Reed Reilly pitched the final 5 2/3 innings to earn Big West Pitcher of the Week Honors. By Owen Main

I spent four days in the Cactus League sun last week with not one single palpable sunburn. On Saturday ernoon aftat Baggett Stadium on the Cal Poly campus, I had no such luck. Perhaps I should blame the creature comforts of Krukow’s Klubhouse. But my irritated lower legs weren’t the only things that got hot — Cal Poly baseball continued its strong start to the season, winning a 13-inning thriller 6-5 to sweep the weekend series from visiting UC Davis.

With the breeze blowing in and the sun shining on the Saturday before Easter, the two teams combined for 29 runners left on base. Despite their lack of timely hitting, Cal Poly managed a 5-2 lead going into the 8th inning, but Davis managed two runs in the 8th inning and one in the 9th to tie the game.

Reed Reilly, normally the team’s closer, pitched the final 5 2/3 innings for the Mustangs, earning the win. Combined with his three-inning save on Thursday  night, Reilly’s performance earned him Big West Pitcher of the Week honors. Senior second-baseman Denver Chavez went 3-6 and scored two runs in the game. Chavez’ most important play, though, was probably when he made a diving catch of a line-drive with a runner on third base to save a run in extra innings.

Room to grow:

Cal Poly will be glad to have swept their first series of the Big West Conference season, but coach Larry Lee will definitely have some things for his team to keep working on.

At least two players running from first to second base failed to pick up Lee, who is also the third base coach, and take advantage of opportunities to go from first to third base. The Mustangs also failed to get a bunt down or just put the ball in-play in some key situations.

The view from Baggett Stadium during an afternoon game is spectacular. By Owen Main

Even with some of these mistakes, Cal Poly found a way to win the game and sweep the series. For Mustang fans and for the team’s chances of earning an NCAA Tournament bid, that should be really encouraging as the Big West season rolls on.

For now, Lee’s team moved to between 17 and 21 in national polls after the sweep.

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It was one of the grossest halves you’ll ever see. In classic Cal Poly fashion, the Mustangs led 20-19 at halftime, keeping Davis out of their rhythm.

Drake U’u, Mustache and all, sparked Cal Poly’s second-half run. By Will Parris

But Cal Poly didn’t have much of a rhythm either, and here’s the important part. The Mustangs’ all-Big West first team selection, forward Chris Eversley, looked uncomfortable. Just as Cal Poly worked to take Corey Hawkins out of the game, UC Davis did a great job on Eversley. Off-balance drives and bricked jump shots from both Hawkins and Eversley led to only four total points between the two of them. Someone else was going to have to step up.

Cal Poly’s point guards filled the bill. Drake U’u came out firing in the second half, scoring four quick points and setting the tempo for what ended up being a Cal Poly blowout victory. U’u finished the game with 10 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists, while only committing one turnover. Not to be out-done, back-up point guard Jamal Johnson provided a spark also in the second half. Johnson kept-up U’u’s aggressiveness netting 7 points, 4 assists, and zero turnovers. It was the kind of leadership that head coach Joe Callero demands from his point guards.

Eversley never really got himself into a rhythm and other Mustangs stepped-up too. Zach Gordon came off the bench to score 4 points and grab 3 rebounds. Reese Morgan had a 4-point play. Brian Bennett was his usual solid self, scoring 8 points and pulling down 9 rebounds.

The important thing for Joe Callero’s team is that they move-on to play tomorrow. On a day when their top scorer and rebounder only managed to shoot 3-11 from the field for 7 points and 6 rebounds, Cal Poly will feel fortunate to be moving on.

Photos by Will Parris

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Cal Poly’s Chris Gaschen races a UC Davis defender to the ball on Tuesday night at Alex G. Spanos Stadium. Photo by David Livingston

Coaches say it a lot. It’s just about winning this game.

With a 1-0 win over UC Davis (second in the Big West North Division standings) on Tuesday night, Paul Holocher’s men’s soccer team kept themselves in the Big West playoff hunt. All four teams from the North are within 3 points of one another. Three points are awarded for each conference win.

Midfielder Nolan Moore tapped in a rebound in the 26th minute for his first goal of the year. Freshman goalkeeper Wade Hamilton made four saves to secure the 1-0 with for the Mustangs. Cal Poly was out-shot 15-9, but Moore’s tap-in was the difference.

KSBY’s Highlights here

Cal Poly heads South on the 101 for their game at UCSB Friday night.

Depending on the outcome of the UC Davis – Sacramento State game, the winner of the game could potentially go into a 3-way first place tie and the loser could potentially be six points back with only three games to play. If you’re going to go, bring your tortilla shields.

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In a physical match, Cal poly junior midfielder Andrea Zimkowski takes the brunt of this collision. Zimkowski attended high school at St. Joseph’s in Santa Maria. Photo by David Livingston

The Cal Poly women’s soccer team has had to adjust to injuries and simplify their style of play recently. After going 0-5 in their last two non-conference games, head coach Alex Crozier’s Mustangs have adjusted to a 4-4-2 formation to win their first two Big West matches by a combines score of 5-1.

On Sunday, freshman Elise Krieghoff scored her third goal of the weekend and sixth of the season to lead Cal Poly to a 1-0 victory over UC Davis in front of the largest home crowd of the season.

The match was a physical one that was marked by lots of chances and only one quality finish. The strike came in the 12th minute when Krieghoff took one deft touch with her foot on a high rebound and slotted a shot home into the corner of the net. It was Krieghoff’s third goal of the weekend.

