Cal Poly Baseball to visit Santa Clara for Midweek Matchup Tuesday Night
3/5/2012 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
NOTES: CAL POLY | SANTA CLARA
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Cal Poly (9-3, 0-0 Big West), off to its best start in three years and back in the national polls last week for the first time since the 2009 season, has a return engagement against Santa Clara (9-3, 0-0 West Coast) on Tuesday night.
Coach Larry Lee's Mustangs will play the Broncos at 6 p.m. in Stephen Schott Stadium (cap. 1,500), seeking to avenge a 5-2 loss to Santa Clara on Feb. 21 in Baggett Stadium.
Tuesday's non-conference game will be broadcast on the internet only at www.gopoly.com. Audio and video streams as well as live stats for the game also are available.
Cal Poly, ranked No. 22 by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper last week, returns 16 letter winners, including five position starters and five pitchers, off its 2011 squad which finished 27-26 overall and third in the Big West at 15-9. The Mustangs started the year 0-6 before winning 27 of their next 44 games.
Cal Poly is off to a much better start in 2012, sweeping Big 12 Conference member and perennial NCAA regional qualifier Oklahoma State by scores of 6-0, 11-3 and 6-0 in Baggett Stadium on the opening weekend of the season, followed by the setback to Santa Clara. The Mustangs began a nine-game road trip by sweeping a four-game series Feb. 24-26 at Loyola Marymount, then went to San Diego State last weekend to participate in the Aztec Invitational and split four contests with wins over Milwaukee and San Francisco following one-run losses to San Diego State and San Diego.
Coach Larry Lee's Mustangs, who hit .284, produced a .397 on-base percentage and stole four of four bases against the Cowboys, put up even more impressive offensive statistics against the Lions, hitting .346 with eight doubles, a triple, two home runs and another quartet of steals. Cal Poly outscored Oklahoma State 23-3 and Loyola Marymount 36-14. Last weekend the Mustangs hit .267 in four tournament games at Tony Gwynn Stadium while the staff ERA climbed to 4.24. Closers Nick Grim and Chase Johnson, who combined for a 0.00 ERA in the first two weeks of the season, gave up seven earned runs in 3 2/3 innings for a 17.18 ERA in the Aztec Invitational.
The loss to Santa Clara on Feb. 21 began a stretch of playing eight of 10 games against West Coast Conference schools. The rematch Tuesday night ends the run as well as a nine-game road trip. Loyola Marymount, San Diego and San Francisco all are WCC members.
In the Aztec Invitational, freshman right fielder Nick Torres went 7-for-18 (.389) with four doubles and a pair of RBI. Sophomore left fielder/first baseman Tim Wise (pictured above) was 5-for-14 with two RBI while senior shortstop Mike Miller and junior center fielder Mitch Haniger each had five hits -- Haniger driving in six runs with a double and two home runs. Redshirt freshman first baseman Jordan Brower was 3-for-6.
Cal Poly's top hitter through 12 games is sophomore third baseman Jimmy Allen at .372 with nine RBI. Miller is hitting .364 with 16 runs scored while Torres sports a .340 mark, Wise .333 and Haniger .319 with three home runs and 18 RBI.
Santa Clara, coached by Dan O'Brien (first season at Santa Clara (9-3), 15th season overall (463-286-1), UC San Diego '95), returns 15 lettermen, including six position starters and nine pitchers, off a team which went 17-34 a year ago and finished eighth in the West Coast Conference.
The Broncos opened the 2012 season by going 3-0 in the Bobcat Invitational hosted by Texas State in San Marcos, Texas, then split four games against Illinois-Chicago and won two of three games against crosstown rival San Jose State. Santa Clara also beat Cal Poly and Nevada in midweek games.
Top Bronco returnees are outfielder Lucas Herbst (.289, 28 RBI in 2011), infielder Kyle DeMerritt (.280, 27 RBI in 2011) and outfielder Matt Ozanne (.262, 10 stolen bases, 22 RBI in 2011). Santa Clara's pitching staff is paced by right-handers Chris Mendoza (3-6, 5.62 ERA in 2011) and Brock Simon (3-8, 6.28 ERA in 2011) and southpaw Powell Fansler (3-2, 6.12 ERA in 2011).
Santa Clara is hitting .279 this season, has compiled a 3.82 staff ERA and has committed 12 errors in 12 games for a .975 fielding percentage. Herbst is hitting .438 with 10 RBI so far while left fielder Pat Stover has a .383 mark, two home runs and 14 RBI.
Mendoza, Tuesday's starter for the Broncos, has made four appearances on the mound, allowing seven earned runs in seven innings; he has no record and a 9.00 ERA.
Cal Poly will counter with freshman right-hander Michael Dingilian, who will make his collegiate debut Tuesday night. Dingilian was 9-1 with a 0.83 ERA as a senior last spring at Chaminade High School in West Hills (San Fernando Valley).
Santa Clara has qualified for the NCAA regionals 11 times, the last in 1997. The Broncos reached the College World Series in 1962.
Cal Poly and Santa Clara have played 74 times against each other on the baseball diamond and the Broncos own a 40-34 advantage in the all-time series dating back to 1956, including the 5-2 triumph Feb. 21 in Baggett Stadium.
A year ago, Cal Poly defeated the Broncos 7-2 on April 12 at Stephen Schott Stadium. The rematch at Baggett Stadium on May 17 was rained out.
A year ago Cal Poly posted its sixth winning season in the last eight years, and a third-place finish in the highly competitive Big West Conference at 15-9. The Mustangs have finished in the upper half of the league standings eight times in the last 10 years. Cal Poly was 7-4 against top-25 teams in 2011 and finished 19-7 at home.
The Mustangs, who won just eight games away from Baggett Stadium in 2011, have posted a 6-2 mark on the current road trip.
Following the game at Santa Clara, Cal Poly returns home to host Washington for a three-game weekend series in Baggett Stadium. Games on Friday and Saturday nights start at 6 p.m., followed by the finale Sunday at 1 o'clock. The Huskies are 9-3 on the year after sweeping a four-game weekend series at home against St. Joseph's.
