Cal Poly Plays Midweek Rematch at Fresno State on Tuesday Night
5/9/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
WEEKLY NOTES:
CAL POLY | FRESNO STATE | BIG WEST
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SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Cal Poly (26-20, 7-8 Big West), tied for first place with Cal State Fullerton in the Big West Conference standings two weeks ago before getting swept at Long Beach State and CSUN, Steps away from Big West play Tuesday night with a single non-conference contest at Mountain West Conference leader Fresno State (32-17, 19-8 Mountain West).
First pitch at Pete Beiden Field (cap.: 3,500) is set for 6 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 audio and video streams are available on the baseball schedule page at www.GoPoly.com.
Ranked No. 19 two weeks ago by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper before losing seven of their next eight 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 was 15-18 with an 8.70 ERA.
Despite all the youth, Cal Poly has won seven of 12 weekend series, including victories over No. 14 UCLA and No. 19 Michigan and a sweep of No. 11 UC Santa Barbara, and is six games above the .500 mark overall. The Mustangs hit just .180 against Long Beach State and .177 against CSUN, falling into a fourth-place tie with UC Riverside in the Big West. The Matadors overcame early deficits in all three games for 7-2, 5-3 and 2-1 victories at Matador Field.
Fresno State won its first 11 games with series sweeps over Creighton and Youngstown State and the first of two series wins over San Diego State. The Bulldogs then lost seven in a row, followed by wins in nine of 10 contests. They were swept at New Mexico in early April but regained the upper hand in the Mountain West with series wins over Nevada, San Jose State, Air Force and San Diego State.
Fresno State returned 21 letter winners, including six starting position players and nine pitchers, off a team which finished 31-28 a year ago and placed third in the Mountain West with an 18-12 mark. Top returnees include right fielder Austin Guibor (.339, five home runs, 21 RBI in 2015), infielder Kevin Viers (.257, seven home runs, 34 RBI) and infielder Ryan Dobson (.245, seven RBI). Top returning pitchers include right-handers Tim Borst (4-4, 4.65 ERA in 2015) and Jimmy Lambert (4-2, 4.66 ERA) along with southpaw Anthony Arias (2-3, 5.40 ERA).
Mike Batesole is in his 14th season as head coach at Fresno State after seven seasons at Cal State Northridge. He is 474-371 with the Bulldogs and 730-529-1 overall, earning his 700th win in Game 2 of the current campaign. The Bulldogs have made 33 NCAA tournament appearances, including four in the College World Series and capturing the national title in 2008.
The last of Fresno State's 34 conference championships was in 2012.
Fresno State's top hitters through 49 games are center fielder Brody Russell (.415, 15 doubles, four home runs, 35 RBI), second baseman Scott Silva (.330, seven doubles, 14 RBI), first baseman Aaron Arruda (.325, 12 doubles, nine home runs, 35 RBI), outfielder Zach Ashford (.301, 14 RBI) and left fielder Jake Stone (.295, 16 doubles, 28 RBI).
The Bulldogs are hitting .284 as a team with 40 steals in 65 attempts. Fresno State's pitching staff has compiled a 3.21 ERA and the Bulldogs own a .969 fielding percentage with 58 errors in 49 games.
Cal Poly and Fresno State are meeting for the 180th time Tuesday night. The Mustangs won both midweek games a year ago by scores of 7-6 in Fresno and 10-6 in San Luis Obispo and earned a 7-1 victory four weeks ago in Baggett Stadium as Nick Meyer and Michael Sanderson each drove in two runs and Thomas Triantos pitched four scoreless innings for his second win. The two teams did not face each other in the 2013 or 2014 seasons.
The Bulldogs own a 113-66 advantage, though the Mustangs have enjoyed some recent success. In 2005 Cal Poly swept Fresno State in a three-game series for the first time in the then-60-year history of the rivalry and duplicated the feat opening the 2006 campaign in Baggett Stadium and again in 2007 at Beiden Field. The Mustangs have won 21 of their last 27 games against the Bulldogs, including three of five games during Fresno State's national championship season in 2008.
Starting pitchers for Tuesday's game will be freshman right-hander Bobby Ay (1-0, 3.29 ERA) for Cal Poly and sophomore southpaw Anthony Arias (2-3, 6.30 ERA) for Fresno State. Ay is coming off back-to-back solid outings against Cal (five innings, one run, three hits, no walks, three strikeouts) and Santa Clara (six innings, one earned run, five hits, two walks, four strikeouts, first collegiate victory).
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 in 2015), freshman right-hander Cam Schneider and, for the last six 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 46 games, Barbier is Cal Poly's top hitter with a .362 average, 11 doubles and 23 RBI, followed by freshman middle infielder Kyle Marinconz (.304, 11 doubles, 20 RBI). Barbier had a 16-game hitting streak and a 40-game streak of reaching base safely snapped April 30 by Long Beach State. Sophomore left fielder Josh George is hitting .294 with five doubles and 13 RBI, junior third baseman Michael Sanderson sports a .269 average with nine doubles and 27 RBI, senior right fielder John Schuknecht is hitting .271 with 12 doubles, two triples, four home runs and 35 RBI and freshman catcher Nick Meyer has a .254 mark with six doubles and 16 RBI. Meyer also has thrown out 18 would-be base stealers and has picked off 10 other runners.
Freshman center fielder Alex McKenna (Pacific series) and Schuknecht (San Francisco and UC Santa Barbara) have earned Big West Field Player of the Week honors this season while Uelmen (Sacramento State) and Kyle Smith (UC Santa Barbara) have been named Big West Pitcher of the Week. 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 .262 team batting average, has stolen 27 of 40 bases, sports a .964 fielding percentage with 64 errors in 46 games and has compiled a 3.84 staff ERA.
Cal Poly has produced 12 winning seasons since 2000. The Mustangs were 17-11 at home last season and have won 132 of their last 173 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 (449-331-2), 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.
After playing eight of their last nine games on the road, Cal Poly returns to Big West Conference action Friday through Sunday inside Baggett Stadium against UC Irvine, with first pitches set for 6 p.m. both Friday and Saturday and 1 o'clock Sunday.
