SAN LUIS OBISPO – After the UCSB baseball team tied its game vs. Cal Poly on Friday night at Baggett Stadium in the ninth inning, the Gauchos couldn’t keep the rally going and fell to the Mustangs in the 10th inning, 4-3.
David Meals (1-4) walked Evan Busby to lead off the 10th inning, then wild pitched him to second before Luke Yoder’s single to center scored the winning run, handing the Gauchos their fourth straight defeat. UCSB is now 12-12 overall and 0-1 in the Big West. Cal Poly is 9-19, 2-2.
UCSB junior left-hander Mario Hollands pitched seven strong innings, allowing just three runs on four hits while striking out seven, but Cal Poly’s Matt Leonard allowed just one earned run on seven hits in 6.2 innings pitched.
The Gauchos tied the game in the ninth inning off Jeff Johnson (2-2). Marty Mullins, who homered in the second inning, singled to start the frame, before pinch-hitterBrett Fick singled up the middle with two outs. Gunnar Terhune’s single scored pinch-runner Bryce Tafelski to tie the game, pushing the game to extra frames.
Cal Poly, which beat the Gauchos for the third straight time and took the initial baseball Blue-Green Rivalry Series game, scored twice in the first inning off Hollands when Matt Jensen doubled in a run and Mitch Haniger singled him home.
But, after Mullins’ home run – his fourth of the season – cut the lead to one, the Gauchos scored in the fifth to tie it, 2-2. Ryan Tregoning and Trevor Whyte each singled to start the inning before Terhune doubled to score Tregoning.
In the bottom half of the inning the Mustangs scored on Yoder’s one-out triple to left-center to take a 3-2 lead.
The Gauchos will continue their three-game series with the Mustangs on Saturday at 6 p.m. and conclude it on Sunday at 1 p.m. Both games can be heard on AM 1490 and streaming live online at UCSBgauchos.com. Click here to listen live.
