Cal Poly Continues Long Home Stand by Hosting California for Four Games
3/19/2014 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Cal Poly (17-3), ranked No. 6 by Perfect Game, No. 7 in the Baseball America poll and No. 10 by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper this week, continues an 18-game home stand with a four-game non-conference series against California (10-9) Friday through Monday in Baggett Stadium (cap.: 1,734).
Games on Friday and Saturday will start at 6 p.m. followed by a 1 p.m. first pitch Sunday and 3 p.m. on Monday. The games will be aired live on ESPN Radio 1280 and/or the Internet at www.GoPoly.com. Links for live stats as well as audio and video streams are available at www.GoPoly.com.
Cal Poly won all six games last week to inch up one to four positions in the polls. The Mustangs swept Northern Illinois by scores of 4-2, 10-1 and 11-9 followed by a three-game series sweep against Wagner, 8-1, 3-1 and 7-2. Cal Poly hit .326 against Northern Illinois and .314 against Wagner.
Cal Poly has won five series against Kansas State, UCLA, Seattle, Northern Illinois and Wagner, split two games in a rain-shortened series at USC and has won its three midweek games so far, including two shutouts against Santa Clara.
Twenty games into the season, the Mustangs are hitting .295 and have outscored the opposition 124-61 while the pitching staff has compiled a 2.88 ERA with 196 strikeouts and 74 walks in 175 innings. Cal Poly gave up 16 runs to USC on March 2, 15 to Seattle on March 8 and 30 in all of its remaining 18 games combined.
Cal Poly has won 17 consecutive home games, including the final seven of the 2013 season. That streak is the second-longest active streak in Division I, behind only Western Carolina (21). The Mustangs have won 80 of their last 103 home games for a winning percentage of 77.7 percent. Cal Poly is off to the program's second-best 20-game start in its 110-year history. The 1997 Mustangs opened the year 18-2 while the 2013, 2009 and 1997 squads all won 16 of their first 20 contests.
California opened its season by splitting four home games against Texas, then won six straight games in tournaments at Auburn, Ala., and San Diego. The Bears, however, have lost seven of their last nine, defeating Arkansas twice by a run and losing all three games in a Pac-12 series at home against UCLA last weekend. Cal fell 6-0 to Fresno State on Tuesday night, committing four errors.
Cal Poly, 40-19 a year ago for its first 40-win season in Division I and third overall, returns 19 letter winners, including eight position starters and seven pitchers, off its 2013 squad which swept five series and won 10 of 15 weekend series. Coach Larry Lee's Mustangs went 1-2 in the Los Angeles Regional hosted by UCLA, falling to the Bruins 6-4 on the second day. UCLA went on to capture its first national title.
Cal Poly won its first seven games of the 2013 season and sprinted to a 13-1 start. Never losing more than three games in a row, Cal Poly steadily climbed 17 games over the .500 mark during the next seven weeks of play. A late-season surge with 11 wins in their last 14 games enabled the Mustangs to post their third 40-win season in school history, falling one victory shy of the record of 41 wins in both 1977 and 1992. The Mustangs finished second in the Big West for the second straight year.
Topping Cal Poly's list of returnees are senior third baseman Jimmy Allen (.299, 39 RBI) and junior relief pitcher Reed Reilly (2.29 ERA, 14 saves), both of whom were drafted last June but chose to return to Cal Poly for another season.
Also returning are outfielders Nick Torres (.333, seven home runs, 49 RBI) and Jordan Ellis (.323, 18 RBI), infielders Tim Wise, Peter Van Gansen and John Schuknecht, catcher Chris Hoo and designated hitter Brian Mundell (.265, 11 home runs, 42 RBI).
Joining Reilly on the pitching staff are starters Matt Imhof (7-3, 2.74 ERA), Casey Bloomquist (6-2, 5.02 ERA) and Bryan Granger (5-4, 5.37 ERA) and relievers Taylor Chris (1-0, 2.55 ERA) and Danny Zandona (2-1, 4.50 ERA), among others.
