Mundell and Wagman lead #20 Cal Poly by #17 Notre Dame 6-3

Posted: Mar 14, 2013 9:27 PM by Andrew Masuda
Updated: Mar 14, 2013 11:44 PM

Mundell, Wagman lead 20th ranked Mustangs by Notre Dame 6-3

Brian Mundell clubbed a go-ahead three-run home run and Joey Wagman threw his second career complete game as the 20th ranked Mustangs beat 17th ranked Notre Dame 6-3 on Thursday night in Baggett Stadium.

The Mustangs improved to 7-0 at home and 15-2 on the season after taking the first game of the three game series with the Irish. They are off to their best 17 game start since 1997 when that squad opened the season 19-2. Notre Dame dropped to 10-5.

Mundell, the freshman designated hitter who ended Tuesday night's game with a walk-off home run against San Jose State in the tenth inning, broke a 3-3 tie with a 3-run blast over the left field fence in the third inning to give Cal Poly a 6-3 advantage and cap a decisive 5-run inning for the Mustangs. It marked his team-best fifth home run of the season.

The Mustangs took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning thanks to a leadoff triple by Denver Chavez and a RBI-double to center by Jimmy Allen. The Mustangs entered the bottom of the third down 3-1, but rallied back on a base hit to left field by Chavez that was misplayed by the Notre Dame left fielder allowing Chavez to wind up at third base and Peter Van Gansen, who led off with a single, to score to make it a 3-2 game. After Jordan Ellis walked, Allen stroke a single to left to score Chavez and tie the game 3-3. Nick Torres flew out to left field to set the stage for Mundell.

Wagman, the team's senior ace, struggled in the first three innings. He allowed 1 run in the second and 2 more in the third inning to trail 3-1 until the Mustangs erupted for 5 runs in the bottom of the third. Staked to a 6-3 lead, Wagman dominated the rest of the way. He set a career-high with 12 strikeouts and finished with a 7-hit complete game to improve to 4-1 on the season.

The Mustangs collected 12 hits to Notre Dame's 7. Chavez, Allen, Torres, Mundell and Van Gansen each had 2 hits for the Mustangs.

Cal Poly continues its series with Notre Dame at 6 pm on Friday. The series finale is set for 12 pm on Saturday.