Cal Poly edges Wichita State baseball 7-6
Wichita State left the bases loaded in the ninth inning Saturday of a 7-6, series-ending loss to Cal Poly at Eck Stadium. Cal Poly (15-7) took the series 2-1.
Wichita State is 7-16.
“I appreciate the effort of our team,” Wichita State coach Todd Butler said. “It’s tough times right now and they’re fighting. I’m proud of our guys for fighting til the last out.”
Taylor Sanagorski’s grounder to first base with the bases loaded was bobbled, but Cal Poly first baseman Brett Barbier recovered to throw to the pitcher from his knees, beating Sanagorski by two steps to end the game.
Wichita State’s pitching struggles continued. The Shockers used seven pitchers in the game, none lasting more than three innings. Chase Williams started went two innings, allowing three hits and two runs, earning the loss. The pitching staff allowed 10 hits, eight walks and two hit batters.
“Right now we need to address our pitching staff,” Butler said. “We need to get a rotation that guys can go five, six, seven innings for us. (Willie) Schwanke pitched a shutout on Friday night and after that, we don’t really have anyone else that has done the job the next two days.”
The Shockers found themselves in a hole early on, trailing 3-0 after three innings. Freshman Greyson Jenista homered in the fourth inning, cutting into the Mustangs’ lead. After Cal Poly added a run in the fourth, Wichita State’s bats came alive. Zach Reding led off the inning with a double, followed by an RBI single from Luke Ritter and then a double from Alec Bohm to pull the Shockers within 4-3.
Wichita State battled back after trailing 7-3. The Shockers scored two runs in the seventh inning after back-to-back hits by Luke Ritter and Bohm. Mikel Mucha singled for an RBI, then Jenista walked with the bases loaded.
Bohm singled to start off the ninth inning. Pinch-runner Bret Fehr went to second on a sacrifice and scored on Mucha’s double. . After a SAC bunt Fehr advanced to second. Mucha hit a double off the right center wall, nearly two feet shy of the top of the fence, scoring Fehr. Tanner Kirk struck out and Jenista and Ryan Tinkham walked before Sanagorski ended the game.
“We had a chance, Mucha hits a ball that might be four feet from a home run to tie the game,” Butler said. “Our guys really fought for nine innings offensively and played good defense.”
Wichita State will host Stephen F. Austin (12-12) on Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by a three game series with No. 5 TCU beginning on Friday.
CAL POLY | ab | r | h | bi | bb | so | avg |
McKenna cf | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | .274 |
Marinconz 2b | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .286 |
Barbier 1b | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | .397 |
Schuknecht rf | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | .314 |
Sanderson 3b | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .306 |
Polshuk lf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .143 |
George lf | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .280 |
Moore dh | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .231 |
Meyer c | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .240 |
Doherty ss | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .211 |
Totals | 31 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 6 | |
WICHITA ST. | |||||||
Mucha cf | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .312 |
Kirk ss | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | .297 |
Jenista rf | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | .277 |
Tinkham 1b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .267 |
Troutwine c | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .289 |
Sanagorski c | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .200 |
Reding dh | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .296 |
Ritter 2b | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .286 |
Bohm 3b | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .286 |
Fehr pr | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
Young lf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .250 |
Totals | 34 | 6 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 12 | |
Cal Poly. | 111 | 013 | 000 | — | 7 10 0 |
Wichita St. | 000 | 120 | 201 | — | 6 10 0 |
LOB — CP 13, WSU 8. 2B — Schuknecht (9), Sanderson (4), Mucha (6), Reding (5), Bohm 2 (4). HR — Jenista (2). S — Marinconz (3), Sanderson (3), Meyer (3), Doherty (3), Young (2). SF — Sanderson (1), Young (2). CS — Polshuk (1).
Cal Poly | ip | h | r | er | bb | so | era |
Uelmen W,4-0 | 6 2/3 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 2.76 |
Bruihl | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.96 |
Calomeni S,2 | 2 1/3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2.79 |
Wichita St. | |||||||
Williams L,0-3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8.31 |
Heuer | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 14.9 |
Lewis | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4.03 |
Hayes | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7.45 |
McGinness | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7.32 |
Evans | 1 2/3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4.15 |
Jones | 1 1/3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5.82 |
WP — Jones (5). HBP — Schuknecht 2 (by Heuer, Evans; Doherty (by Hayes). Umpires — Jason Blackburn; first, Mark Hutchison; third, Carlos Martinez. T — 3:09. A — 1,953.
This story was originally published March 26, 2016 at 3:55 PM with the headline "Cal Poly edges Wichita State baseball 7-6."