Cal, 23-31 a year ago and 10-20 for eighth place in the Pac-12 Conference, returns 18 letter winners, including eight position starters and nine pitchers. Top returnees include senior outfielder Vince Bruno (.323, 26 RBI in 2012), senior first baseman Devon Rodriguez (.277, seven home runs, 40 RBI in 2013) and sophomore outfielder Devin Pearson (.302, 17 RBI in 2013). Top returning pitchers are right-handers Ryan Mason (5-3, 3.76 ERA in 2013) and Trevor Hildenberger (5-4, 5.31 ERA) and southpaw Kyle Porter (1-1, 3.55 ERA).
Coached by David Esquer (15th season, 416-378-2, Stanford '87), Cal sports a .218 team batting average, led by second baseman Brenden Farney (.351, 5 RBI), Bruno (.263, 5 RBI) and third baseman Chris Paul (.256). The Bears have compiled a 2.91 staff ERA and have committed 23 errors in 19 games for a .969 fielding percentage.
Freshman right-hander Daulton Jefferies (2-1, 3.86 ERA) will start Friday's game, followed by senior southpaw Kyle Porter (2-1, 1.78) on Saturday, junior left-hander Michael Theofanopoulos on Sunday and freshman right-hander Alex Martinez on Monday.
Cal placed fifth in the 2011 NCAA College World Series, claimed CWS titles in 1947 and 1957, has appeared in the NCAA postseason 12 times, has reached the College World Series six times and last won a conference title in 1980.
Cal made an initial decision in September 2010 to discontinue the baseball program due to pressure on the university's budget. Following a fundraising effort that generated approximately $10 million in commitment, Golden Bear baseball was reinstated April 8, 2011.
Cal Poly and Cal have met 45 times on the baseball field since the series began in 1948. The Bears hold a 33-12 advantage, though Cal Poly won last year's lone meeting in Berkeley, 7-1, thanks to a six-run third-inning uprising. Casey Bloomquist scattered seven hits over 6 2/3 innings with three strikeouts and Taylor Chris worked the final 2 1/3 innings and did not allow a run or a hit, striking out two. Cal Poly is 5-5 against Cal since the Mustangs moved to Division I prior to the 1995 season.
Cal Poly's top hitters after 20 games are junior right fielder Nick Torres (.364, four home runs, 22 RBI), senior first baseman/outfielder Tim Wise (.321, five doubles, seven RBI), senior third baseman Jimmy Allen (.346, eight doubles, 17 RBI), sophomore second baseman Mark Mathias (.333, 16 RBI) and junior center fielder Jordan Ellis (.306, six RBI). Sophomore designated hitter Brian Mundell (.286, three home runs, 19 RBI) is near the .300 mark.
Cal Poly's pitching rotation was adjusted after playing six games in six days, all in Baggett Stadium. Junior southpaw Matt Imhof (pictured above) (4-1, 1.29) will start as usual Friday night, with freshman right-hander Justin Calomeni (5-0, 1.95 ERA) getting the start Saturday after picking up two wins last week. Sophomore right-hander Casey Bloomquist (4-0, 0.99 ERA) starts Sunday, followed by freshman righty Slater Lee (2-1, 5.68 ERA) on Monday.
A year ago, Cal Poly surpassed the 30-win mark for the ninth time in the last 14 years and clinched its 11th winning season since 2000 by sweeping UC Riverside in early May. The Mustangs moved 21 games above the .500 mark for the first time in their 19-year Division I history by sweeping Cal State Northridge on May 17-19. Cal Poly was 13-1 on the year after sweeping a doubleheader at Kansas State by 13-10 and 6-2 scores in early March.
Lee, in his 12th season with the Mustangs, has guided Cal Poly to five 3-0 starts with season-opening series sweeps over San Diego in 2005, Fresno State in 2006, Oklahoma State in 2012, San Francisco last year and Kansas State this season. The Mustangs have finished in the upper half of the conference standings 10 times in the last 12 years.
Lee (366-275-2) earned his 300th win on May 5, 2012, in a 12-7 decision at UC Davis. Lee surpassed Berdy Harr (297-249-6 from 1973-83) as Cal Poly's winningest head baseball coach during the Pacific series a week earlier. Steve McFarland was 290-257 in 10 seasons (1984-93) at the helm of the Mustangs while Ritch Price was 217-228-1 in Cal Poly's first eight years of play in Division I (1995-2002).
Cal Poly continues the long home stand next weekend, opening Big West Conference play by hosting UC Davis for three games Friday through Sunday.
