Cal Poly Resumes Big West Play This Weekend at First-Place Hawai'i
4/13/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
WEEKLY NOTES: CAL POLY | HAWAI'I | BIG WEST
LIVE STATS:
FRIDAY | SATURDAY | SUNDAY
AUDIO STREAM:
FRIDAY | SATURDAY | SUNDAY
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Cal Poly (19-12, 2-1 Big West), which won 10 of its first 12 games for the second time in three years and opened Big West Conference play with a series win over defending conference champion and 2015 College World Series participant Cal State Fullerton, continues Big West play this weekend with a three-game series at first-place Hawai'i (16-15, 5-1 Big West) inside Les Murakami Stadium (cap.: 4,312).
First pitches are set for 9:35 p.m. PDT both Friday and Saturday and 4:05 p.m. PDT on Sunday. All three games of the series will be aired live on ESPN Radio 1280 with Dave Grant providing the play-by-play. Links for live stats as well as an audio stream are available on the baseball schedule page at www.GoPoly.com. There will be no video stream for this weekend's games.
Cal Poly returned 16 lettermen (two position starters and eight pitchers (four with six or more starts in 2015), but more than two-thirds of the 34-man roster are freshmen or sophomores. The nine returning position players, starters and reserves, hit a combined .230 a year ago and, while eight of last year's 13 pitchers return, their win-loss record combined was 15-18 with an 8.70 ERA.
Despite all the youth, Cal Poly has won five of eight weekend series, including victories over No. 14 UCLA and No. 19 Michigan, and is seven games above the .500 mark. After dropping the opener against Cal State Fullerton 2-1 on Friday, the Mustangs bounced back with 1-0 and 6-3 victories. Cal Poly fell to Cal 7-1 on Tuesday.
Hawai'i opened its 2016 season a week before everyone else in Division I, splitting two games at Hawai'i-Hilo. After that series, the Rainbow Warriors played 23 of 26 games at home, winning a four-game series against Chicago State, splitting four games with West Virginia and Santa Clara and losing four-game series against New Mexico and Michigan. Hawai'i opened Big West play by winning two of three games against UC Irvine at home and swept UC Davis on the road last week by scores of 6-5, 5-0 and 7-2.
Cal Poly opened the 2015 season 1-6 and was eight games under the .500 mark before turning things around. The Mustangs hit .303 over their final 23 games, improved their defense by fielding at a .980 clip, won 17 of their final 26 games (including 13 of 15 at home) and made a run for the Big West title.
Hawaii returned 15 letter winners, including seven starting position players and six pitchers, off a team which finished 21-32 a year ago and placed fifth in the Big West with a 12-12 mark.
Top returnees include shortstop Jacob Sheldon-Collins (.295, six doubles, 11 RBI in 2015), first baseman Eric Ramirez (270, 29 RBI) and infielder Alex Sawelson (.262, eight doubles, 20 RBI). Top returning pitchers include right-handers Kyle Von Ruden (2-3, 4.47 ERA in 2015) and Cody Culp (0-2, 6.15 ERA) along with southpaw Alex Hatch (0-0, 11.68 ERA).
Hawai'i played its first Big West season in baseball in 2013 after 33 years in the Western Athletic Conference, claiming titles in 1991, 1992 and 2011 and the tournament crown in 2010. Cal Poly also played in the WAC in 1995 and 1996 before joining the Big West. The Rainbow Warriors reached the College World Series in 1980, finishing second, and have made 13 NCAA regional appearances.
Cal Poly's 2016 roster is led by catcher/first baseman Brett Barbier (.253, nine doubles, four triples, three home runs, 34 RBI in 2015) and outfielder John Schuknecht (.237, six home runs, 24 RBI), the only two returning starting position players.
The Mustangs have used nine position players and eight pitchers who are wearing a Cal Poly uniform for the first time this season. The Mustangs' lineup in the season-opening Pacific series included 11 freshmen (nine true freshmen and a pair of redshirts) as well as three community college transfers. In the second game of the Grand Canyon series in mid-March, six true freshmen were in the starting lineup along with one transfer.
