SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – Columbia baseball came out on the wrong end of two more games against Cal Poly during a doubleheader that featured an extra inning contest and a rain delay of nearly an hour. The Mustangs (5-9) came up with a 2-1 win in 12 innings in game one and clinched the series with a 13-6 triumph in the nightcap.
The Lions (0-7) wrap up the trip with one final game against Cal Poly on Sunday, March 10. First pitch is slated for 3 p.m. eastern time.
GAME ONE
With runners on the corners and one out, Blake Wagenseller hit a grounder to second base. With the infield in, Josh Nicoloff fired home, but Tate Samuleson beat the throw to give the Mustangs their second walk-off win in as many days.
Matt Cerfolio went 2-for-3 in the game and Liam McGill was 2-for-5. The Lions received strong work out of the bullpen from relievers Jimmy Smiley (2.1 scoreless innings) and Lucas Hall, who struck out three and worked 2.2 hitless innings.
Columbia broke through in the fifth inning when Josh Nicoloff singled up the middle and came around on an AJ DiFillipo opposite field double down the leftfield line.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Mustangs used a pair of singles and a walk to load the bases. Another free pass was issued to Myles Emmerson to make it 1-1.
The Lions best opportunity to break the tie came in the 10th inning when they put runners on second and third with away. On a grounder to short, AJ DiFillipo broke home, got caught in a rundown and was tagged heading back to third for the second out. A walk to Cerfolio loaded the bases to bring up McGill. Cal Poly's Andrew Alvarez threw a pitch that got away from the catcher, but Emmerson was able to find the ball and toss it to the plate to tag out Austin Mowrey to end the frame.
Ian Burns (0-1) was charged with the loss. Alvarez picked up his first win of the season for the Mustangs.
Ben Wereski started, allowed just one hit and fanned seven, but walked six in his 4.2 innings. Bobby Ay lasted 7.0 innings, allowed one run on five hits with five strikeouts.
GAME TWO
After a 50-minute rain delay, Cal Poly blew open a 2-2 game with four runs in the third. The Mustangs followed with four more in the fourth and tacked on three in the fifth to take a 10-run lead.
Connor Gurnik led off the bottom of the first with a double and Bradlee Beesley poked a base-hit through the left side to give Cal Poly the lead. Cole Cabrera doubled the advantage with a single to score Samuelson.
In the top of the second, Columbia got those runs back when McGill roped a double down the leftfield line and Jack Chernow singled and moved to second on an error. Joshua Solomon went the other way for a knock to right and DiFillipo drove in the tying run with a sac fly to make it 2-2 before the rain began to fall.
Starting pitcher Sean Higgins worked a clean second after the delay, but a pair of walks and a hit batter led to the go-ahead run coming in during the bottom of the third. A fielder's choice with runners on the corners extended the advantage to 4-2 and chased Higgins from the game. Elijah Greene then delivered the big blow, a two-run double down the leftfield line.
Ben Porter trimmed the deficit to 6-3 with an RBI double to the gap in left-center, but two more free passes set up three consecutive RBI hits for the Mustangs in the bottom of the fourth.
Noah Taylor, Nick DiCarlo and Willie Cano all drove in runs in the fifth to give the Mustangs a commanding 13-3 cushion.
Columbia did not go quietly, capitalizing on a pair of errors in the eighth to draw two runs closer. In the ninth, the first two batters reached and McGill knocked in Julian Bury from second with his second hit of the game.
Dane Miller worked an effective 3.1 innings of relief, allowing no runs on three hits. Higgins dropped to 0-2 after being charged with six runs on six hits over 2.2 innings.
Bryan Woo (1-0) lasted 5.0 innings and gave up three runs, two earned, with three strikeouts and four walks. Thomas Triantos recorded the final 12 outs and picked up a save despite surrendering three runs, one earned.
