, while Fiegener received an at-large bid after a stellar freshman campaign.
Wrestling at the 184-pound level, Fiegener was unable to secure a win in the double-elimination style tournament, falling in his first two matches. He ends first collegiate season with a 24-18 record.
Kastl, in his final year, entered the tournament at the 174-pound level. After upsetting the No. 13 seed 7-6 in the first round, Kastl would drop his next two matches, eliminating him from the tournament. He finished his senior season with a 17-8 record, and a 60-23 record over his four years at Cal Poly.
Softball
The Cal Poly softball team is 16-16 this year, but it improved to 5-3 at home after a two-game sweep of Buffalo at home this past weekend.
The Mustangs followed up an 8-0 trouncing of Buffalo with a close 4-2 win in the second game on Friday night.
Sophomore pitcher Sierra Hyland threw a complete game two-hitter in game one, while helping her cause with 3 RBIs and her first home run of the year. She is now 11-9 on the season, an impressive record based on the quality opponents the Mustangs have faced in nonconference play in addition to facing those team’s ace pitchers.
Freshman pitcher Lindsey Chalmers had a solid performance in game two, picking up the victory in the 4-2 win. Buffalo got on the board early, notching a run in the first inning before Cal Poly roared back with four runs in the bottom of the first frame. Despite one other run produced by Buffalo off a home run in the fourth inning, the score remained the same.
A double-header against Bakersfield this afternoon is Cal Poly’s final tune-up before Big West play begins this weekend. The Mustangs open with a three-game series against Cal State Northridge beginning on March 28.
Men’s tennis
After dropping three of its last four matches, the Cal Poly men’s tennis team righted the ship against Boise State on Monday, defeating the Broncos 5-2.
The match was Cal Poly’s second in two days in Boise, coming on the heels of a 4-3 loss to Arizona on Sunday.
Sophomores Corey Pang and Ben Donovan had their 10-match unbeaten streak snapped in the doubles round of Monday’s match, but Cal Poly’s two other doubles teams won their sets, giving the Mustangs the doubles point.
Despite its No. 1 and 2 singles players losing their matches, Cal Poly was able to secure the No. 3-6 victories and the match.
With the victory, the No. 65 Mustangs are now 10-7. They face UNLV Friday before beginning Big West Conference play on March 30 at home against Hawaii.
Women’s tennis
One game removed from a victory over Idaho, the Cal Poly women’s tennis team was defeated Monday by Big West opponent Hawaii 4-2.
This season has been a struggle for the 2-10 Mustangs. Freshmen Molly Reed and Zoe Oedekerk have had the most success for Cal Poly this season. Reed is 6-4 overall in singles, and 2-1 in conference play while Oedekerk is 5-2 overall and 2-0 in conference so far.
The Mustangs are 0-3 in Big West play with four matches left in conference. Before those last four matches, Cal Poly travels to Portland to face Portland and Seattle on March 25 and 26, respectively.
Baseball
It’s been a season of woes for the Cal Poly baseball team.
The Mustangs have not lived up to the high standard of play set by last year’s squad, going just 7-14 on the season.
No. 8 USC visited Baggett Stadium last weekend, perhaps the toughest test Cal Poly has faced thus far. The Mustangs shocked the Trojans Friday, using a five-run sixth inning to propel them to the win in the series-opener.
USC roared back in the final two games, proving why it’s ranked so high with 13-0 and 9-2 defeats of the Mustangs.
Cal Poly’s struggles continued Monday when they hosted a Dartmouth squad that is now just 2-14 on the year.
The Mustangs lost 7-1.
Cal Poly has four games left before Big West play begins. A three-game series at No. 27 Oregon State followed by a game at Pepperdine — the team who knocked Cal Poly out of the NCAA Regionals last season — will be the last chances for the Mustangs to prepare for conference play.
Cal Poly’s first game against Oregon State will begin at 5:05 p.m. this Friday.