Mike Klan
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – Junior catcher Jack Collins produced his second walk-off hit of the 2025 season, a single down the right-field line with two outs in the ninth inning, as Cal Poly escaped with a 6-5 Big West Conference baseball victory over UC Riverside on Friday night inside Baggett Stadium.
Coupled with UC Irvine’s 4-2 loss to Cal State Fullerton, Coach Larry Lee’s Mustangs pulled to within one game of first place in the Big West. Now 36-16 overall, Cal Poly lifted its conference mark to 22-7, while the Anteaters fell to 23-8 with their fourth loss in eight Big West games.
Cal Poly will go for its second Big West title in program history Saturday at 1 o’clock, needing a win and a UC Irvine loss. Should that happen, the Mustangs and Anteaters will be declared regular season co-champions.
On Friday, Cal Poly squandered an early 4-0 lead as last-place UC Riverside scored twice in the third inning, once in the fifth and, after Casey Murray Jr.’s sixth home run of the year in the sixth, two more runs in the seventh to knot the score at 5-5.
After the Highlanders were retired in order by Jake Torres in the top of the ninth, Cal Poly’s first two batters were retired in the bottom of the frame before second baseman Ryan Fenn singled to right-center field. Fenn sprinted to third base on third baseman Alejandro Garza’s single up the middle.
Collins, who capped a four-run Mustang rally in the ninth inning with a walk-off two-run home run to beat Oregon State 7-6 on March 22, was behind in the count, 1-2, when he lined a single about five feet inside the right-field line to score Fenn with the winning run.
Cal Poly’s only other walk-off win this year was an 11-inning 10-9 triumph over Cal State Fullerton on March 7 as reserve outfielder Dylan Knowles singled to center field with one out, scoring Dante Vachini from second base.
Torres (4-4) pitched three innings in relief for the win, allowing two unearned runs and a pair of hits with no walks and two strikeouts. Starter Josh Volmerding, who retired the first seven Highlander batters of the game, gave up three runs and seven hits over six innings with one walk and six strikeouts.
The loss was charged to UC Riverside reliever Joshua Martinez (2-7) despite allowing just one run over 3 1/3 innings. Starter Matthew O’Brien surrendered five runs and six hits over 5 1/3 innings with four strikeouts.
Two Mustangs extended their hitting streaks to nine or more games.
Fenn blasted a three-run home run in the second inning, his second of the year, to give Cal Poly a 4-0 lead and stretch his hitting streak to 12 games. Murray’s home run with one out in the sixth extended his hitting streak to nine games.
Right fielder Dylan Kordic and first baseman Zach Daudet both went 0-for-4, ending their hitting streaks at seven and six games, respectively.
Shortstop Nate Castellon singled to knock in a run in the first inning for Cal Poly. Fenn’s three-run home run to left field made it 4-0 in the second frame and Murray’s one-out blast to left gave Cal Poly a 5-3 advantage in the sixth.
UC Riverside tied the game in the seventh on Manoah Chapman’s two-out two-run homer to left, tying the game at 5-5. The Highlanders also had scoring chances in the fourth (runners at first and second with nobody out), fifth (first and third with one out), sixth (runners at first and second with no outs) and eighth (leadoff double by David Whittle) innings but couldn’t take advantage of any of the opportunities.
With 11 hits, Cal Poly produced double-digit hits for the 33rd time in its last 45 games. Fenn and Vachini each had three hits and Garza added a pair of singles, giving him a team-leading 31 multiple-hit games this season, including nine in his last 11 contests.
Prior to Friday’s game, at least seven Mustang starters collected hits in seven straight games, including all nine three times. Cal Poly hit .402 in those seven contests with a .481 on-base percentage and .580 slugging percentage. Only six Mustangs collected hits in Friday’s contest.
UC Riverside’s nine hits included a single and double by both Whittle and Joshua Torres.
With Friday’s win, Cal Poly clinched the series and has won eight of 10 Big West sets for the second straight year. The Mustangs are 20 games above the .500 mark for the first time since the 2014 squad finished the year 47-12.
Cal Poly’s three-run second-inning rally marked the 92nd time that the Mustangs had posted a crooked number on the scoreboard (two or more runs in an inning) in 52 games this season.
Junior southpaw Luke Kovach (0-0, 13.50 ERA) will make his second start of the season for Cal Poly on Saturday, facing UC Riverside senior right-hander Nolan Milliman (2-3, 6.93 ERA) in the Mustangs’ final home game of the year.
(Article courtesy Cal Poly Athletics).
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