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SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – Junior right fielder Adam Melker’s second double of the game, a shot to the gap in left-center field, scored senior center fielder Ryan Lee from second base with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, lifting No. 16/21 Cal Poly to a 5-4 victory over Saint Mary’s in a non-conference baseball game Tuesday night in Baggett Stadium.

Saint Mary’s, which let a 3-0 lead slip away, tied the game at 4-4 in the top of the ninth on first baseman Anthony Aliotti’s RBI single through the left side of the Mustang infield.

All of the action in a wild bottom of the ninth occurred after the first two outs were recorded. Lee initially was called out when plate umpire Tony D’Aquanno ruled Saint Mary’s catcher Toby DeMello had caught a foul ball. That would have been the third out of the inning, sending the game into extra frames.

But after a conference, the umpires agreed that the ball off Lee’s bat hit the ground in foul territory. Given a second chance, Lee hit a grounder that was mishandled by Gael second baseman Michael Gastelum for an error. Lee then stole second base. Moments later, Melker had a 1-2 count when lightning strikes hit the area around Baggett Stadium and more than half the lights went out, forcing a 17-minute delay.

Once the lights came back on, Melker drilled a 2-2 pitch into the gap in left-center field, scoring Lee from second base with the winning run.

Cal Poly, which had won a pair of extra-inning games against Cal State Northridge over the weekend, improved to 22-7 with its fifth straight victory and third walk-off win in its last four games. Saint Mary’s fell to 19-14 with its third consecutive loss.

In the first meeting between the two schools since 2004, Saint Mary’s outhit Cal Poly 9-6, the first time in six games that the Mustangs didn’t reach double digits in hits.

Aliotti had three of the Gaels’ hits, all singles, and knocked in three runs while second baseman Michael Cipolla added a double.

Melker’s two doubles and three RBIs led Cal Poly offensively.

Three Mustangs with double-digit hitting streaks all extended them.

Lee’s third-inning single up the middle extended his hitting streak to 19 games, the second longest in Cal Poly’s 15-year Division I history. Freshman second baseman Matt Jensen has hit in 16 straight following his run-scoring single in the third inning while sophomore designated hitter D.J. Gentile extended his streak to 11 games with a leadoff single in the second inning.

Saint Mary’s scored three times in the top of the third inning on Aliotti’s two-run single to left field and Ryan Young’s RBI single to right. Lee prevented further damage by making a diving catch of a sinking line drive for the final out of the inning.

Cal Poly answered with two runs in both the third and fourth frames for a 4-3 advantage.

Jensen singled home the first run in the third and junior left fielder Luke Yoder grounded out to drive in another.

Melker’s first double to left-center field drove in two runs in the fourth for the Mustangs.

The win went to Mustang junior right-handed reliever Mark DeVincenzi, despite giving up his first earned run in 17 innings. DeVincenzi improved to 4-0 with three strikeouts in 1 2/3 innings. Starter Jared Eskew pitched 7 1/3 solid innings, allowing just one earned run and seven hits with a career-high nine strikeouts.

Alex Schmarzo (0-1), who relieved starter Nathan Gonzalez with one out in the eighth inning, suffered the loss. Gonzalez allowed just two earned runs and five hits in 7 1/3 innings with three walks and three strikeouts.

Cal Poly, now 14-1 at home, returns to Big West Conference play this weekend with a three-game series at Pacific (11-16, 4-2 Big West). The Tigers fell 7-1 to San Francisco on Tuesday in Stockton.

Because of Easter Sunday, this weekend’s series will be played Thursday and Friday nights at 5:30 p.m. and Saturday at 1 p.m.