While Krieghoff’s strike was the only goal of the match, there could have been many more. Cal Poly Goalie Alyssa Giannetti made 4 saves including at least two on 1-1 chances for the Aggies.

“She saved our butts a few times,” said Cal Poly head coach Alex Crozier.

Davis had most of their scoring opportunities late and Cal Poly had a number of open looks at the Davis net throughout the game. Cal Poly out-shot the Aggies 14-7 for the match and UC Davis keeper Taylor Jern made 3 saves of her own.

Krieghoff’s third goal of the weekend earned her Big West Conference Player of the Week honors.

Cal Poly, now 5-5-1 on the season (2-0 in conference), travels to Southern California next weekend to face UC Irvine and Long Beach State.

 Photos by David Livingston

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Being on the road with limited Internet connection trying to watch a football game via wifi took me on a journey last night. After failing to get a sufficient connection at the hotel where I’m staying (strike one), I went into town on a search for free fast wifi. The East West Grill had wifi that was fine for checking email, but wasn’t any better than the hotel for a video stream. Strike two.

The third strike was the equivalent of going down looking to end the game. The crunchy coffee shop with a social purpose turned me into Adrian Gonzalez for a night. The place was theoretically socially conscious — pictures of atrocities, mass graves, etc… lined the walls. College students played checkers. An old man harassed them. The guys behind the counter both had blond dreads and one of them had a hat on like this.

They had ice cream, which I ordered, but when I sat down to hook my computer up, the wifi wasn’t even connected to the Internet. I sat there, listening to Tom Barket through my iPhone, and tried to enjoy my ice cream as Cal Poly quickly turned a 10-point deficit into a 4-point lead.

By the time I got back to my hotel, I had an epiphany. Even though my iPhone is 3G and even though the wifi is bad, what if the cell network (for the record, Verizon) isn’t as bad. Low and behold, I turned wifi off on my cell phone and began to stream the game through my phone with very little trouble. I watched the entire second half on the screen of my iPhone. Unlimited data is a wonderful thing.

So the lesson for me was: When all else fails, trust the iPhone. It can do more than I give it credit for.

What lessons did we learn about the Mustangs during their 28-20 win over UC Davis on Saturday night? What questions do we still have?

Akaninyene Umoh cruises into the end zone vs. Davis on Saturday night. Umoh is now second on the team in rushing this season with 192 yards. Photo by David Livingston

Akaninyene Umoh is getting better. Before the season began, the tall, rambling fullback might have been considered a weakness. The contrast in style between the sometimes-shifty Umoh and the bruising Jake Romanelli, who graduated after last year, caused many to think that the Mustangs’ offense couldn’t be as effective on the ground as it was a year ago. Umoh had 87 yards against Davis, including an explosive 51-yard touchdown run. Umoh is 2nd on the team in rushing behind Deonte Williams with 192 yards and one touchdown this season.

The defense can flat out hit. Can they cover too? During the first two games, Cal Poly’s defense has shown they can tackle with purpose and strength. Safeties Alex Hubbard and Dave Douglas are scary and linebackers Kennith Jackson, Nick Dzubnar, and Cameron Ontko seem like they are everywhere. Even the cornerbacks are good tacklers. The question for me is still whether they can survive in the pass-happy Big Sky Conference. When a 1-4 UC Davis team can get guys open against the Mustangs, how will the defense fare against other opponents? Davis receivers dropped A LOT of balls. Other teams probably won’t. If some combination of improved pass rush and tighter coverage doesn’t happen, Cal Poly could be playing from behind more often than a triple-option offense wants to.

One way to avoid this is to be opportunistic and turn the ball over, which Nico Molino has done during each of the last two games. I would argue that Molino’s interception against UC Davis quarterback Randy Wright was the turning point in the game on Saturday night.

Can the Mustangs maintain a “comeback kids” mentality? Do they want to? As stated above, Cal Poly runs the triple option. They don’t want to have to come back from any kind of deficit. While they overcame a one-point deficit to Wyoming and a 10-point deficit to UC Davis, coming back is not something they want to depend on. They aren’t built to come-back from a big deficit in the second half.

Can the defense get more pressure on the quarterback? For much of Saturday’s game against Davis, especially in the 4th quarter, the Mustangs rushed four and dropped seven into coverage, allowing Wright to find open receivers down field from the pocket and on scrambles. The defensive line containing and getting to opposing quarterbacks will be something to watch for throughout the rest of the conference season.

Cal Poly kicker Bobby Zalud (pronounced like “salad”) was 4/4 on PATs on Saturday night, but missed two field goals. Photo by David Livingston

Bobby Zalud — is he healthy? I made a comment to someone after last week’s game at Wyoming that Zalud took on blockers and may have saved/slowed down at least two punt returns that could have gone for touchdowns. During the Davis game, Tom Barket mentioned at least four times that Zalud was suffering from back spasms. I wonder if the two have any connection.

Zalud had proven reliable over the first two games — his 51-yard field goal over Wyoming being the difference in a 2-point game. But he missed two field goals that were well within his range last night and with Barket’s comments, I have to wonder whether the injury played a role. Tim Walsh has called Zalud a “football player,” not just a kicker, but maybe Bobby (and the special teams coverage units) need(s) to effort toward not compromising his health for the next few games. His misses didn’t cost Cal Poly this game, but there will be at least 1-2 more games that will ride on whether he can put the ball through the uprights.