The Cal Poly San Luis Obispo baseball team triumphed over the University of Hawai’i with a narrow 2-1 victory on May 24 at Goodwin Field in Fullerton, California, marking a pivotal moment in the Big West Championship elimination round.
With this win, the Mustangs (40-17, 23-7) advanced to face UC Irvine in the championship series following the Rainbow Warriors’ (35-21, 16-14) defeat.
The semifinal matchup was characterized by strong performances from both pitching staffs, resulting in a tension-filled game with few scoring opportunities. The initial sparks, however, came from Hawai’i’s offense, as Cal Poly’s redshirt junior pitcher Luke Kovach struggled early on.
Kovach faced an uphill battle at the outset, conceding three hits without managing an out. Shortly thereafter, Hawai’i senior first baseman Ben Zeigler-Namoa doubled to center field, allowing junior center fielder Matthew Miura to score and giving the Rainbow Warriors an early 1-0 lead.
Kovach regrouped to limit the damage, securing two strikeouts and a groundout to escape the first inning with minimal further harm.
Throughout the subsequent frames, both teams’ pitchers demonstrated skillful control, resulting in a prolonged period without scoring. Hawai’i’s junior right-handed starter Freddy Rodriguez began strong, successfully retiring the top of Cal Poly’s lineup with two strikeouts and a groundout in a seamless first inning.
After a scoreless second inning, Cal Poly substituted Kovach for sophomore left-handed pitcher Josh Morano. Although Morano faced initial challenges—allowing a single to Zeigler-Namoa and a walk—he quickly benefitted from his team’s solid defense, which executed a pickoff and a caught stealing to end the inning unharmed.
After six consecutive outs from both teams across the third and fourth innings, Cal Poly’s offense finally sprang to life. Redshirt senior second baseman Ryan Fenn initiated the bottom of the fourth with a single to left-center, setting the stage for a run.
Following Fenn’s hit, sophomore third baseman Alejandro Garza advanced him to second base with another single. A wild pitch subsequently moved both runners into scoring position without an out registered. Freshman shortstop Nate Castellon evened the scoreboard by bringing Fenn home on a sacrifice fly, and senior center fielder Casey Murray Jr. secured the lead for the Mustangs with an RBI single, scoring Garza to put Cal Poly ahead 2-1.
From this point, pitching dominated the game, with neither offense able to make significant progress towards scoring until the ninth inning. In the seventh inning, redshirt freshman right-handed pitcher Ethan Thomas took over for Hawai’i and dazzled, notching three consecutive swinging strikeouts to wrap up the inning.
With the game in a precarious 2-1 situation and time dwindling, Hawai’i seemed poised to make a comeback in their last at-bat. Sophomore third baseman Elijah Ickes opened the ninth inning with a single, followed by a fielder’s choice. Senior left fielder Kamana Nahaku then added a single, placing the tying run in scoring position with less than two outs.
Needing just a hit to tie the game, the Mustangs called upon redshirt senior left-handed pitcher Jake Torres to close out the game. A groundout advanced the runner to third base, putting the tying run just 90 feet away with only one out remaining.
Determined, Hawai’i turned to sophomore Xaige Lancaster as a pinch hitter, but the game concluded as he grounded out, sealing both the Mustangs’ victory and the end of Hawai’i’s season.
Morano received the win for Cal Poly, delivering a lengthy 6 1/3 innings of scoreless pitching, while Torres earned the two-out save. Despite a commendable six-inning effort from Rodriguez, yielding only three hits and two runs, he took the loss.
Cal Poly’s hits from Castellon and Murray proved crucial in achieving victory, paving the way for the Mustangs to dominate UC Irvine 15-5 in the initial game of the championship series.
As a result, the stage is set for a winner-take-all showdown on May 25.
image source from：https://newuniversity.org/2025/05/31/cal-poly-advances-to-championship-game-defeats-hawaii-2-1/
