Cal Poly rallies as ‘Bows’ bats go quiet

Cal Poly’s Matt Imhof gave Hawaii two innings to get what it could.

After that, the Mustangs junior and closer Reed Reilly combined to blow Hawaii away.

The Rainbow Warriors went hitless over the final seven innings, allowing No. 4 Cal Poly to erase an early deficit and defeat Hawaii 3-2 in the opener of a three-game Big West series on Friday night.

A Les Murakami Stadium crowd of 2,526 watched Hawaii (14-17, 2-5 Big West) score twice on five hits in the first two innings against Imhof, a potential first-round draft pick this summer.

From the third inning on, UH reached base only three times, on two walks and an error, as Cal Poly (28-5, 6-1) dropped the ‘Bows to 3-8 in one-run games.

"No hits after the second inning there’s your ballgame right there," Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso said. "Against a guy like Imhof if you scratch a couple across early you probably have to make that stick. It’s disappointing because we felt like we caught a great pitcher on not his best outing."

Imhof (7-2) allowed five hits and two runs in six innings with three walks and seven strikeouts. Reilly struck out four in three perfect innings to earn his sixth save.

"We cooled off after that hot start," said UH second baseman Stephen Ventimilia, who scored both of UH’s runs. "Baseball is all about consistency and we preach it often, but ultimately we have to score more runs."

Hawaii starter Matt Cooper (3-3) allowed three runs on six hits with a walk and eight strikeouts and pitched through the seventh inning for the second time in his last five starts.

UH led 2-0 in the fifth when outfielder Adam Hurley dropped a routine fly ball, allowing Jimmy Allen to score Cal Poly’s first run.

Tim Wise ended up on second on the play and later scored from third on a bunt by Peter Van Gansen to tie the game at 2-2.

The Mustangs took the lead in the sixth when three straight batters reached base with two outs, capped off by Wise’s single to center to score Brian Mundell.

"I gave up a two-out single and then it snowballed on me," Cooper said. "I was throwing all of my pitches for strikes but definitely there were times I missed my spot and it cost me."

Ventimilia and Kaeo Aliviado each had two hits for UH, which led 2-0 after two innings.

Ventimilia led off the game with a single and scored on a base hit by Marc Flores, who blooped a ball into shallow left field that dropped inside the foul line.

Hurley drew a two-out walk to load the bases before Imhof struck out Trevor Podratz on three pitches to end the inning.

Hawaii doubled its lead in the second when Ventimilia singled with two outs and stole second.

Aliviado followed with a line drive that got over the head of Wise in left for a double to bring home Ventimilia for a 2-0 lead.

That was the last UH hit.

"We jumped on him early but couldn’t capitalize at the end," Aliviado said. "Stephen did a good job of getting on base and is a trend-setter for us, but again, we couldn’t capitalize enough."

UH worked six three-ball counts in the first innings against Imhof, who had to be taken out after throwing 108 pitches.

Cal Poly went straight to Reilly, who threw 24 of his 39 pitches for strikes.

Hawaii freshman Quintin Torres-Costa retired the first five batters he faced before hitting catcher Chris Hoo with a pitch with two outs in the ninth.

The Mustangs loaded the bases with two out, forcing Trapasso to bring in junior Jordan DePonte, who got Nick Torres to fly out to center with his first pitch.

Hawaii will turn to senior Scott Kuzminsky (3-3, 3.30 ERA), who will start a game for the first time in three weeks on Saturday opposite Cal Poly’s Slater Lee (2-1, 5.88).

E—Drobney; Jones. LOB—Cal Poly 9; Hawaii 7. 2B—Allen; Aliviado. HPB—Hoo. SH—Van Gansen; Wobrock. SB—Ventimilia.

WP—Cooper. HBP—by Torres-Costa (Hoo). Umpires—(Plate): Dwayne Finley. (First): Dave Gimbi. (Third): Rob Hansen. T—2:30. A—2,526.