Cal Poly wins fourth straight elimination game, beating No. 1 Oregon, 10-8

Unfazed by a park filled with the green and yellow colors of the host team, Cal Poly rallied from an 8-5 deficit on Saturday to win its fourth straight postseason elimination game and knock Oregon out of the NCAA Regional in Eugene.

The Big Ten champions entered as the No. 1 seed but couldn’t manage a single win in the Eugene Regional after falling to Utah Valley 6-5 on Friday and then Cal Poly 10-8 on Saturday.

In game 2, with both teams’ backs against the wall, offensive firepower defined the win-or-go-home match-up between the Ducks (42-16) and Mustangs (42-18), as both showcased their power at the plate, combining for eight total home runs.

The Ducks were down a key bat due to the suspension of catcher Anson Arroz following his ejection against Utah Valley for malicious contact after a collision at the plate, still managed to hit five home runs. But they erased an early Cal Poly lead and forced the Mustangs to play from behind.

The Mustangs, however, were up to the task, scoring in every inning save for the first and fourth and taking the lead with 4 runs in the seventh.

Centerfielder Casey Murray Jr. was again the star, going 4-4 with a home run, three RBIs and two runs scored.

“Last week, we were in the same position,” Murray Jr. said in an interview after the game. “So, it’s kind of like, we’ve been here before, and we were pretty confident. We knew we were going up against a tough team.”

With the victory, Cal Poly ended the season of the tournament’s No. 12 overall seed, with the Ducks becoming the first No. 1 regional seed to be eliminated.

Cal Poly opens scoring with home run

Dylan Kordic got things rolling early for the Mustangs, launching a two-run homer in the second inning to bring home Murray Jr. and put Cal Poly up 2-0.

But the momentum quickly shifted in the fifth when Oregon responded with a two-run blast of its own to tie the game 3-3, setting the tone for a back-and-forth battle.

While Oregon relied on the long ball, however, Cal Poly played a more tactical game under Head Coach Larry Lee.

The Mustangs executed situational hitting with precision, laying down bunts to advance runners, capitalizing on hit-and-run opportunities and staying patient at the plate to draw key walks.

That strategy paid off in the seventh inning when Oregon held its largest lead of the game at 8-5.

After Jack Collins and Dante Vachini opened the inning with back-to-back walks, Zach Daudet followed with a single to load the bases.

Alejandro Garza then drew another walk to bring in a run, sparking another momentum swing led by Murray Jr., whose two-run single tied the game at 8-8 before a run-scoring base hit by Cam Hoiland gave the Mustangs the lead for good at 9-8.

A home run from Daudet added some much-need insurance in the eighth before reliever Jake Torres sealed the game with a 1-2-3 ninth.

Cal Poly used three pitchers in its elimination game, starting with Josh Volmerding, who gave up only one run over the first four innings before running into trouble in the fifth and sixth, when he was tagged for five runs on three home runs.

He gave up a total of six earned runs over 5-2/3 innings of work.

Josh Morano took over in the sixth but gave up back-to-back solo home runs to Jeffery Heard and Drew Smith, allowing the Ducks to widen what was then a 6-5 lead to 8-5.

That’s when Lee turned to Torres, who delivered when it mattered most, shutting down Oregon’s offense over the final 2-1/3 innings, allowing two hits and striking out four.

Torres sealed the win with authority, striking out three consecutive batters in the ninth to end any hope of an Oregon comeback.

The win keeps Cal Poly’s NCAA tournament run alive and adds to what’s already been a historic season, with the Mustangs winning the Big West Championships for the first time and now eliminating a major-conference champion.

Cal Poly now advances to its third game of the Eugene Regional, one step shy of matching its 2014 run, when the Mustangs reached a fourth game before being eliminated by Pepperdine.

The Mustangs will face Utah Valley on Sunday at 3 p.m. after the Wolverines lost to Arizona 14-4 in the Saturday night game.

If Cal Poly wins, it would face Arizona at 7 p.m. on Sunday, trying to force a winner-take-all game on Monday. All games will be live-streamed on ESPN+.

This story was originally published May 31, 2025 at 6:29 PM.