Cal Poly Plays Midweek Rematch at No. 20 Cal on Tuesday Afternoon
4/25/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
WEEKLY NOTES: CAL POLY | CAL | BIG WEST
AUDIO STREAM | LIVE STATS | VIDEO PREVIEW
SCHUKNECHT, SMITH HONORED BY BIG WEST
CAL POLY EARNS NOS. 19, 29 RANKINGS
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Cal Poly (25-13, 7-2 Big West), which won 10 of its first 12 games for the second time in three years and moved into a tie for first place with Cal State Fullerton in the Big West Conference by sweeping Blue-Green rival UC Santa Barbara last weekend, visits California (22-14, 9-9 Pac-12) for a single non-conference game Tuesday afternoon.
First pitch at Evans Diamond (cap.: 2,500) is set for 5 p.m. PDT and the game 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.
Ranked No. 19 this week by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, 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 was 15-18 with an 8.70 ERA.
Despite all the youth, Cal Poly has won seven of 10 weekend series, including victories over No. 14 UCLA and No. 19 Michigan and a sweep of the No. 11 Gauchos, and is 12 games above the .500 mark for the first time. Facing a team in first place in the Big West for the third straight week, the Mustangs posted 7-0, 10-5 and 4-3 wins over UC Santa Barbara, which entered the series with an RPI of 8.
Cal, ranked anywhere from 12th to 23rd last week, own series sweeps against Purdue, Texas, Oregon State and UCLA. The Bears were 18-6 after sweeping the Bruins on April 3, but have dropped eight of 12 games since, losing Pac-12 series at Oregon and Arizona State and getting swept by Arizona at home last weekend by scores of 3-0, 8-5 in 13 innings and 7-6.
Cal returned 17 letter winners, including five starting position players and nine pitchers, off a team which finished 36-21 a year ago, finished third in the Pac-12 with an 18-12 mark and went 2-2 in the College Station Regional.
Top returnees include designated hitter Devin Pearson (.355, 12 doubles, four home runs, 22 RBI in 2015), center fielder Aaron Knapp (.310, 23 RBI, 12 steals) and right fielder Brian Celsi (.278, 31 RBI). Top returning pitchers include righthanders Jeff Bain (6-2, 2.52 ERA in 2015) and Daulton Jefferies (6-5, 2.92 ERA) and southpaw Matt Ladrech (7-4, 2.67 ERA).
Coached by David Esquer (17th season, 490-431-2, Stanford '87), Cal sports a .281 team batting average, led by catcher Brett Cumberland (.375, 11 home runs, 35 RBI), third baseman Mitchell Kranson (.320, 14 doubles, four home runs, 22 RBI), second baseman Robbie Tenerowicz (.309, 10 doubles, three home runs, 21 RBI) and first baseman Nick Halamandaris (.303, 10 doubles, three home runs, 23 RBI). The Bears have compiled a 3.34 staff ERA under first-year pitching coach Thomas Eager -- an assistant at Cal Poly from 2013-15, director of baseball operations from 2011-12 and a pitcher for the Mustangs in 2006-07 -- and have committed 33 errors in 36 games for a .969 fielding percentage.
Junior right-hander Alex Schick (0-0, 27.00 ERA) will start Tuesday's game for Cal, facing Cal Poly freshman right-hander Bobby Ay (0-0, 10.12 ERA).
Cal placed fifth in the 2011 NCAA College World Series, claimed CWS titles in 1947 and 1957, has appeared in the NCAA postseason 13 times, has reached the College World Series six times and last won a conference title in 1980.
Cal made an initial decision in September 2010 to discontinue the baseball program due to pressure on the university's budget. Following a fundraising effort that generated approximately $10 million in commitment, Golden Bear baseball was reinstated April 8, 2011.
Cal Poly and Cal have met 50 times on the baseball field since the series began in 1948. The Bears hold a 35-15 advantage, including a 7-1 triumph two weeks ago in Baggett Stadium. Cal Poly won three of four games in a 2014 series, also at Baggett Stadium. The two teams did not meet in 2015.
Cal Poly is 8-7 against Cal since the Mustangs moved to Division I prior to the 1995 season.
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). Third spot in the weekend rotation has been filled with junior right-hander Slater Lee (1-1, 6.27 ERA), freshman right-hander Cam Schneider and, for the last four weeks, sophomore righty Jarred Zill (4-1, 3.18 ERA).
Topping the list of relievers are junior right-hander Justin Calomeni (1-3, 5.00 ERA in 2015), 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 38 games, Barbier is Cal Poly's top hitter with a 14-game hitting streak, a .382 average, 11 doubles and 21 RBI, followed by freshman middle infielder Kyle Marinconz (.307, 10 doubles, 19 RBI). Four other Mustangs are near the .300 mark -- sophomore left fielder Josh George (.294, five doubles, 13 RBI), freshman catcher Nick Meyer (.289, five doubles, 15 RBI), junior third baseman Michael Sanderson (pictured above) (.287, seven doubles, 22 RBI) and senior right fielder John Schuknecht (.286, 12 doubles, two triples, four home runs, 33 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, while Schuknecht was 6-for-12 in the UC Santa Barbara series with five RBI and four runs scored.
Cal Poly owns a .274 team batting average, has stolen 21 of 31 bases, sports a .962 fielding percentage with 55 errors in 38 games and has compiled a 3.60 staff ERA.
Cal Poly has produced 12 winning seasons since 2000. The Mustangs were 17-11 at home last season and have won 131 of their last 172 home games for a winning percentage of 76.3 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.
One year after capturing its first Big West title, 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 another Big West title.
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 (448-324-2), 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.
Cal Poly resumes Big West Conference play this weekend with a three-game series against Long Beach State on Friday through Sunday at Blair Field.
