Cal Poly, Pepperdine to Play Deciding Game of Season Series Saturday
5/31/2014 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Cal Poly and Pepperdine will play the rubber match of their season series Saturday night, but with more at stake this time.
The Mustangs and Waves, both winners in first-round games of the 2014 NCAA Division I San Luis Obispo Regional on Friday at Baggett Stadium, match up for the third time this season at 6 o'clock.
While the first two meetings between the two clubs -- the home team won both times -- were in midweek games during the regular season, Saturday night's contest will decide one spot in the championship finals of the four-team double-elimination postseason tournament.
Pepperdine (40-16) posted an 11-4 victory over Cal Poly in Malibu on April 29, part of Cal Poly's only tailspin of the season as the Mustangs were fighting through a four-game losing streak.
Cal Poly (46-10) bounced back with a 5-1 victory on May 6 in Baggett Stadium, part of the Mustangs' nine wins in their last 10 games of the regular season. In that game, Cal Poly junior right-hander Danny Zandona pitched five scoreless innings for his second victory and sophomore designated hitter Brian Mundell knocked in three runs with two hits and a sacrifice fly.
Cal Poly went on to win the Big West Conference title and an automatic bid to the regionals. Pepperdine claimed the regular-season and tournament championships in the West Coast Conference.
Starting pitchers for the second-round game Saturday night are sophomore right-hander Casey Bloomquist (12-1, 1.60 ERA) for Cal Poly and junior southpaw Aaron Brown (11-1, 2.24 ERA) for Pepperdine.
"They're good. We play them midweek in the season, and they are always competitive battles," said Mustang head coach Larry Lee, a graduate of Pepperdine. "We saw them today and we've got a pretty good idea of what they're all about. They're good. They're going to throw Brown against us, and he's a legit guy on the mound. We'll have our work cut out for us."
"They're good," countered Pepperdine mentor Steve Rodriguez. "That's what worries us about them. We've played them a couple of times this year, and we know exactly what they're capable of. They've got an amazing offense and their starting pitching is really good. We're going to have to be ready to go."
Added Waves third Baseman Austin Davidson, "I'm excited to play them again for the third time. We've faced their guys ... and we're used to playing them here (at Baggett Stadium). We know what they're capable of and we're excited to play them. It's exciting to play in the playoffs in any regional, but being closer to Malibu and having all of the fan base come out is really supportive. That's another advantage we have coming here."
Pepperdine right-hander Corey Miller, Friday's winning pitcher against Arizona State, chimed in.
"It's going to be a great challenge for us," Miller added. "They're a great team, and I think that our team loves facing challenges like that. I think we'll be ready to go. We've got Aaron on the mound, so it's going to be a fun game. We tied the series throughout the year. We're comfortable playing here, and we want to take this series from them. Playing them again would decide who wins the overall series. I think that we're going to come out with a fire and do a great job."
Pepperdine's top hitters are catcher Aaron Barnett at .373 with 27 RBI, Brown with a .314 average, 11 doubles, 12 home runs and 46 RBI and second baseman Hutton Moyer, hitting at a .304 clip with 23 doubles and 21 RBI. First baseman Brad Anderson sports a .300 average with 31 RBI.
The Waves are hitting .284 as a team while the pitching staff has given up just 2.51 earned runs per contest. Pepeprdine has a .976 fielding percentage with 53 errors in 56 games.
Cal Poly's .300 team batting average is paced by sophomore second baseman Mark Mathias (.380, 14 doubles, 38 RBI, 11 steals), junior left fielder Zack Zehner (.327, 15 RBI), junior right fielder Nick Torres (.322, 17 doubles, five home runs, 47 RBI) and senior catcher Chris Hoo (.318, 13 doubles, 37 RBI).
The Mustangs sport a 2.94 staff ERA and are fielding at a .977 clip with 48 errors in 56 games.
Pepperdine holds a 32-24 advantage in its series against Cal Poly, which began in 1947.
