The Eugene Regional fired up at PK Park on Friday as the Cal Poly Mustangs took on the Arizona Wildcats with a 1:00 p.m. first pitch.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Mustangs had a glimmer of hope in their eyes as the tying run was on first after a single from freshman left fielder Dante Vachini. Wildcats junior right-handed closer Tony Pluta felt no pressure as he dimmed the light by striking out the next batter. The hearts would then drop for the Cal Poly faithful as senior second baseman Ryan Fenn rolled over to third base and Arizona went around the horn for the game-ending double play. It stood after review, and the Wildcats slid into the winner’s bracket of the regional with the 3-2 win.
“Obviously a well-played game by both teams,” Arizona head coach Chip Hale said.
“Great defense, great pitching. We got a win, and that’s all that matters. To be frank, we weren’t very happy with our offense, obviously, but fantastic starting pitching by [Owen Kramkowski], Garrett Hicks and Tony Pluta to finish it out.”
Leading the way for the Arizona offense was sophomore left fielder Easton Breyfogle, who was 1-for-3 with a homer and two RBIs. Meanwhile, the Mustang’s offense was headlined by senior designated hitter Cam Hoiland, who was 2-for-4 with a homer and an RBI.
Arizona was coming off an electric extra-inning 2-1 win against the TCU Horned Frogs that sealed the Big 12 championship for the Wildcats in their first season in the conference. That made it back-to-back conference championships for Arizona as it took home the Pac-12 title last season.
Cal Poly stepped into this one with a conference championship of its own as it defeated the UC Irvine Anteaters 6-4 to pick up the Big West title.
Getting the nod to start for the Mustangs was sophomore right-handed starter Griffin Naess. The Mustang hurler bolstered a 3.38 ERA on the season so far as he looked to ride that solid number into regional play.
On the Wildcat side, sophomore right-handed starter Owen Kramkowski took the hill. While his ERA on the year sat at 5.03, he features a blistering fastball that hangs around 95 and tortures opponent batters.
The Wildcats would only need 1 ⅔ innings to get the scoring going as a two-out walk came all the way around to score after a triple from senior first baseman Tommy Splaine. This would be the second loudest knock of the frame as Breyfogle launched a two-run blast to right-center field. Through two innings, Arizona was up 3-0.
The Mustangs finally got on the board in the top of the sixth after a double and a groundout moved senior center fielder Casey Murray Jr. over to third. He trotted in to score thanks to a single from senior right fielder Dylan Kordic, and the Wildcat lead was cut to two.
Kramkowski’s day (7.0 IP, 8 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 Ks and 99 TP) would come to an end in the top of the eighth when junior right-handed reliever Garrett Hicks stepped in.
Kramkowski held strong in his impressive outing, only giving up one run despite multiple Mustang threats throughout the game.
“I wouldn’t say I’m going into it differently, but maybe like a conscience that I have to get this guy out [with runners on],” Kramkowski said. “It’s more important now. I feel like I really just lock my stuff in and just focus on what’s the task at hand and kind of be able to slow the game down, cause that’s the only way I’ll be able to get out of it.”
Things got interesting in that same top of the eighth when the Mustangs cut the lead to one off a solo shot from senior designated hitter Cam Hoiland.
Naess’s start (7.0 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 Ks and 106 TP) also came to an end in the bottom of the eight as senior left-handed reliever Jake Torres (1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K and 10 TP) took over.
Getting the save opportunity for Arizona was Pluta (1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K and 7 TP) as he took the hill for Hicks (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 Ks and 24 TP).
The Mustangs were able to get the tying run on in the top of the ninth with a lead-off single, but a strikeout and a game-ending double play secured the win for the Wildcats.
“We had our opportunities, played with them the entire time, Griffin threw great,” Cal Poly head coach Larry Lee said. “We just gave up runs in the one inning. I think offensively, we had opportunities early, I think in about three different innings, and we didn’t cash in. Then we kind of started feeling ourselves a little as the game went on, but yeah, disappointing.”
Also chipping in to the Arizona offense was Splaine, who was 1-for-3 with an RBI.
Contributing to the Cal Poly offense was Murray, as he notched a 2-for-4 day with two doubles.
This win advances Arizona in the regional, dialing them in to play the winner of the Oregon Ducks vs. Utah Valley Wolverines, which will take place the same day with a 6:06 p.m. first pitch.