Cal Poly's pitching staff is led by sophomore southpaw Kyle Smith (5-7, 3.95 ERA in 2015) and sophomore righty Erich Uelmen (0-1, 7.08 ERA). Also challenging for spots in the starting rotation are junior right-hander Slater Lee (1-1, 6.27 ERA in 2015), freshman right-hander Cam Schneider and junior right-hander Justin Calomeni (1-3, 5.00 ERA), who earned two wins and a save, all in relief, in his first week of action in early March following his recovery from a knee injury.
Topping the list of relievers are freshman southpaws Thomas Triantos (Livermore High School) and Justin Bruihl (Casa Grande High School in Petaluma) along with sophomore right-hander Andrew Bernstein (3-3, 5.01 ERA) and redshirt freshmen Austin Dondanville and Spencer Howard.
Through 31 games, Barbier is Cal Poly's top hitter with a .385 average and 15 RBI, followed by freshman middle infielder Kyle Marinconz (.306, eight doubles, 14 RBI) and junior third baseman Michael Sanderson (.298, six doubles, 14 RBI). Near the .300 mark are sophomore left fielder Josh George (.287, five doubles, 12 RBI) and Schuknecht (.283, nine doubles, two triples, three home runs, 27 RBI).
Both freshman center fielder Alex McKenna (Pacific series) and Schuknecht (San Francisco series) have earned Big West Field Player of the Week honors this season while Uelmen was named Big West Pitcher of the Week for his performance in the Sacramento State series. McKenna went 8-for-14 and hit for the cycle in the San Jose State series, bumping his average up 41 points.
Cal Poly owns a .270 team batting average, has stolen 15 of 24 bases, sports a .960 fielding percentage with 48 errors in 31 games and has compiled a 3.82 staff ERA.
Hawai'i is hitting .272 as a team, led by Sheldon-Collins (.412, six doubles, 18 RBI), catcher Kekai Rios (.333, five doubles, 16 RBI) and Ramirez (.291, seven doubles, 23 RBI). The Rainbow Warriors have stolen 22 of 30 bases, sport a 3.69 staff ERA and have committed 35 errors in 31 games for a .971 fielding percentage. Hawai'i is 10-13 at home and 6-2 away from the islands.
Head coach Mike Trapasso (16th season, 419-397, Oklahoma State '87) has led the Rainbows to winning records in eight of the last 12 seasons and 30 or more wins eight times in his 15-year tenure. He was named WAC Coach of the Year three times. Trapasso was an assistant coach at Georgia Tech for seven years and at Missouri and South Florida for three seasons each. He was a pitcher at Oklahoma State from 1984-86 and, drafted four times, pitched briefly for two years in the minor leagues.
Cal Poly has a 15-7 advantage over Hawai'i in the series dating back to 1995, sweeping the Rainbow Warriors two years ago in Honolulu as well as last season in Baggett Stadium by scores of 7-5, 3-2 and 12-5. Larry Lee is 8-1 against Hawai'i while Trapasso is 1-8 against Cal Poly.
Hawaii's pitching rotation for the weekend includes right-handers Brendan Hornung (3-5, 2.58 ERA) on Friday and Kyle Von Ruden (5-1, 2.39 ERA) on Saturday and southpaw Alex Hatch (3-3, 4.67 ERA) on Sunday.
Cal Poly will counter with sophomore lefty Kyle Smith (4-2, 2.81 ERA) on Friday, sophomore righty Erich Uelmen (4-0, 2.77 ERA) on Saturday and sophomore right-hander Jarred Zill (2-1, 2.74 ERA) on Sunday.
Cal Poly has produced 12 winning seasons since 2000. The Mustangs were 17-11 at home last season and have won 127 of their last 168 home games for a winning percentage of 76 percent. Cal Poly won each of its four Big West series at home in 2015, compiling a 10-2 mark, but lost all four conference road series, two games to one, despite winning the opener each time.
Cal Poly has finished fourth or higher in the Big West 12 times in its last 14 seasons and has posted ten 30-victory campaigns since 2000. The Mustangs have produced 13 non-losing seasons in the last 16 years.
Lee (442-323-2), in his 14th season with the Mustangs, has guided Cal Poly to 11 finishes in the upper half of the Big West standings in the last 13 years. He earned his 400th win March 7, 2015, 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 games at home -- Tuesday against Fresno State at 6 p.m. and a three-game Big West series Friday through Sunday against UC Santa Barbara.
