Cal Poly to Visit Oregon State for Final Non-Conference Series
3/26/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
WEEKLY NOTES: CAL POLY | OREGON STATE | BIG WEST
AUDIO STREAM: FRIDAY | SATURDAY | SUNDAY
LIVE STATS: FRIDAY | SATURDAY | SUNDAY
VIDEO STREAM | USC SERIES HIGHLIGHT VIDEO
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Defending Big West baseball champion Cal Poly (7-14), which won six of 11 games after a 1-6 start, seeks to snap a three-game losing streak this weekend with a three-game non-conference series at No. 19 Oregon State (19-5) on Coleman Field at Goss Stadium (cap.: 3,248).
First pitches are set for 5:35 p.m. Friday, 1:35 p.m. Saturday and 1:05 p.m. Sunday. All three games of the series will be aired live on ESPN Radio 1280 with Tom Barket providing the play-by-play. The entire series also will be available on the internet. Links for live stats as well as audio and video streams are available on the baseball schedule page at www.GoPoly.com.
Cal Poly returned 19 lettermen, including six position starters and seven pitchers (three of the four starters), off the 2014 squad which posted a school-record 47 victories, claimed its first Big West Conference title and earned its third NCAA regional appearance in the last six years, hosting a regional for the first time.
And the Mustangs carried a national ranking as high as No. 13 into its opening series at Baylor, but the Bears earned 8-6, 8-6 and 6-0 victories at Baylor Ballpark, handing Cal Poly its first series sweep since the end of the 2011 campaign. After a 7-6 win over host Fresno State on Feb. 17, Cal Poly committed eight errors and was held to a .206 team batting average as Grand Canyon posted 10-4, 4-2 and 9-3 triumphs, handing the Mustangs their first sweep at home since the 2010 season (Houston).
Cal Poly bounced back with a 13-2 win over CSU Bakersfield, but its entire three-game series at TCU was wiped out by a record three-inch snowfall and icy conditions. Three weeks ago, Cal Poly fell at home to Santa Clara, 3-0, held to just three singles, followed by its first series win of the year at Pacific. Then the Mustangs dropped a 5-2 decision at San Jose State, allowing four unearned runs in the second inning, before coming home and splitting a four-game series against Sacramento State. Last week USC bounced back from a 5-4 setback in the opener to win the series with 13-0 and 9-2 victories. Cal Poly's losing streak reached three with a 7-1 loss to Dartmouth on Monday.
Oregon State is off to a 20-5 start after sweeping Washington State last weekend and defeating San Jose State twice by 6-1 and 8-2 scores earlier this week. The Beavers have lost twice to Arizona State (snapping an 11-game winning streak) and New Mexico and once to Oklahoma. They sport a 4-2 Pac-12 mark and have the bye in the 11-team Pac-12 this week.
Cal Poly's 2015 roster is led by junior second baseman Mark Mathias, the 2014 Big West Field Player of the Year with a .386 batting average who has earned numerous preseason All-America honors. Mathias underwent labrum surgery on his right shoulder Dec. 2 and returned to the lineup four weeks ago as a designated hitter, going 2-for-4 with a double, one RBI and three runs scored against CSU Bakersfield on Feb. 24. Hitting .362 through 14 games with an 11-game hitting streak snapped by USC over the weekend, Mathias is expected to return to defensive duty at second base in about a week.
Junior Peter Van Gansen (pictured above) returns to anchor the middle infield at shortstop while junior Brian Mundell, Cal Poly's designated hitter the last two years, takes over at first base this spring. Senior Jordan Ellis returns for another season in center field while senior Zack Zehner, drafted in the seventh round by Toronto last June, has moved from left field to right field this spring to replace Torres.
Cal Poly's pitching staff is led by junior Casey Bloomquist (12-2, 1.56 ERA a year ago), another preseason All-American, along with sophomores Justin Calomeni (8-2, 3.68 ERA) and Slater Lee (3-2, 6.20 ERA). All are right-handers. Replacing Reilly as the Mustangs' closer is senior southpaw Taylor Chris (4-1, 1.61 ERA, 5 saves), who allowed just one earned run in 27 Big West innings a year ago.
Oregon State returned 16 players, including five position starters and seven pitchers, off a team which finished 45-14 a year ago and first in the Pac-12 with a 23-7 mark. The Beavers, who lost to UC Irvine in the Corvallis Regional a year ago, have appeared in 15 regionals, five Super Regionals and five College World Series, capturing the 2006 and 2007 national championships. Oregon State was Pac-12 champion in both 2013 and 2014 and is 13-0 at home this season.
