April 11, 2009

Box Score

Stockton, Calif. - In the final of a three-game series, the Pacific baseball team suffered one rough inning and fell 13-8 to No. 16 Cal Poly, losing the series.

With the loss, Pacific fell to 12-18 on the year and 5-4 in the Big West Conference as Cal Poly improved to 24-8 this season with a 5-4 Big West mark.

After trailing 6-1 heading into the bottom of the fifth, Pacific came to life and jumped on the board within striking distance of the Mustangs.

Freshman Allen Riley (Fresno, Calif.) was hit by the fourth pitch of his at-bat to start off the inning and moved over to first base. Junior Mike Walker (Marysville, Calif.) advanced Riley to second on a long single into right field to put two runners on with no one out.

Junior Jamie Niley (Elk Grove, Calif.) grounded out up the middle, advancing both runners into scoring position. With runners on second and third, junior Ben Gorang (Turlock, Calif.) singled up the middle, scoring Riley to cut the deficit at 6-2. Senior Joey Centanni (San Diego, Calif.) followed through with another single to extend the one-out rally, scoring Walker and moving Gorang to second, as Pacific trailed 6-3. One out later, sophomore J.B. Brown drew a walk to load the bases.

With the bases loaded and two outs in the inning, senior Kurt Wideman (Fallbrook, Calif.) was hit on the elbow by starting pitcher LHP Matt Leonard, allowing for Gorang to score as Pacific inched closer at 6-4. Sophomore Brian Martin then came to the plate in hopes of keeping the inning alive, as he drew a five-pitch walk to bring in another run and put the Tigers within one at 6-5. Leonard then was pulled as Cal Poly opted for its bullpen, which did the job when Jared Eskew recorded the third out of the inning, keeping the Tigers down 6-5.

However, it was the top of the eighth inning that saw Pacific give up seven runs to put the game out of reach.

In the eighth and ninth innings, the Tigers came back for a combined three more runs to ultimately fall 13-8 against the No. 16 nationally-ranked Mustangs.

Junior Hunter Carnevale (Roseville, Calif.) took the loss for the Tigers after he gave up six runs in 3.1 innings. Eskew earned the win for Cal Poly, as the started Leonard failed to go the required five innings into the game for a winning decision.

Offensively, the Tigers were led by Centanni who went 2-for-3 with one RBI and Niley, who recorded his first home run with the Tigers for the first run of the game in the third inning.

Pacific returns to action on the road when it heads to San Jose State on Tuesday, April 14. First pitch is slated for 3 p.m.