Comeback fall short, Mustangs lose series finale to Notre Dame 6-5

Posted: Mar 16, 2013 5:13 PM by Andrew Masuda
Updated: Mar 16, 2013 9:10 PM

Cal Poly baseball falls 6-5 to Notre Dame

The Cal Poly baseball team dropped its series finale against 17th ranked Notre Dame 6-5 on Saturday in front of 1,602 at Baggett Stadium. The 20th ranked Mustangs lost the series two games to one and fell to 15-4 on the season. Cal Poly is riding its first two-game losing streak of the year. The Fighting Irish improved to 12-5 on the year.

Notre Dame led from start to finish, scoring a run in the first and four more in the third to chase Cal Poly starter Bryan Granger (3-2) and take a 5-0 lead.

Cal Poly climbed to within one run at 6-5 with a run in the third, another in the fifth and three more in the sixth, but never got any closer.

The Mustangs collected 14 hits in the loss. Nick Torres hit a home run and added two singles to extend his hitting streak to 13 games. Freshman designated hitter Brian Mundell added a double and two singles. Peter Van Gansen, the freshman shortstop, and junior center fielder David Armendariz had two hits each.

Cal Poly collected its first run of the game in the third inning when Denver Chavez hit a RBI single. Senior catcher Eliot Stewart added a RBI-single in the fifth to make it a 5-2 game. Notre Dame added a run in the sixth inning, but Cal Poly answered back with three in the bottom half. Torres hit a leadoff home run and Van Gansen added a run-scoring double. The Mustangs were poised to take the lead with one out and runners at second and third, but Chavez lined out to second base and Stewart grounded out to third to end the inning.

Granger absorbed the loss as he allowed five runs and six hits in 2 2/3 innings with two walks and a pair of strikeouts. Junior right-hander Michael Holback pitched well in relief, throwing 86 pitches over 4 2/3 innings and allowing just one run and six hits with one walk and six strikeouts.

Cal Poly pitchers combined to strike out 35 Irish batters in the series -- 12 on both Thursday and Friday and 11 more Saturday. The series drew 5,029 fans.

Cal Poly returns to action Friday with a non-conference game against Central Coast rival UC Santa Barbara at 6:30 p.m. in Baggett Stadium. The Blue-Green Rivalry continues Saturday at 2 p.m. in Santa Barbara, with the finale set for Sunday at 1 o'clock in Baggett Stadium.