“I think this is going to fuel us, we can hang in there with the top teams in the nation. We want to face them again,” Cal Poly relief pitcher Michael Holback said. Photo by Ian Billings / Mustang Daily

J.J. Jenkins
sports@mustangdaily.net

A 6-4 loss to No. 4 Cal State Fullerton on Sunday severely hampered the Cal Poly baseball team’s Big West Conference championship hopes, but it has given the team laser focus on a glimmer of hope.

“Hopefully we run into them in a Regional or a Super Regional,” left fielder David Armendariz said of Cal Poly’s postseason hopes.“I believe we are just as good as them and we have to compete like them and they have to compete like us.”

For now, the loss dropped the Mustangs (26-11, 7-5 Big West) three games behind the Titans (34-6, 10-2) in the conference standings, and the two-game series win gave Cal State Fullerton a critical tiebreaker over Cal Poly should the two finish the season with the same record in conference.

“There’s a good chance (Fullerton) will run away with the conference,” head coach Larry Lee said. “They are a very good ball club, good as anyone in the country. … The rest of the teams in the Big West may have a tough time winning a series against them.”

The Mustangs didn’t help their chances of dethroning the defending Big West champions by falling behind 4-1 in the third inning as starting pitcher Bryan Granger struggled to get an out against the Titans’ potent lineup. Matt Chapman led off the inning with a line-drive home run over the left field wall, and Granger allowed the next five batters to reach before Lee pulled him in favor of Michael Holback, but the damage was done.

Holback faced 10 batters through three innings before handing the ball off to Taylor Chris, who held the Titans scoreless in the sixth and seventh innings.

“Even though we lost, I feel like we dominated the entire game,” Holback said. “They were getting frustrated, we just kept pounding the zone and we weren’t backing down.”

As the Titans’ bats fell quiet, the Mustangs heated up. Armendariz doubled to left-center field with two outs in the sixth inning to drive in catcher Elliot Stewart from first base. Another two-out RBI by third baseman Jimmy Allen in the seventh inning closed the Titans’ lead to one, and the Mustangs were poised to take the lead in the eighth after freshman designated hitter Brian Mundell singled to start the inning.

It was the first leadoff runner Cal Poly got on base during the game. He advanced to third base on a single from Armendariz, which followed a sacrifice bunt by Stewart. Shortstop Peter Van Gansen’s ground ball to second base nearly ended the inning with a double play, but the Titans misplayed the ball and allowed the Mustangs to tie the game.

“We put a lot of emphasis on two-out RBIs, and it’s a goal for everybody,” Armendariz said. “That’s very important to get those runs across, I think that we did well in that aspect.”

Momentum appeared to be squarely in Cal Poly’s favor, as Cal State Fullerton was visibly frustrated with the Mustangs’ steady comeback. A batter was escorted to the dugout by the home plate umpire after talking back to Stewart behind the plate, and the Titans’ head coach was ejected in the bottom of the eighth after arguing with the first base official.

However, the Titans responded with a rally of their own against Cal Poly’s closer Reed Reilly. He forced the first batter in the ninth inning into a groundout before allowing back-to-back singles that put runners on the corners with one out. It appeared that he might get out of the inning when Austin Kingsolver grounded to Denver Chavez at second base who flipped the ball to Van Gansen. He bare-handed the ball on second base and fired to first, but Kingsolver edged out the force and allowed the Chapman to score, giving Cal State Fullerton the lead.

The visitors added another run on a two-out single and went on to close out the Mustangs in the ninth.

“I think this is going to fuel us, we can hang in there with the top teams in the nation,” Holback said. “We want to face them again. We think we can take them, and we hope to see them again in the playoffs.”

The Mustangs hit the road to take on California on Tuesday before returning to Big West play at Long Beach State for a weekend series.