Dawgs drop series to Cal Poly

If there was anything to learn from how the Cal Poly Mustangs play, it was sure to be efficiency.

The UW (5-6) faced off against the Cal Poly (5-6) pitchers and had trouble stringing together hits as the Dawgs dropped two of three games over the weekend with a 6-2 loss Friday, a 4-5 win Saturday and a 12-1 blowout loss Sunday afternoon.

It all started Friday when the Mustang’s leadoff batter, left-fielder Luke Yoder, smashed a one-one pitch off junior left-handed pitcher Nick Haughian over the right-center wall to give Cal Poly a 1-0 lead.

From there, the Mustangs never let up.

Haughian settled down after giving up two runs in the third, ultimately going six-strong to keep the Husky offense in the game, but Cal Poly ran away with the game late winning 6-2.

The Dawgs slugged balls to all parts of the field, but seemingly every time there was a Mustang outfielder there to snatch them up. This wasn’t made any easier by Mustang starter Eric Massingham pitching a complete game, only giving up five hits and two runs while striking out six.

“First game we smashed it, but sometimes baseball is like that,” UW coach Ken Knutson said. “We hit the balls right at them. It’s just the nature of the beast.”

During the middle game of the series, the Huskies had better luck. The Dawgs got five runs across the plate en route to a 4-5 win in front of an announced crowd of 568.

Freshman first baseman Troy Scott, who drove in the only two Husky runs in Friday’s loss, went two-for-three with a run and an RBI Saturday to help get the Dawgs tied at 3-3 in the second inning.

Knutson said Scott’s emergence was one of the more encouraging aspects of the series.

“Troy Scott is a really good hitter and he’s getting comfortable playing,” Knutson said.

UW right-handed pitcher (RHP) Jason Erickson also looked comfortable on the mound. The junior pitched seven innings of shutout baseball after giving up three runs in the first inning.

Despite playing close for most of the first two games, the rubber match Sunday was simply a blowout.

Senior RHP Elliot Cribby started off strong against the Mustangs but faltered in the fifth inning after giving up two straight two-run homeruns.

Relief pitchers Jorden Merry, Ben Guidos and Paul Dickey came in after Cribby but couldn’t stop the bleeding. By the end of the eighth inning, the score was 12-1 and the Dawgs had given up 19 hits to Cal Poly.

“They swing the bats really well,” Knutson said. “Elliot was pitching pretty well. Then they just got on a roll and we didn’t have many answers.”

The Dawgs only managed five hits and struck out eight times against Mustang starter Steven Fischback during his six innings of work, while three subsequent relief pitchers managed to shut down the Huskies during three innings.

Even after experiencing a thrashing at Husky Ballpark, Knutson remained optimistic.

“I like where we’re at,” Knutson said. “I wish our record was a little better, obviously, but I think we’re getting comfortable playing.”

Getting comfortable is definitely a positive for a team that will play 19 of their next 22 games at home.

[Reach reporter Allen Wagner at sports@thedaily.washington.edu.]