SAN LUIS OBISPO – The Cal baseball team notched quite a satisfying victory Saturday at Baggett Stadium, and the Bears didn't take the easy route to obtain it.
After spotting Cal Poly four runs in the first, they blanked the home team the rest of the way and rode a huge game from
Andrew Vaughn to a 5-4 win.
Vaughn, who homered in Friday's series opener, went 4-for-4 and delivered the go-ahead hit in the sixth, finishing with two RBI and a run scored.
The junior first baseman, considered by many the best hitter in college baseball, set the bar quite high last season in winning the Golden Spikes Award as the nation's top amateur player. But he's off to an outstanding start in 2019.
Through six games, Vaughn is 11-for-19 (.579) with three home runs, nine RBI, eight runs and 11 walks. Batting second in Cal's order, Vaughn is doing damage even though teams are trying to pitch him as carefully as possible.
"I think that's the biggest thing, knowing I'm gonna get few pitches to hit, and if I get 'em, I gotta hit 'em," he said. "So if they're gonna be there, I'm just going for it."
Vaughn also made a couple slick plays with the glove, and the Bears (3-3) needed their pitching and defense to be airtight following Cal Poly's four-run first.
Freshman lefty
Lucas Gather took the ball as the opener but encountered turbulence and was replaced with two outs in the bottom of the first by
Carson Olson after the Mustangs (1-5) scored four runs for a 4-1 lead.
That was all the Bears would allow.
Rogelio Reyes, who wound up credited with the victory, took the mound in the second and delivered 4 1/3 scoreless innings to keep the Bears within striking distance.
They trailed 4-3 in the sixth, and the Mustangs had nowhere to put Vaughn when he came up with two outs and the bases loaded. Vaughn lined a pitch from Michael Clark into left field for a two-run go-ahead single that gave the Bears the lead.
Cal Poly threatened against Cal freshman reliever
Sean Sullivan in the seventh, when a walk, a single and a wild pitch put runners on second and third with no outs. But the freshman showed poise to work his way out of it unscathed.
Vaughn, playing first base, fielded a bouncer and threw home to cut down the lead runner for the first out. Then Sullivan notched back-to-back strikeouts, getting Cole Cabrera looking on a breaking ball to end the threat and pumping his fist as he left the mound.
Sullivan allowed two hits over the final three innings, striking out five and walking one to notch his second save. He has yet to allow a run in six innings pitched.
Cal goes for the series sweep Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. For details on how to follow the game live, visit the baseball page at calbears.com and click on "schedule."
