Cal Poly to Host First-Place UC Irvine for Showdown Big West Series
5/7/2014 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
WEEKLY NOTES: CAL POLY | UC IRVINE | BIG WEST
CAL POLY AVENGES PEPPERDINE LOSS WITH 5-1 VICTORY
LIVE STATS | VIDEO STREAM
AUDIO STREAM: FRIDAY | SATURDAY | SUNDAY
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Cal Poly (39-9, 14-4 Big West), still in the top 10 in four of the five NCAA Division I baseball polls after claiming the UC Riverside series on the road last weekend, puts a three-game winning streak and 25-2 home record on the line this weekend, hosting UC Irvine (33-14, 14-1 Big West) for a three-game Big West Conference showdown series in expanded Baggett Stadium (cap.: 3,106).
First pitches for the matchups between the top two teams in the conference are set for 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 1 o'clock Sunday. All three games of the series 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. 5 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll, No. 6 by the National College Baseball Writers Association and No. 7 by both Baseball America and Perfect Game this week, Cal Poly went 2-2 for the second straight week, falling 11-4 at Pepperdine on Tuesday and losing the opener of a Big West series at UC Riverside 7-3 on Friday before snapping a four-game losing streak with 7-5 and 7-2 victories to clinch the series. The Mustangs avenged the loss to Pepperdine with a 5-1 victory Tuesday night.
Cal Poly has won 11 of 12 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.
Past the halfway point of the 2014 season, the Mustangs are hitting .298, best in the Big West, and have outscored the opposition 289-158 while the pitching staff has compiled a 2.95 ERA with 415 strikeouts and 165 walks in 427 innings. Cal Poly is No. 3 in the NCAA in winning percentage, No. 5 in strikeouts per nine innings, No. 8 with nine shutouts and No. 10 in fielding percentage.
UC Irvine expanded its Big West lead to a game and a half over Cal Poly by sweeping UC Santa Barbara last weekend at home by scores of 6-2, 3-2 and 8-0. The Anteaters stretched their winning streak to eight games with a 16-11 win at San Diego on Tuesday night. UC Irvine also had a 10-game winning streak earlier this season and own series wins over Portland, Gonzaga, Grand Canyon, UC Riverside, Hawai'i, Cal State Northridge, UC Davis and UC Santa Barbara. Lone conference loss was to UC Riverside 3-1 on March 30.
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 25-2 at home this season and have won 95 of their last 120 home games for a winning percentage of 79 percent. At 17-3 five 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 Poly's top hitters after 48 games are sophomore second baseman Mark Mathias (.395, 31 RBI, has hit safely in 35 of his last 37 games), junior right fielder Nick Torres (.306, 13 doubles, four home runs, 40 RBI), junior outfielder Zack Zehner (.328, six doubles, 11 RBI) and senior catcher Chris Hoo (.308, 13 doubles, 34 RBI).
Senior third baseman Jimmy Allen (.296, 11 doubles, three triples, two home runs, 30 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 (778) and Luke Yoder in career doubles (54). Allen also is No. 2 in career hits (238), five behind Jon Macalutas, No. 8 in career RBIs (128) 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 (23), No. 2 in career appearances (78) and No. 4 in career ERA (2.28) while junior starter Matt Imhof is No. 8 with 229 career strikeouts.
Mathias has gone 62-for-142 (.437) during his run of hitting safely in 35 of his last 37 games, including a 17-game hitting streak snapped five weeks ago and a 14-game streak halted two weeks ago.
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.
UC Irvine, 33-22 a year ago and 15-12 for fourth place in the Big West Conference, returned 20 letter winners, including five position starters and five pitchers. Top returnees included first baseman Connor Spencer (.373, 35 RBI in 2013), third baseman Taylor Sparks (.360, 10 home runs, 50 RBI) and shortstop Chris Rabago (.269, 27 RBI). Top returning pitchers were right-handers Andrew Morales (10-0, 1.89 ERA) and Evan Brock (2-2, 3.20 ERA) and southpaw Jimmy Litchfield (1-0, 1.89 ERA, one save).
Coached by Mike Gillespie (seventh year at UC Irvine (27th overall), 266-133 (1,029-604-2 overall), USC '62), UC Irvine has a .281 team batting average through 47 games, led by Spencer (.382, 12 doubles, five triples, 37 RBI), designated hitter Jonathan Munoz (.350, 12 RBI), Sparks (.309, 11 doubles, six triples, four home runs, 27 RBI) and catcher Jerry McClanahan (.303, 29 RBI). The Anteaters sport a 2.60 staff ERA and .975 fielding percentage with 46 errors in 47 games.
Morales, UC Irvine's Friday night starter, is 18-0 in two seasons at UC Irvine and also was 21-1 in two years at Rio Hondo Community College. The 6-0, 195-pound senior was not drafted last June despite a 10-0 record and 1.89 ERA with a 4.05 strikeouts-to-walks ratio. Southpaw Elliot Surrey is expected to start Saturday, followed by righty Evan Brock on Sunday. The closer is Sam Moore with a 1.38 ERA and nation-leading 22 saves.
UC Irvine has qualified for the NCAA regionals 12 times (seven in Division I), compiling a 19-14 win-loss record in Division I postseason competition and qualifying for the College World Series in 2007. The Anteaters, who discontinued baseball from 1993-2001, won the Big West title in 2009.
Gillespie was 763-471-4 in 20 seasons as head coach at USC (1987-2006) with five Pac-12 championships, five College World Series appearances, including the 1998 national title, and 15 regional appearances. He is one of only two men to both play for and coach an NCAA championship baseball team (Arizona's Jerry Kindall is the other). Gillespie was head coach at College of the Canyons for 16 seasons with 11 conference titles and three state championships. He played left field on USC's 1961 national championship team.
Cal Poly and UC Irvine have met 39 times on the baseball field since the series began when both teams were Southern California Baseball Alliance members back in 1977. The Anteaters hold a 22-17 advantage, winning two of three games a year ago in Anteater Ballpark. Cal Poly swept the Anteaters two year ago in Baggett Stadium. Cal Poly is 14-22 against UC Irvine since the Mustangs moved to Division I prior to the 1995 season. Larry Lee is 13-20 against UC Irvine while Mike Gillespie is 13-7 against Cal Poly, including a 2-0 mark while at USC.
Four 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 11 of 12 series of three games or more this season (six sweeps) and 30 of 41 series, including 17 sweeps, over the last three years.
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 (388-281-2) 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 next week with a single non-conference game at Saint Mary's on Tuesday and a three-game Big West series Friday through Sunday at Cal State Northridge.
