Big West baseball had a solid day on Friday, starting out 4-0 on Day 1 of the NCAA Tournament. Cal Poly, Long Beach State, Cal State Fullerton and UC Irvine came away with wins, outscoring their opponents a combined 25-7.
In the San Luis Obispo Regional opener, pitchers Matt Imhof and Reed Reilly combined on a three-hitter to lift Cal Poly to a 4-2 win at Baggett Stadium. The Mustangs notched eight hits, with Mark Mathias and John Schuknecht collecting two each. Cal Poly next faces Pepperdine in Round 2 on Saturday at 6 p.m.
The Dirtbags enjoyed an equally impressive pitching performance from Andrew Rohrbach, who allowed one run in 8.1 innings to give Long Beach State a 6-1 win over North Carolina in the Gainsville Regional opener. The Dirtbags scored six runs in the fourth en route to winning their first regional opener since 2005. Long Beach State will face College of Charleston Saturday at 4 p.m.
Meanwhile, Cal State Fullerton's J.D. Davis broke a 1-1 tie in the eighth inning when he launched a grand slam to lead the Titans against No. 19 Nebraska, 5-1 on Friday at the Oklahoma Regional opener. Davis, who notched his 21st multi-hit game of the season, was the only player to get more than one hit against the Cornhuskers. Cal State Fullerton will take the field Saturday at 5 p.m. against Oklahoma State.
The UC Irvine bats were in full swing at the Corvallis Regional, as a five-run fifth inning paved the way for a 10-3 win over UNLV. Connor Spencer finished with three RBI while 2014 Big West Pitcher of the Year Andrew Morales had four strikeouts in seven innings. The third-seeded Anteaters take on top-seeded Oregon State Saturday at 8 p.m.
