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SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – Junior second baseman Adam Buschini’s bases-loaded walk in the eighth inning snapped a 5-5 tie and senior right-hander Eric Massingham pitched a scoreless ninth for his sixth save as No. 19/25 Cal Poly edged UC Riverside 6-5 in the opener of a Big West Conference baseball series Friday night before 1,320 in Baggett Stadium.

Freshman right fielder Bobby Crocker led off the eighth with a bloop single near the right-field line. After two walks loaded the bases with two outs, Buschini drew a four-pitch walk to force in the go-ahead run.

Massingham hit a Highlander batter with one out in the ninth, but induced catcher Robert Brantly to fly out to left and struck out right fielder Tony Nix to end the game and lift the Mustangs 20 games over the .500 mark for the third time this season.

Cal Poly has won four of its last five and improved to 37-17 for the season and 14-8 in the Big West. UC Riverside fell to 31-20 and 10-12.

Cal Poly outhit UC Riverside 12-10, paced by Buschini, senior center fielder Ryan Lee, sophomore third baseman J.J. Thompson, junior catcher Ross Brayton and Crocker, each with two hits.

Buschini and junior first baseman Wes Dorrell both hit solo home runs in the third inning as Cal Poly snapped a 3-3 tie. For Buschini, it was his 10th home run of the season and helped lift his average for the season to .418. Dorrell hit his fifth round-tripper of the year.

UC Riverside’s 10 hits included two each by center fielder Carl Uhl, first baseman Justin Shultz and Brantly.

Mustang starter DJ Mauldin threw 130 pitches in 7 1/3 innings, allowing five runs and nine hits with six walks and two strikeouts. Junior right-hander Mark DeVincenzi (6-1) secured the final two outs in the eighth inning for the win, setting the stage for Massingham’s save in the ninth.

The loss went to Highlander right-hander Matt Andriese (5-4), the second of three UC Riverside pitchers. He allowed the Mustangs to load the bases before Dustin Emmons came on in relief in the eighth inning and surrendered the walk to Buschini.

Cal Poly scored three runs in the second inning on an RBI double down the left-field line by Brayton, a single down the right-field line by Thompson and a sacrifice fly by junior left fielder Adam Melker.

UC Riverside responded quickly with three runs in the top of the third, including a solo home run to right-center field by designated hitter Joey Gonzales.

Buschini snapped the 3-3 tie with his solo home run to left and Dorrell followed with his blast to right-center field.

The Highlanders tied the game again with single runs in the fifth and eighth frames, setting the stage for Buschini’s bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the eighth which proved to be the game-winner.

Cal Poly is 23-5 at home this season and is 20 games above the .500 mark for the fourth time since moving to Division I 15 years ago. The 2004 squad was 33-13-1 in mid-April before finishing 38-23-1. Twenty is the school’s Division I mark.

Second game of the series will be played Saturday night at 6 in Baggett Stadium with sophomore southpaw Matt Leonard (5-2, 7.57 ERA) on the mound for Cal Poly against UC Riverside junior southpaw Paul Applebee (9-2, 3.78 ERA).