Long Beach State University
24-28-1, 9-19
Cal Poly
34-21, 19-9
Cal Poly Defeats Long Beach State 8-5
5/23/2024 10:00:00 PM | Baseball
Jonny Rodriguez homers twice for the Dirtbags
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif.—Cal Poly defeated Long Beach State 8-5 in the Big West baseball series opener between the two clubs Thursday night at Baggett Stadium.
Jack Collins battled back from being down 0-2 in the count to work out a leadoff walk against Cal Poly starter Jakob Wright. Collins advanced to second on a Ryan Stafford passed ball. Wright struck out Ty Borgogno. Alex Champagne's opposite field single to left sent Collins to third. Wright struck out Connor Charpiot's sacrifice fly plated Collins for a 1-0 Long Beach State lead.
Ryan Stafford walked to begin the Cal Poly fourth. Ryan Fenn tied the game with a double to left center gap. Joe Yorke followed with a double to left center gap of his own, scoring Fenn for the first lead of the game for the Mustangs. Alejandro Garza's ground-rule double drove in York for a 3-1 score. Long Beach State starter Van Larson got two outs before Jonathan Largaespada entered in relief and got a strikeout to end the inning.
Freshman Jonny Rodriguez's first home run, an opposite field blast down the left field line with one out in the top of the fifth cut the Cal Poly lead to 3-2. The Mustangs added three runs in the bottom of the fifth. A Fenn two-RBI double highlighted the spurt, which was complimented by a Dylan Kordic RBI single. Stafford's safety squeeze with one out in the bottom of the sixth scored Zach Daudet to increase the Cal Poly's advantage to five.
Ryan Baum relieved Wright to start the seventh. With one out, Cole Santander singled. Rodriguez followed with his second home run of the night, a two-run shot to right. Collins and Borgogno walked which resulted in Jacob Torres coming onto pitch. He struck out Champagne for the second out. Charpiot fouled out to right to end the inning.
Armando Briseno doubled with one out in the top of the eighth. He advanced to third on a Torres balk. Adrian Lopez's grounder to third scored Brisenio, reducing the Cal Poly lead to 7-5. Aaron Casillas tripled to lead off the Cal Poly eighth. He scored on a Jake Steels single for a Mustangs' insurance run.
Cal Poly closer Tanner Sagouspe retired the Dirtbags in order in the ninth for his ninth save of the season. Wright improved to 9-3 on the year for the Mustangs. Fenn was 3-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored to lead Cal Poly offensively. Rodriguez went 2-for-4 with his two home runs, three RBI, and two runs scored.
UP NEXT
Long Beach State (24-28-1, 9-19 Big West) and Cal Poly (34-21, 19-9 Big West) continue the series Friday night. Coverage on ESPN+ begins at 6 p.m.
~skoBags~
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Wright, Jakob (9-3)
L: Larson, Van (2-3)
S: Sagouspe, Tanner (9)
Batting:
2B: Briseno, Armando 1
HR: Rodriguez, Jonny 2
RBI: Charpiot, Connor 1 ; Lopez, Adrian 1 ; Rodriguez, Jonny 3
SF: Charpiot, Connor 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Briseno, Armando 1 ; Santander, Cole 1 ; Rodriguez, Jonny 2 ; Collins, Jack 1
CS: Champagne, Alex 1
Batting:
2B: Fenn, Ryan 2 ; Yorke, Joe 2 ; Garza, Alejandro 1
3B: Kordic, Dylan 1 ; Casillas, Aaron 1
RBI: Steels, Jake 1 ; Stafford, Ryan 1 ; Fenn, Ryan 3 ; Yorke, Joe 1 ; Garza, Alejandro 1 ; Kordic, Dylan 1
SH: Stafford, Ryan 1 ; Garza, Alejandro 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Steels, Jake 1 ; Stafford, Ryan 1 ; Fenn, Ryan 2 ; Yorke, Joe 1 ; Daudet, Zach 1 ; Casillas, Aaron 2
CS: Fenn, Ryan 1
PO: Fenn, Ryan 1
