April 10, 2009
Box Score
Stockton, Calif. - Down 4-2 in the bottom of the ninth, Pacific's hitters recorded four consecutive singles, highlighted by freshman Allen Riley's (Fresno, Calif.) walk-off which scored the winning run, as the Tigers completed a 5-4 upset over No. 16 Cal Poly.
With the late-inning victory, Pacific moved to 12-17 on the year and 5-3 in the Big West Conference, while Cal Poly fell to 23-8 and 4-4 in conference play.
The Tigers started out the ninth trailing by two runs when sophomore J.B. Brown (Alvin, Texas), who has recorded a hit in the last 19 consecutive games, singled down the left field line to put the first runner of the inning aboard. In the next at bat, senior Kurt Wideman (Fallbrook, Calif.) dropped a single in front of Cal Poly's right fielder, Adam Melker, putting Brown in motion around second. However, Melker bobbled the ball when he tried to come up with it, and eventually kicked the ball behind him on a defensive error that scored Brown from first and moved Wideman over to third, as Pacific trailed 4-3 with no outs.
Sophomore Brian Martin (Livermore, Calif.) then came up to the plate and drew a full-count walk, to put Tigers on the corners. Head coach Ed Sprague then lifted Martin out of the game and sent freshman Brett Christopher (Livermore, Calif.) in as a pinch runner at first base. Senior Mike McKeever (San Diego, Calif.) tried to continue the rally, but instead flew out to shallow right field, without allowing Wideman to score from third.
Trailing by one run with one out and runners at first and third, junior Mike Walker (Marysville, Calif.) singled through the right side of the field to score Wideman as Pacific tied the game 4-4, moving Christopher to second. That was all it took for Riley, who came to the plate with one out and laced the game-winning hit into right field to score Christopher from second and win the game 5-4.
The Tigers plated their first two runs in the game in the third and fifth innings, taking an early 2-0 lead over the Mustangs. In the third, sophomore Nick Longmire (San Diego, Calif.) opened up the inning with a single up the middle on a 3-2 pitch count. Senior Joey Centanni (San Diego, Calif.) needed only the first pitch to connect for a double that scored Longmire for the first run of the game.
Later in the fifth, Longmire again opened the inning with a hit, as he doubled to left center on the first pitch of the at-bat. Centanni advanced Longmire over to second with a sacrifice bunt that was laid perfectly down the first base line. The next batter, Brown, flied out to left field for the second-consecutive sacrifice, scoring Longmire for the second time, as Pacific took a 2-0 lead.
But in the seventh, it looked as if all the momentum had shifted hands completely, when the Mustangs got to Pacific's starter, Centanni. Pacific cycled through three pitchers, Centanni, seniors Cole Akins (Seattle, Wash.) and Mark McCain (Dallas, Texas) before Cal Poly knocked in four runs to take a 4-2 lead after the seventh.
It was sophomore Thomas Berolzheimer (Stockton, Calif.) who garnered the win for Pacific in the ninth inning and Mark DeVincenzi who took the loss for Cal Poly. Berolzheimer now improves to 1-2 on the year after tossing 19 pitches against four batters to allow only one walk. Pacific had six players record two hits in the win, including Riley who went 2-for-2 as a pinch hitter with one RBI.
Pacific returns to action for the rubber match on Saturday, April 11, which is slated to begin at 1 p.m.
