LOLETA, CA – Despite sustaining their first two losses of the season (11-6 and 5-4), Menlo NCBA finished its series with Cal Poly Humboldt on a 14-2 winning note, departing Baseball Bear River Recreation Center with a 5-2 overall record following the weekend's action.

Game One: Cal Poly Humboldt 11, Menlo 6
A strong starting performance from junior Israel Garcia saw him not allow an earned run in the contest. The Oaks fought back against the Lumberjacks' initial lead, going up 6-5 in the fifth inning before the home team rallied late.
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Game Two: Cal Poly Humboldt 5, Menlo 4
Saturday's doubleheader proved to be tough on both sides as Menlo fell to Cal Poly Humboldt 5-4 on the final play of the game.

Senior Billy McKinzey, who went 2-for-3 in the contest and drove in four, helped his team get onto the scoreboard first in the second inning with a two-run double. After the Lumberjacks tied the contest in the third, the Oaks once again went in front on a McKinzey double that brought another two in the fourth.

Cal Poly Humboldt had the answer for a second time, using two hits to retie the contest at 4-4 in the fifth before the bottom of the seventh inning saw a run-scoring single immediately end the day.

When he wasn't collecting two hits at the plate, junior Aidan Mitchell was busy working through 6.2 innings with just three of his five runs allowed serving as earned. Meanwhile, he struck out five and walked three. 

Game Three: Menlo 14, Cal Poly Humboldt 2 (5)
Scoring early and often on Sunday, Menlo had Mitchell's double and McKinzey's single support an initial 2-0 advantage. Five more runs came on four hits in the second frame as freshman Ryan Wilson singled, Mitchell roped his second double, and freshman Ashley Geary-Smith singled each while driving in one run apiece.

Up 8-0 after a run-scoring groundout by Wilson in the third, the Oaks went on to deliver 14 runs on 12 hits with nine stolen bases, led by multi-hit days for freshman Oscar Reyes (2-for-3 with three driven in), Mitchell (3-for-4), Geary-Smith, and junior Joseph Salmeron (scored three runs)

Geary-Smith also picked up the win with just two runs allowed on seven hits, two strikeouts, and no walks in a complete 5.0 innings of work.

Up Next…

At home for the first time inside the friendly confines of Cartan Field, the Oaks will host San Francisco on Mar. 14 at 1:30 p.m. then head to the City By The Bay for an 11 a.m. doubleheader on Mar. 15.