College roundup: Cal Poly softball drops doubleheader at UCSB
The Cal Poly softball team dropped both games of Saturday’s Big West Conference opening road doubleheader at UC Santa Barbara, 2-1 and 3-0.
In the opener, Breana West hit an RBI single in the first inning to give the Mustangs an early lead. Stephanie Chalmers walked the first Gaucho she faced before retiring the next 11 batters.
UC Santa Barbara got on the board in the fourth inning after four consecutive singles with two outs to take a 2-1 lead.
Cal Poly had a chance to even the score in the sixth with a runner on third, but a fly out and a strikeout ended the chance. Cal Poly stranded six runners in the game.
Chalmers had a complete game with five strikeouts, allowing five hits and two earned runs.
In the second game, the Gauchos took a 1-0 lead in the first inning after a wild pitch by Stephanie Heyward. UC Santa Barbara doubled its lead in the third inning after an RBI triple by Jessica Johnson.
Cal Poly had two runners in scoring position in the fourth after a Betsy Colburn sacrifice bunt with two out, but the Mustangs popped out to end the inning. Cal Poly left four runners on base in the second game.
The Mustangs conclude the three game series on Sunday at 1 p.m
BASEBALL
San Jose State survives late Cal Poly rally
The Cal Poly baseball team scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth, but the late surge wasn’t enough as the Mustangs fell to San Jose State 8-5 to even the three-game non-conference series on Saturday at a foggy Baggett Stadium.
Four errors by the Mustangs resulted in three unearned runs and a passed ball in the eighth led to another.
Cal Poly (17-8) trailed 1-0 entering the bottom of the fifth, but scored three runs to take the lead. Alex McKenna and Brett Barbier each had an RBI single and Josh George had a sacrifice fly to put the Mustangs up 3-1.
San Jose State responded in the the top of the sixth with an unearned run.
The Spartans (9-17) would then erupt for six runs in the eighth, taking advantage of a wild pitch and an error by the Mustangs and stringing together three hits.
With one out in the bottom of the ninth, McKenna hit an RBI and was singled home by Kyle Marinconz. After a Barbier single, George reached base with a fielder’s choice before a strikeout ended the game with runners at the corners.
McKenna finished 2 for 4 with two RBI, a single, and a triple and Barbier was 3 for 5 with a double and an RBI.
Jordan Zill went six innings for the Mustangs, giving up two earned runs and four hits and struck out five. Spencer Howard was tagged with the loss, giving up two earned and one hit.
Zach Wallace picked up the win in 1 1/3 innings for the Spartans.
The series will wrap up on Sunday at 1 p.m.
MEN’S GOLF
Cal Poly ninth after two rounds at ASU Invitational
The Cal Poly men’s golf team is ninth in a field of 13 teams in the ASU Thunderbird Invitational at the Kartsen Golf Course in Tempe, Ariz.
The Mustangs are led by Justin De Los Santos and Jesse Yap, who are tied for 30th.
De Los Santos shot a 75 and 69, and Yap carded a 73 and 71 for matching 2-over 144 totals over 36 holes, sharing 30th with four other golfers.
As a team, Cal Poly recorded a four-person 295 total in the first round and 287 in the afternoon for a 14-over 582.
Iowa State leads Arizona State by a stroke, with rounds of 273 and 276 for a 550 total. San Diego State trails by three shots.
Jon Rahm leads the individual leaderboard after rounds of 66 and 64 for a 12-under 130 total, leading Iowa State’s Denzel Ieremia by two strokes and K.K. Limbhaust of Cal by three.
The tournament will finish on Sunday morning.
TRACK AND FIELD
Cal Poly has seven top 3 finishes at UCLA Invitational
The Mustangs were led by Cal Poly senior Alex Ziebart, who won the men’s javelin at the Bruins Invitational on Saturday, while two other teammates competed at the Stanford Invitational.
Ziebart’s mark of 202 feet, 3 inches on his fifth throw was the fourth best in school history and is the third best in the Big West this season.
Arnie Sambel and Nate Vickers were second and third in the men’s shot put with throws of 54-6 and 53-11 1/4 , trailing only Dotun Ogundeji of UCLA (60-10).
Sambel also placed third in the men’s discus with a mark of 160 feet.
In the long jump, Ivy Adair was fourth with a leap of 23-1 3/4 .
Freshman Aidan Kirwan was second in the 400 meter hurdles in 53.72, trailing UC Irvine’s Kyle Hubbard (53.30).
Cal Poly’s Brian Graber and Vince Porter, both freshman, tied for second in the high jump at 6-8 3/4 , and Tomi Nord was fifth in the men’s pole vault at 14-7 1/2 .
On the women’s side, Danielle Taylor was fifth in the high jump, clearing 5-7 3/4 , and was sixth in the long jump.
Mallory Patino was fifth in the 400 hurdles with a time of 1:01.52, and triple jumper Kendal Nielsen was fifth with a mark of 39-8 1/2 . Allie Sulatis was also fifth in the 800 (2:12.37).
The 4x100 team of Nielsen, Jessica Escalante, Ralaina LiDrazzah, and Ciara Levy placed fifth (48.42)
Overall, the Cal Poly women finished seventh with 31 points and the men were fourth with 77.
In the second day of the Bay Area Invitational, Cal Poly junior Ricky Strehlow was fifth in the triple jump, recording a mark of 48-1 1/4 .
Cal Poly returns to action April 14 for the first of a trio of meets through April 16: the Bryan Clay Invitational, the Long Beach State Invitational, and the Mt. SAC Relays.
This story was originally published April 2, 2016 at 9:09 PM with the headline "College roundup: Cal Poly softball drops doubleheader at UCSB."