Cal Poly’s sweep leaves Hawaii looking for answers

The one good thing going for the Hawaii baseball team right now is a schedule that finally eases up a little bit.

UH was swept for the second consecutive week at home, as No. 4 Cal Poly tagged on four late runs to finish off an 8-3 win on Sunday afternoon in front of 1,211 at Les Murakami Stadium.

The Rainbow Warriors were within a run in the eighth inning or later for the third straight game, but again didn’t have enough firepower to climb ahead of the Mustangs (30-5, 8-1 Big West), who along with UC Irvine have jumped way out in front in the conference with five series to play.

Hawaii (14-19, 2-7) had its chances in all three games against Cal Poly, but instead has lost a season-high six straight after winning seven of nine.

"If we play like we did this weekend against most every other team out there, you’ve got a chance to win a couple of them," Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso said. "You make that one mistake or two mistakes in a game and (Cal Poly) just jumps on them. These guys are that good and the best team we’ve played as far as overall balance."

Hawaii got a third straight quality outing from a starter, as lefty Scott Squier pitched into the eighth inning for the second time this season.

Squier (2-3) was tagged with three earned runs on nine hits in 71⁄3 innings and walked three with six strikeouts.

"Overall, the way Scott has been throwing I thought he bounced back very well today and frankly, I could have even left him in there even longer," Trapasso said. "It was tough luck in the third inning because we should have been out of it."

Hawaii led 1-0 on Steven Pollakov’s RBI single when first baseman Marc Flores booted a two-out grounder hit by Nick Torres in the third that allowed Chris Hoo to score Cal Poly’s first run.

On the very next pitch, designated hitter Brian Mundell lifted a two-run homer over the wall in right to make it 3-1.

Torres, who finished 3-for-5, added a two-out RBI single in the fifth.

"Against a team like this, you’ve got to play flawless baseball," Squier said. "That was a first pitch curveball that (Mundell) put a good swing on and the one Torres hit down the line, that ball was up."

Three of Hawaii’s four starters with multiple hits had combined for only 24 at-bats this season.

Pollakov got his third start of the year at catcher and went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

Freshman Matt Miller, starting his fourth game at designated hitter, finished 2-for-3 with a walk, and senior Jerry Kleman, in his first start of the year, had two hits, including a one-out single in the eighth.

Hawaii had runners on first and second, when Kleman snuck a ball through the middle into center, but outfielder Adam Hurley was thrown out at the plate trying to score.

Austin Wobrock drew a walk to load the bases for second baseman Stephen Ventimilia, who flied out to center as the tying run.

Miller is 5-for-13 in limited action, while Pollakov is hitting .375 (6-for-16).

"We’re always ready to go," Pollakov said. "When I’m sitting on the bench watching games, I’m getting my mental AB’s, and when Trap calls my name, I’m ready to go."

After Cal Poly took a 3-1 lead, Hawaii twice pulled within a run.

Kaeo Aliviado extended his hitting streak to nine games with a two-out RBI single to score Ventimilia in the third and Flores went deep off Cal Poly starter Casey Bloomquist (8-0) for his fourth home run of the season in the sixth.

"I don’t like to make errors at first base," Flores said. "But it happens sometimes and that home run definitely turned my spirits around."

Shortstop Peter Van Gansen chased Squier with one out in the eighth after he poked an RBI single into left field to score Zack Zehner.

Sophomore LJ Brewster came in and gave up three ground-ball base hits that found enough holes to push Cal Poly’s lead to 7-3.

Van Gansen added an RBI double in the ninth off Juliene Jones for the final margin.

Already six games back in the conference, UH will play seven straight on the road beginning Thursday with Cal State Northridge, which is just the second team on UH’s schedule that currently has a losing record.

UH’s previous four opponents are a combined 100-36.

"The truth is we’ve got three of the big four off of our schedule and we can’t let Irvine and Cal Poly beat us again next weekend at Cal State Northridge because we have a hangover from the last two weekends," Trapasso said. "If we get back to playing our game, we’ll have a chance to win every series we play the rest of the way."

BIG WEST STANDINGS

Sunday
Cal Poly 8, Hawaii 3
UC Santa Barbara 2, CS Fullerton 1
UC Irvine 10, CS Northridge 2
UC Davis 8, Long Beach State 4
*Oregon 6, UC Riverside 5
* — nonconference

Monday
*BYU at UC Santa Barbara
* — nonconference

Tuesday
*Sacramento State at UC Davis
*Pepperdine at CS Northridge
*Cal Poly at CSU Bakersfield
*UC Irvine at Loyola Marymount
*UC Riverside at San Diego State
* — nonconference

NO. 4 CAL POLY 8, HAWAII 3

E—Alviado; Flores. DP—Cal Poly 1. LOB—Cal Poly 10; Hawaii 11. 2B—Torres; Mundell; Zehner; Van Gansen; Hoo; Hurley. HR—Mundell; Flores. SH–Ellis; Drobny. SB—Ventimilia. CS—Pollakov.

WP—Brewster. Umpires—(Plate): Rob Hansen. (First): Dwayne Finley. (Third): Dave Gimbi. T—2:55. A—2,644.