HONOLULU, Hawai’i — Undaunted by the loss of its starting pitcher to injury as well as letting a 6-2 lead slip away in the late innings, the Cal Poly baseball team used a three-run triple from its No. 9 hitter, Jake Downing, in the 11th inning to beat Hawai’i 10-7 in the middle game of a Big West Conference baseball series Saturday night at Les Murakami Stadium.
Sporting a .167 average, Downing smashed a 2-2 pitch to the gap in left-center field with two outs, shattering a 7-7 tie, as Coach Larry Lee’s Mustangs clinched the series, earned their third straight win and evened their overall record at 7-7 with the 4-hour, 50-minute victory.
“It’s a great win for us,” said Lee. “It was very unfortunate to lose (Laif) Palmer, but our team responded with a lot of productive innings, both offensively and defensively.
“It was unfortunate to give up the lead the way we did,” Lee added, “but this is a great learning moment of how resilient you have to be in this game. The guys have to deal with reality, and the way we were able to win the game was actually very beneficial for the psyche of our team.”
Palmer injured his leg in the first inning while trying to plant his feet and throw to first base for a potential out. The transfer from Oregon State was taken by ambulance to a local hospital after a 30-minute delay and X-rays revealed a fractured left ankle.
Enter Corden Pettey, a freshman right-hander from Whitney High School in Rocklin who threw 6 2/3 innings and scattered seven hits with three runs allowed and 10 strikeouts. His teammates backed him up with six runs in the first six innings for a 6-2 advantage.
Hawai’i, however, parlayed five hits and a pair of walks into a four-run rally to catch the Mustangs at 6-6 in the eighth inning. Both teams scored a run in the ninth to force extra frames.
After a scoreless 10th, Cal Poly loaded the bases in the 11th on a single by Casey Murray Jr., an intentional walk to Braxton Thomas and a dropped third strike allowing Gavin Spiridonoff to reach base.
Downing cleared the bases with his triple, Cal Poly’s ninth extra-base hit of the game in an 18-hit offensive attack.
“Pettey really stepped up and dominated with his fastball and a plus slider,” said Lee. “He definitely deserved the win and did a great job.”
Brady Estes (1-0), another freshman but who throws from the left side, faced eight batters over the final 2 1/3 innings for the win, just four days after tossing four innings and striking out 10 in Tuesday’s triumph over Pepperdine. Against Hawai’i, Estes struck out three, issued just one walk and did not allow a run or a hit.
Ten of Cal Poly’s 18 hits were with two strikes on the batter.
Murray, Nate Castellon and Ryan Tayman each collected three hits for the Mustangs while Thomas, Downing and Cam Hoiland added two hits apiece. Hawai’i left fielder Draven Nushida had three of his team’s 13 hits.
Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara are the only two teams in the Big West to start their conference schedules with 2-0 marks.
The Mustangs jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first on RBI doubles from Tayman and Hoiland. The Mustangs added a run in the second as Downing singled and came around to score on a double by Castelllon and a Hawai’i throwing error, and also in the third on an RBI double by Thomas.
Cal Poly led 6-2 with two more runs in the sixth. Spiridonoff and Castellon reached base via singles and both came home on Alejandro Garza’s two-run double to right.
After Hawai’i knotted the score in the eighth, Cal Poly regained the lead in the ninth. Murray led off with a triple and scored on a sacrifice fly by Thomas. Nushida scored from second base on a wild pitch to tie the score at 7-7.
John Alkire II (1-1) pitched two scoreless innings before allowing all three runs in the 11th inning in absorbing the loss. Hawai’i starter Hekili Robello gave up four runs and nine hits over 4 2/3 innings.
Sunday’s series finale starts at 4:05 p.m. PDT with junior southpaw Josh Volmerding (0-0, 4.05 ERA) of Cal Poly to face Hawai’i senior right-hander Liam O’Brien (1-1, 2.35 ERA).