Cal Poly to Visit Saint Mary's for Single Non-Conference Game Tuesday
5/12/2014 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
WEEKLY NOTES: CAL POLY | SAINT MARY'S | BIG WEST
CAL POLY MOVES SLIGHTLY IN NATIONAL POLLS
AUDIO STREAM | LIVE STATS | VIDEO STREAM
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Cal Poly (41-10, 16-5 Big West), still in the hunt for its first Big West Conference championship after winning a series against first-place UC Irvine over the weekend, steps out of conference play Tuesday afternoon with a single game at Saint Mary's (15-36, 7-17 West Coast) at Louis Guisto Field (cap.: 1,000) in Moraga.
First pitch is set for 3 p.m. and the game will be aired live on ESPN Radio 1280 with Tom Barket providing the play-by-play. Links for live stats as well as an audio stream are available at www.GoPoly.com.
Ranked No. 5 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll and No. 6 by the National College Baseball Writers Association, Baseball America and Perfect Game this week, Cal Poly posted a 3-1 mark last week, defeating Pepperdine 5-1 on Tuesday and, after losing the opener of a Big West series against UC Irvine 3-2 on Friday, bounced back with 1-0 and 10-3 victories over the weekend to clinch the set and move to within a half-game of the Anteaters.
Cal Poly has won 12 of 13 series of three games or more this season and split two games in a rain-shortened series at USC. The Mustangs also have won eight of their nine midweek games so far, including two shutouts against Santa Clara.
Near the end of the 2014 regular season, the Mustangs are hitting .298, best in the Big West, and have outscored the opposition 302-164 while the pitching staff has compiled a 2.87 ERA with 444 strikeouts and 171 walks in 454 innings. Cal Poly is No. 4 in the NCAA in winning percentage, No. 5 in strikeouts per nine innings, No. 7 with 10 shutouts and No. 12 in fielding percentage.
Saint Mary's dropped two of three games to San Francisco over the weekend at home. The Gaels were 13-13 after winning a series against BYU but have dropped 23 of their last 25 games, winning one game each against Gonzaga and San Francisco. Saint Mary's owns series wins over Penn State, Portland and BYU.
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 27-3 at home this season and have won 97 of their last 123 home games for a winning percentage of 78.9 percent. At 17-3 on March 16, 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 Poly's top hitters after 51 games are sophomore second baseman Mark Mathias (.383, 32 RBI, has hit safely in 38 of his last 40 games), junior right fielder Nick Torres (.316, 14 doubles, five home runs, 43 RBI), junior outfielder Zack Zehner (.324, seven doubles, 13 RBI) and senior catcher Chris Hoo (.314, 13 doubles, 36 RBI).
Senior third baseman Jimmy Allen (.299, 12 doubles, three triples, two home runs, 32 RBI) has claimed a pair of all-time school records in his four-year Mustang career, moving ahead of Ozzie Smith in career at-bats (790) and Luke Yoder in career doubles (55). Allen also is No. 2 in career hits (242), one behind Jon Macalutas, No. 8 in career RBIs (130) and tied with Dan Marple and Steve Rohlmeier at No. 10 in career triples (10).
In addition, junior closer Reed Reilly is No. 1 in career saves (24), No. 2 in career appearances (81) and No. 4 in career ERA (2.28) while junior starter Matt Imhof is No. 6 with 242 career strikeouts.
Mathias has gone 65-for-155 (.419) during his run of hitting safely in 38 of his last 40 games, including a 17-game hitting streak snapped five weeks ago and a 14-game streak halted two weeks ago. He has hit safely in his last seven games.
The Mustangs had a 12-game winning streak -- longest in a single season in Cal Poly history -- snapped in the Long Beach State series. A 14-game winning streak was compiled by the 2012 (last seven games of season) and 2013 (first seven games of season) squads at Cal Poly. The Mustangs are 6-3 against the Pac-12, 3-0 against the Big 12, 4-1 against the West Coast, 5-1 against the WAC and 2-0 versus the Mountain West this season.
Saint Mary's, 21-34 a year ago and 11-13 for seventh place in the Big West, returned 19 letter winners, including five position starters and four pitchers. Top returnees included shortstop Ricky Boas (.248, seven steals, 21 RBI in 2013), first baseman Collin Ferguson (.293, 31 RBI) and third baseman Anthony Villa (.286, 32 RBI). The pitching staff is led by southpaw Ryan Brockett (5-5, 3.70 ERA in 2013) and righties Thomas Cortese (1-0, 9.58 ERA) and Jacob Valdez (1-0, 3.32 ERA).
Coached by Eric Valenzuela (first season, 15-36, Pepperdine '01), Saint Mary's sports a .260 team batting average, led by pitcher/outfielder Anthony Gonsolin (.318, nine doubles, seven triples, 21 RBI), designated hitter Ian McLoughlin (.297, 13 RBI), center fielder DonAndre Clark (.285, 12 RBI) and second baseman Darian Ramage (.281, 18 RBI). The Gaels have compiled a 4.72 staff ERA and have committed 65 errors in 51 games, a .965 fielding percentage.
Saint Mary's will start Gonsolin (2-4, 4.68 ERA), a right-hander, against Cal Poly. He has earned wins against Gonzaga and Portland. Cal Poly will counter with junior right-hander Danny Zandona (2-0, 2.77 ERA), who pitched five scoreless innings with four strikeouts for the win in last Tuesday's 5-1 triumph over Pepperdine.
Saint Mary's is still seeking its first West Coast Conference title in baseball and initial NCAA regional appearance. First Gael baseball team took the field in 1968 and the program's best record was 41-13 in 1977.
Valenzuela, a former San Diego State pitching coach and recruiting coordinator, was hired as Saint Mary's head coach last July 31. He served two seasons as an assistant at Saint Mary's from 2002-03 and spent six seasons as pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of San Diego before moving across town to San Diego State for the next four years. Valenzuela was an All-American performer at Bishop Amat High School, began his collegiate career at Arizona State, was a member of the Sun Devils' 1998 team that reached the College World Series and eventually transferred to Pepperdine, serving as a team captain in 2001 as the Waves went 42-18 and won the WCC title. Valenzuela graduated from Pepperdine in 2001 with a bachelor of arts degree in Criminal Justice.
Cal Poly holds a 30-12 advantage in its series against Saint Mary's, including a 6-2 win over the Gaels on April 8 in Baggett Stadium. Justin Calomeni allowed a run and four hits in five innings for the victory, striking out four. Cal Poly is 13-4 against Saint Mary's since the Mustangs moved to Division I prior to the 1995 season. Larry Lee is 9-2 against Saint Mary's while Eric Valenzuela is 0-1 against Cal Poly.
Five weeks ago, Cal Poly reached the 30-win mark for the 10th time in the last 15 years and has already clinched its 12th winning season since 2000. The Mustangs were as many as 31 games above the .500 mark for the first time in their 20-year Division I history before their recent four-game slide. Cal Poly has won 12 of 13 series of three games or more this season (six sweeps) and 31 of 42 series, including 17 sweeps, over the last three years.
The current squad is the fourth in Cal Poly history to win 40 or more games, matching the school record of 41 victories with Sunday's win over UC Irvine. The 1977 and 1992 Mustang squad also won 41 games while last year's team finished 40-19.
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 (390-282-2) 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 wraps up the regular season this weekend with a three-game Big West series Friday through Sunday at Cal State Northridge.
