Cal Poly rights ship heading into Irvine series

May 7, 2014

The Cal Poly baseball squad rebounded from a troubling road trip by beating Pepperdine 5-1 Tuesday in a midweek matchup at Baggett Stadium.

One week ago, the Mustangs lost to the Waves 11-4 in Malibu, marking the third of four consecutive losses for Cal Poly in the middle of a Southern California swing. In the loss, freshman right hander Slater Lee lasted just one inning and surrendered several runs.

Since beating Kansas State and shutting out UCLA to start the season, Lee has struggled to last more than a few innings in his starts against quality teams.

On Tuesday, Head Coach Larry Lee started junior righty Danny Zandona in place of Slater Lee. Zandona pitched five scoreless innings and allowed just one hit and one walk while earning the victory. Zandona is now 2-0 with a 2.77 ERA and figures to make at least one more start over the remaining two weeks of the season.

Designated hitter Brian Mundell had two hits and three RBIs to lead the Poly offense.

The victory bumped the Mustangs’ overall record up to 39-9.

Cal Poly is 14-4 in the Big West Conference but trails UC Irvine by three games in the loss column. Irvine, having played one fewer conference series so far, is 14-1 in the Big West.

The two teams battling for the conference championship will square off in a weekend series starting Friday in San Luis Obispo. Friday’s game will feature a premier pitching match-up between Mustang ace Matt Imhof and Anteater ace Andrew Morales, who is sporting a 0.91 ERA. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.