EUGENE, Ore. – Cal Poly defeated Utah Valley 7-6 in 11 innings Sunday afternoon at PK Park. UVU (33-29) was led by Jayden Smith, who went 3-for-4 with four RBIs. Cooper Littledike tossed 4 1/3 innings of three-hit ball with four strikeouts in the loss. Cal Poly (42-18) had three players record three hits apiece.
Luke Iverson led off the game for the Wolverines with a walk and reached third with less than two outs. Landon Frei hit a high fly ball down the line that looked fair but hooked foul at the last moment. Cal Poly escaped the inning unscathed with a pop-up and a flyout.
The Mustangs took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second, but the Wolverines responded by loading the bases following walks to Joseph Barnhardt and Iverson, along with a single from Smith. In his second plate appearance, Frei launched a grand slam to left field to put UVU ahead 4-1. Cal Poly answered with five runs in the bottom of the fourth to reclaim a 6-4 lead. Littledike entered in the inning and ended the inning for Utah Valley.
Dominic Longo II trimmed the deficit to 6-5 in the sixth with a solo home run to right field on the first pitch from Chris Downs . In the seventh, Iverson worked his third walk of the game and later scored on Smith's double down the left-field line, tying the game at 6-6.
In the bottom of the ninth, Cal Poly put runners on first and second with one out, but Alan Huerta got Nate Castellon to fly out. Carston Herman entered with three of the next four batters being left-handed hitters and recorded the final out to force extra innings.
Herman struck out the final two batters of the 10th, and after UVU went down in order in the top of the 11th, Zach Daudet homered to right-center to send Cal Poly to the regional final.
UVU put the go-ahead run on first in the 10th when Longo II walked, but failed to execute a bunt before a pair of flyouts and a caught stealing ended the threat.
The loss ends Utah Valley's first season under head coach Nate Rasmussen. The Wolverines finish 33-29, winning their first WAC Tournament title since 2016 and earning their first NCAA Tournament berth with a victory over No. 12 Oregon on Friday.