Topping the list of returning veterans are center fielder Jeff Hendrix (.351, 32 RBI in 2014), designated hitter Gabe Clark (.280, 34 RBI) and right fielder Michael Howard (.260, 12 RBI). The pitching staff is led by right-handers Andrew Moore (6-5, 2.77 ERA in 2014) and Jake Thompson (3-2, 4.25ERA) and southpaw Zack Reser (5-0, 1.71 ERA).
Coached by Pat Casey (21st year, 735-408-4, George Fox '90), Oregon State has a .303 team batting average through 25 games, led by first baseman KJ Harrison (.381, seven home runs, 30 RBI), Hendrix (.347, four home runs, 17 RBI) and shortstop Trever Morrison (.337, 13 RBI). The Beavers have stolen 21 of 29 bases and sport a 2.69 staff ERA and .978 fielding percentage with 22 errors in 25 games.
Casey, who has guided Oregon State to four straight 40-win seasons and seven in 20 years as head coach of the Beavers, was head coach at George Fox for seven seasons before taking over the reins at Oregon State in 1995. His career mark is 906-521-5. Casey earned his bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary studies from George Fox in 1990. He played for the University of Portland from 1978-80 and was a first-team All-NorPac Conference outfielder his final two seasons. He was a second-team All-Region selection in 1980. He also lettered in basketball one season. After being drafted in the 10th round by the San Diego Padres in 1980, Casey played seven professional seasons. He reached Class AAA with the Calgary Cannons in 1985-86 and the Portland Beavers in 1987.
Cal Poly and Oregon State have played nine baseball games against each other since the series began in 1968. The Beavers hold a 7-1-1 advantage, winning all five games against the Mustangs since Cal Poly moved to Division I in 1995. Last meeting between the two clubs was in 2007, a three-game series in Baggett Stadium swept by the Beavers. Cal Poly's only win over Oregon State was a 7-5 decision in 1977 at SLO Stadium. Larry Lee is 0-5 against USC while Casey is 5-0 against Cal Poly.
Junior shortstop Peter Van Gansen was 5-for-13 in the USC series with one RBI. Junior third baseman John Schuknecht, junior first baseman Brian Mundell and junior designated hitter Mark Mathias all had three hits, Mathias driving in two runs. The Mustangs hit just .210 in the series, compiled a 7.00 staff ERA and committed nine errors in three games.
Van Gansen currently sports a .393 batting average, best in the Big West, with five doubles, two triples and 13 RBI and also leads the Mustangs with nine multiple-hit contests. He has collected a hit in 16 of Cal Poly's 21 games and has reached base safely in 20 of 21 contests. Mathias has a .362 mark while Mundell, who homered twice in a Sunday win over Sacramento State, is hitting .325. Senior right fielder Zack Zehner sports a .247 average with a team-leading three home runs and 18 RBI in 21 games, while senior infielder Tommy Pluschkell has a .283 mark in 14 starts.
Ranked No. 13 in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's preseason poll, No. 23 by the NCBWA and No. 24 by USA Today/ESPN in this year's preseason polls, Cal Poly won 13 of 14 series of three games or more a year ago, including seven sweeps, split two games in a rain-shortened series at USC and won nine of its 10 midweek games, shutting out Santa Clara twice.
Cal Poly was 29-5 at home last season and has won 97 of its last 126 home games for a winning percentage of 76.2 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. Last year's squad also produced the school's 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.
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) squads at Cal Poly. The Mustangs were 6-3 against the Pac-12, 3-0 against the Big 12, 5-3 against the West Coast, 7-1 against the WAC and 2-0 versus the Mountain West last season.
Cal Poly has produced 12 winning seasons since 2000. The Mustangs won 32 of 43 series, including 18 sweeps, over the last three years and have the third-most victories over the last three seasons in the West Region -- 123 -- exceeded only by Oregon (138) and Oregon State (137). Last year's squad was the fourth in Cal Poly history to win 40 or more games, posting a 47-12 mark. The 1977 and 1992 Mustang squads each won 41 games while the 2013 team finished 40-19.
Cal Poly was ranked throughout the 2014 season, reaching the top 20 in all five major Division I polls after splitting a doubleheader at USC on March 2, moving into the top 10 following its 3-1 series win over Cal on March 24 and attaining a program-first No. 1 ranking by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper on April 21 after its sweep of Cal State Fullerton. The Mustangs finished Nos. 18-20 in the five polls with their 47-12 mark.
Lee (403-298-2), in his 13th season with the Mustangs, has guided Cal Poly to 10 finishes in the upper half of the Big West standings in the last 12 years. He earned his 400th win March 7 at Pacific and surpassed Berdy Harr (297-249-6 from 1973-83) as Cal Poly's winningest head baseball coach during the Pacific series in 2011.
Next week Cal Poly plays four more games on the road, visiting Pepperdine on Tuesday before opening defense of its Big West championship Thursday through Saturday at Cal State Fullerton.
