Cal Poly, Cal State Fullerton to Clash in Key Big West Series at Baggett
4/16/2014 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
WEEKLY NOTES: CAL POLY | CAL STATE FULLERTON | BIG WEST
PERFECT GAME: COLLEGE WEEKEND PREVIEW (WEEK 10)
CAL POLY EXTENDS WINNING STREAK TO SEVEN, BEATS CSUB
MUSTANGS CLIMB TO NO. 3 IN FOUR OF FIVE MAJOR POLLS
MATHIAS, REILLY HONORED BY BIG WEST CONFERENCE
LIVE STATS | VIDEO STREAM
AUDIO STREAM: THURSDAY | FRIDAY | SATURDAY
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Cal Poly (31-5, 8-1 Big West), which has won nine series of three games or more, including five sweeps, this season and moved up to No. 3 in four of the five major NCAA Division I polls this week, hosts Cal State Fullerton (18-13, 3-3 Big West) for a midseason Big West Conference showdown three-game series in expanded Baggett Stadium (cap.: 2,472).
First pitch is set for 6 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 1 o'clock Saturday (no game on Easter Sunday) and all three games will be aired live on ESPN Radio 1280 with Tom Barket providing the play-by-play. Links for live stats as well as audio and video streams are available at www.GoPoly.com.
Ranked No. 3 by Perfect Game, Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and No. 4 by USA Today/ESPN this week, Cal Poly posted its third unbeaten week of the season, going 4-0 last week with a 6-2 midweek win over Saint Mary's to close out an 18-game homestand and sweeping Hawai'i by scores of 3-2, 4-3 and 8-3 on the road over the weekend. The Mustangs beat Bakersfield 9-1 on Tuesday to extend their current winning streak to seven games.
Cal Poly has won nine series of three games or more this season and split two games in a rain-shortened series at USC. The Mustangs also have won each of their six midweek games so far, including two shutouts against Santa Clara, and have not lost back-to-back games this season.
Past the halfway point of the 2014 season, the Mustangs are hitting .301 and have outscored the opposition 228-113 while the pitching staff has compiled a 2.91 ERA with 326 strikeouts and 120 walks in 319 innings. Cal Poly is No. 3 in the NCAA in strikeouts per nine innings, No. 2 in winning percentage and No. 14 in fielding percentage.
Cal Poly won 18 consecutive home games, including the final seven of the 2013 season, before Cal snapped the streak March 22. The Mustangs are 20-2 at home this season and have won 90 of their last 115 home games for a winning percentage of 78.2 percent. At 17-3 four weeks ago, Cal Poly posted the program's second-best 20-game start in its 110-year history. The 1997 Mustangs opened the year 18-2. The current squad also produced its best-ever 30-game start at 25-5, exceeding the 23-7 start by the 2009 team, 22-8 opening by the 2013 squad and 21-9 start of the 1997 club.
Cal State Fullerton, which has fallen to No. 19 in the NCBWA poll and No. 23 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll, won six straight games in the second and third weeks of the season, but has played .500 ball since its 8-3 start, going 10-10. The Titans own series wins over Washington State, San Francisco, Oregon, Saint Mary's,Long Beach State and UC Davis, but lost two of three games at UC Santa Barbara last weekend.
Two sections of bleachers with 369 seats in each section have been installed at Baggett Stadium for the series, raising the seating capacity to 2,472. Due to expected large crowds, fans are asked to drive through Poly Canyon Village as an alternate route to the Baggett Stadium parking lots. Also, due to anticipated heavier traffic, fans are encouraged to plan their arrival time accordingly.
Cal Poly's top hitters after 36 games are sophomore second baseman Mark Mathias (.392, 26 RBI, has hit safely in 25 of last 26 games), junior right fielder Nick Torres (.331, 11 doubles, four home runs, 32 RBI), sophomore designated hitter Brian Mundell (.325, 10 doubles, four home runs, 34 RBI, 11-game hitting streak), junior outfielder Zack Zehner (.316, four doubles, eight RBI) and senior catcher Chris Hoo (.306, 12 doubles, 27 RBI). Senior third baseman Jimmy Allen (.299, 11 doubles, 26 RBI), and junior center fielder Jordan Ellis (.299, 16 RBI) are near the .300 mark.
