SAN DIEGO–I was in a tough spot this afternoon. Here at Cunningham Stadium, San Diego and Cal Poly were locked in a tight, low-scoring battle until about 12:30 p.m. PT. Down Interstate 8 a few miles, at Tony Gwynn Stadium, Missouri ace righthander Aaron Crow was set to pitch against California at 1 p.m., and the duel between USD lefthander Brian Matusz and Fresno State righty Tanner Scheppers would start an hour later. Many members of the assembled scouting horde left the first game shortly after San Diego lefty Josh Romanski left the game in the sixth, then went to see the beginning of Crow’s outing and buzzed back to Cunningham for the Matusz-Scheppers battle.

I opted to remain at USD all the way through, but fortunately Baseball America’s Dave Perkin was in town with me. He went to see Crow and came away impressed. Early on, Crow left everything up and flat, and Cal first baseman David Cooper took him deep for a two-run homer in the first–Cooper’s second opposite-field homer in two days. But Crow settled down thereafter, working in the 93-96 mph range with his fastball and showing an above-average 82-84 power curveball. He finished with 10 strikeouts over five innings, though he allowed three runs on eight hits and a pair of walks.

The Tigers chased Cal starter Todd Fitzgerald in a five-run first inning, with Aaron Senne’s grand slam the big blow. Currently the Tigers are clinging to a 7-5 lead in the eighth.