Box Score

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- UC Davis freshman Robert Garcia and Cal Poly sophomore Kyle Smith matched one another zero for zero into the sixth inning on Thursday night, but the host Mustangs emerged one run better in their opener with the Aggies, scoring twice in the bottom of the sixth to edge UC Davis, 2-1, at Baggett Stadium.

The Aggies suffered their eighth consecutive loss, falling to 16-35 overall and 4-18 in Big West Conference play, while Cal Poly improved to 31-24 overall and 11-11 in league games.

A battle of left-handed underclassmen came out in favor of Smith (6-6), who held UC Davis to just a run on three hits while striking out 10, before giving way to Justin Calomeni in the eighth, who notched his seventh save of the season by striking out four of the five batters he faced.

Despite the loss, Garcia (3-5) tossed his seventh "quality start" of the season to give his team a chance to win, allowing just two hits and four base runners overall through the first five innings before the Mustangs rallied in the sixth. Overall, he allowed two runs on six hits and struck out three over six innings before sophomore Matt Blais took over in the seventh, retiring all six batters he faced over a perfect two innings.

The Aggies had just two base runners through five before breaking up the shutout with a run in the sixth. Senior Spencer Henderson led off with a single up the middle and was sacrificed over with one out by teammate Alex Aguiar. That brought up senior Tanner Bily, who extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a single to right centerfield, scoring Henderson for the 1-0 lead.

A ground ball ended the inning and, just as quickly, Cal Poly was able to answer, pushing across the tying and go-ahead runs in the home half of the sixth. A one-out single up the middle by Nick Meyer was followed two pitches later by a triple to left center field by Brett Barbier to tie the game. The Mustangs' RBI leader John Schuknecht then came up and beat out an infield single, scoring Barbier from third for the 2-1 lead.

After a quiet seventh, UC Davis tried to rally back in the eighth as junior Mark Cardinalli -- playing in his first game after suffering an injury on April 30 at Pacific -- led off with a walk and was sacrificed to second to bring up freshman Justin Allen, who drew a walk to chase Smith from the game. Calomeni, however, came in and shut down the rally with a pair of strikeouts to end the inning, and retired the side in order in the ninth to lock down the win.

Redshirt freshman Ryan Anderson, who hadn't played since the finale against Air Force on March 26 after being hit on the hand, finished 1-for-3 in his first start back, collecting the Aggies only other hit on the night with a single in the second.

The Aggies look to bounce back as the two teams lock horns in game two on Friday night at 6 p.m.

Cal Poly 2, UC Davis 1 (May 26, 2016 at San Luis Obispo, CA)
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UC Davis............ 000 001 000 - 1 3 0 (16-35, 4-18 Big West)
Cal Poly............ 000 002 00X - 2 6 1 (31-24, 11-11 Big West)
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Pitchers: UC Davis - Garcia, Robert; Blais, Matt(7) and Denholm, Logan. Cal Poly - Smith, Kyle; Calomeni, Justin(8) and Meyer, Nick.
Win - Smith, Kyle (6-6) Save - Calomeni, Justin (7) Loss - Garcia, Robert (3-5) T-2:26 A-821
Weather: Clear, 62 deg., 15-25 NW