Mathias has gone 43-for-95 (.453) during his run of hitting safely in 25 of his last 26 games, including a 17-game hitting streak snapped two weeks ago, while Mundell has lifted his average 43 points in the last three weeks by going 16-for-38 (.421).
The Mustangs have won seven straight, 13 of their last 14 games and 21 of their last 23 contests. Cal Poly is 6-3 against the Pac-12, 3-0 against both the Big 12 and West Coast and 5-1 against the WAC this season.
Cal State Fullerton, 51-10 a year ago and 23-4 for its fourth straight Big West championship, returned 18 letter winners, including four position starters and eight pitchers, from a team that won the Fullerton Regional before losing two games to eventual national champion UCLA in the Super Regional.
Top returnees include first baseman J.D. Davis (.318, 50 RBI in 2013), infielder Matt Chapman (.285, 37 RBI) and outfielder Austin Diemer (.311, 12 RBI). Top returning pitchers are Thomas Eshelman (12-3, 1.48 ERA), Justin Garza (12-0, 2.03 ERA) and Grahamm Wiest (9-3, 3.27 ERA), all right-handers).
Garza (2-1, 2.60 ERA), who made his first appearance in more than a month last weekend at UCSB after recovering from a shoulder injury, will make his fifth start of the 2014 season Thursday night, followed by Eshelman (5-1, 2.08 ERA) on Friday and Wiest (2-3, 1.72 ERA) on Saturday. Cal Poly will counter with junior southpaw Matt Imhof (7-2, 2.07 ERA), freshman right-hander Slater Lee (2-1, 5.45 ERA) and sophomore righty Casey Bloomquist (8-0, 1.58 ERA), respectively.
Coached by Rick Vanderhook (third season, 105-44, Trinity '03), Cal State Fullerton sports a .253 team batting average, led by Davis (.339, 24 RBI), designated hitter Tanner Pinkston (.330, 13 RBI) and shortstop Keegan Dale (.278, nine RBI). The Titans have compiled a 2.22 staff ERA and have committed 38 errors in 31 games for a .969 fielding percentage.
Cal State Fullerton captured NCAA College World Series titles in 1979, 1984, 1995 and 2004, has appeared in the NCAA postseason 35 times, including 22 straight, has reached the College World Series 16 times and has claimed 27 conference championships. The Titans have never had a losing season in 38 Division I campaigns and 51 former Titans have played in the Major Leagues.
Vanderhook returned home to Cal State Fullerton on June 24, 2011, where he spent the better part of a quarter century as a player and assistant coach under head coaches Augie Garrido, Larry Cochell and George Horton; he was also an assistant coach along side now-departed head coach Dave Serrano from 1997-2004 and spent three seasons as an assistant coach to John Savage at UCLA from 2009-11.
Cal Poly and Cal State Fullerton have met 98 times on the baseball field since the series began when both teams were California Collegiate Athletic Association members back in 1966. The Titans hold a 63-35 advantage, winning two of three games a year ago in Baggett Stadium. Cal Poly has enjoyed some recent success with eight victories in the last 21 meetings over the last seven seasons, winning series at home in 2007 and 2011. Cal Poly is 13-51 against Cal State Fullerton since the Mustangs moved to Division I prior to the 1995 season. Larry Lee is 9-24 against Cal State Fullerton while Rick Vanderhook is 4-2 as a head coach against Cal Poly.
Last week, Cal Poly reached the 30-win mark for the 10th time in the last 15 years and clinched its 12th winning season since 2000. The Mustangs are 26 games above the .500 mark for the first time in their 20-year Division I history.
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 (380-277-2) 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).
Next week, Cal Poly will host San Jose State on Tuesday at 6 p.m. before hitting the road for seven consecutive games, starting with a three-game Big West series at Long Beach State next Friday through Sunday.
