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Mustangs Complete Sweep of UC Davis Series With 16-8 Win

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SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – Senior center fielder Ryan Lee surpassed Brandon Roberts in the Cal Poly record book by extending his hitting streak to 26 games as the No. 15/18 Mustangs completed a three-game Big West Conference series sweep with a 16-8 victory over UC Davis on a warm Sunday afternoon before 1,581 in Baggett Stadium. Lee singled through the left side of the Aggie infield leading off the fourth inning to keep his hitting ...

Published Apr 19th, by Eric Burdick

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – Senior center fielder Ryan Lee surpassed Brandon Roberts in the Cal Poly record book by extending his hitting streak to 26 games as the No. 15/18 Mustangs completed a three-game Big West Conference series sweep with a 16-8 victory over UC Davis on a warm Sunday afternoon before 1,581 in Baggett Stadium.

Lee singled through the left side of the Aggie infield leading off the fourth inning to keep his hitting streak alive and finished 2-for-5 with one RBI as Cal Poly won its 17th straight home game and improved to 27-9 overall and 8-4, all alone in second place in the Big West.

UC Davis, an NCAA regional qualifier a year ago, fell to 6-28 and 1-8. The Mustangs beat the Aggies 11-10 in 10 innings Friday night and 8-4 on Saturday night.

Brandon Roberts, now playing in the Double-A Eastern League for the New Britain Rock Cats in the Minnesota Twins organization, held the old Mustang mark of 25 straight games with a hit in 2004.

Freshman second baseman Matt Jensen extended his hitting streak to 23 games with an RBI triple in the fourth inning. His streak is the third-longest in Cal Poly’s 15-year Division I history.

Only one other school in the nation has a pair of active 20-game hitting streaks. Tennessee-Martin’s Scott Gladstone has hit in 31 straight games while Miles Hartsfield has hit in 29 consecutive games.

Cal Poly has won eight of its nine weekend series this season, including four sweeps. The Mustangs have already won three more games than they did all of last year.

The Mustangs overcame an early 1-0 deficit with four runs in the second inning and three in the third before breaking the game open with a seven-run sixth-inning uprising. Sophomore designated hitter D.J. Gentile hit a two-run single, junior first baseman Adam Buschini drove in another run with a double, junior catcher Ross Brayton doubled to knock in three and junior shortstop Kyle Smith capped the rally with a run-scoring double.

Cal Poly outhit UC Davis 19-14, led by Gentile and Brayton with three hits and three RBIs each. Buschini also had three hits while Lee, Smith and junior outfielder Adam Melker each contributed a pair of hits. Sophomore third baseman J.J. Thompson’s two-run home run in the third inning was his third of the season.

Five different UC Davis batters collected a pair of hits.

Freshman right-hander Mason Radeke (3-1) allowed four runs and 10 hits in six innings for the win, walking one and striking out four. Junior right-hander Kevin Castner pitched a scoreless inning and freshman southpaw Mark Laugenour tossed two scoreless frames.

UC Davis starter Jeremy McChesney (1-5) surrendered seven runs and nine hits in three-plus innings.

Cal Poly is three games behind front-running UC Irvine (11-1) in the Big West title chase but is second alone as Pacific (7-5) fell 4-3 to Cal State Fullerton on Sunday.

For the series, Lee was 7-for-15 with four RBIs and seven runs scored while Brayton was 5-for-10 with two doubles and three RBIs. Smith finished 4-for-10 with a pair of doubles while Buschini was 5-for-13 with two doubles, five runs scored and three RBIs.

Cal Poly hit .367 for the series.

The Mustangs have no midweek game this week and return to action with a three-game Big West series at UC Santa Barbara next weekend. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium.