Cal Poly Opens Big West Conference Schedule This Weekend at UC Irvine
3/29/2017 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
WEEKLY NOTES (pdf)
CAL POLY | UC IRVINE | BIG WEST
AUDIO STREAM: FRIDAY | SATURDAY | SUNDAY
LIVE STATS: FRIDAY | SATURDAY | SUNDAY
VIDEO STREAM: FRIDAY | SATURDAY
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Cal Poly (8-16, 0-0 Big West), which closed out a 12-game home stand by dropping three of four games to Nebraska over the weekend, opens Big West Conference play Friday night with the first of three games against UC Irvine (11-10, 0-0 Big West). Both teams enter the series with losing streaks -- the Mustangs at three games and the Anteaters at five.
First pitches inside Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark (cap.: 3,408) will be at 6:30 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 o'clock Sunday. All three games of the series will be broadcast on ESPN Radio 1280 with Chris Sylvester providing the play-by-play. First two games of the series also will be broadcast on ESPN3. Links for live stats and audio and video streams are available on the baseball schedule page at www.GoPoly.com.
Despite having 25 freshmen and sophomores on the roster a year ago, including as many as six true freshmen and a community college transfer in the starting lineup, Cal Poly posted a 32-25 mark in 2016, won nine of 15 weekend series, including victories over No. 14 UCLA and No. 19 Michigan and a sweep against College World Series participant UC Santa Barbara.
Eight position players who started at least 27 games a year ago are on the 2017 roster and the pitching rotation features all four returning starters off the 2016 squad, including weekend starters Erich Uelmen (5-3, 3.68 ERA), Kyle Smith (6-6, 3.64 ERA) and Jarred Zill (4-3, 2.79 ERA). Sophomore right-hander Cam Schneider also returns after starting seven games a year ago.
Despite the presence of a large number of veterans, the Mustangs struggled in all facets of the game during their season-opening 11-game road trip. The pitching staff's ERA was 5.50 with opposing batters hitting a robust .286. Defensively, Cal Poly committed five errors in the middle game at Pacific, three more in three other contests and sported a .955 fielding percentage with 18 errors in the 11 games.
And the offense struggled as well, as the Mustangs hit just .233 and were shut out four times. During one stretch, Cal Poly failed to score in 25 consecutive innings, a school Division I record. Pacific and San Diego State both blanked the Mustangs twice en route to series sweeps.
The numbers improved during Cal Poly's 12-game home stand inside Baggett Stadium. The Mustangs hit .262 with 22 doubles, six triples and four home runs while the pitching staff has compiled a 2.47 ERA with 123 strikeouts over 113 innings. Errors are still an issue as Cal Poly has committed 22 in 12 games for a .953 fielding percentage.
Cal Poly's lone series win of the season was against Wichita State two weeks ago. On Tuesday night, the Mustangs dropped a 12-8 decision at Fresno State, surrendering 18 hits. Cal Poly closed a 10-1 gap to 12-8 and had the bases loaded in the ninth, but couldn't complete the comeback. Junior center fielder Josh George had three hits while sophomore center fielder Alex McKenna, freshman designated hitter Bradlee Beesley and freshman backup catcher Myles Emmerson each had two hits.
Once 11-5, UC Irvine slipped to 11-10 by losing to Seattle a week ago Sunday, getting swept at home by Houston and letting a 2-1 ninth-inning lead slip away in a 4-2 loss to Loyola Marymount on Tuesday, also at home. After a 3-4 start, the Anteaters swept a home series against Portland, beat LMU 7-6 and won two of three games against then-No. 1 TCU, also at home, to climb to 11-5 on the year and receive votes in the national polls.
UC Irvine's pitching staff is anchored by sophomore Jordan Bocko (0-1, 4.18 ERA) and juniors Louis Raymond (3-2, 5.28 ERA) and Chris Vargas (0-1, 5.79 ERA), all right-handers. The Anteaters have struggled on the mound with a 5.77 staff ERA and opponents are hitting .301. Senior righty Calvin Faucher (0-2, 3.86 ERA) has a Big West-leading eight saves on the year, equalling his total of a year ago.
UC Irvine has 22 lettermen returning off last year's 31-25 squad that finished tied for seventh place in the Big West at 11-13. Among the returnees are seven position starters and 11 pitchers. Top returning position player include junior outfielder Keston Hiura (.358, seven home runs, 41 RBI in 2016), senior outfielder Adam Alcantara (.337, 36 RBI) and senior outfielder Evan Cassolato (.345, 15 RBI). Senior shortstop Mikey Duarte, who hit .345 and was a first-team All-Big West selection in 2015, redshirted the 2016 campaign.
Hiura owns a .403 batting average this spring with 13 doubles, six home runs and 21 RBI. Cassolato is hitting .386 with 12 RBI, Duarte .348 with six doubles and Alcantara .280 with 12 RBI. First baseman Adrian Damla sports a .327 average.
Coached by Mike Gillespie (10th year at UC Irvine (30th overall), 349-202 (1,112-673-2 overall), USC '62), UC Irvine has a .290 team batting average through 21 games. The Anteaters have stolen 23 of 31 bases and sport a 5.77 staff ERA and a Big West-leading .986 fielding percentage with 11 errors in 21 games.
Cal Poly will send junior right-hander Erich Uelmen (1-4, 2.52 ERA) to the mound Friday night, seeking his first win since Opening Day at Cal. Sophomore right-hander Spencer Howard (1-0, 1.37 ERA) is Saturday's starter while Bobby Ay (0-3, 4.34 ERA), another sophomore righty, draws the nod on Sunday.
UC Irvine has qualified for the NCAA regionals 13 times (eight in Division I), compiling a 26-17 win-loss record in Division I postseason competition and qualifying for the College World Series in 2007 and 2014. 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 State'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 48 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 26-22 advantage, though the Mustangs won two of three games a year ago in Baggett Stadium. Cal Poly is 19-26 against UC Irvine since the Mustangs moved to Division I prior to the 1995 season. Larry Lee is 18-24 against UC Irvine while Mike Gillespie is 17-12 against Cal Poly, including a 2-0 mark while at USC.
Cal Poly's 2017 roster is led by seven returning position starters and eight pitchers who tossed 20 or more innings in 2016.
Outfielder Josh George (.306, seven doubles, 16 RBI in 2016) and catcher Nick Meyer (.301, seven doubles, 21 RBI) both hit above the .300 mark a year ago. Meyer was a second-team All-Big West selection and also was named Big West Freshman Field Player of the Year after picking off a Big West-leading 10 runners and threw out 22 would-be base stealers, second in the conference.
Middle infielder Kyle Marinconz (.284, 15 doubles, 25 RBI), an All-Big West honorable mention, joined Meyer on Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American Team. Third baseman Michael Sanderson (.296, 12 doubles, 33 RBI), outfielder Kevin Morgan (.269, 15 RBI), outfielder Alex McKenna (.261, six home runs, 27 RBI) and shortstop Brett Binning (.225) also return.
A pair of true freshmen -- infielder Bradlee Beesley (.407, 19 RBI at San Leandro High School) and outfielder/designated hitter Scott Ogrin (.412, 18 RBI at Valencia High School) -- were in the starting lineup on Opening Day along with community college transfer Elijah Skipps (Cypress College) at first base.
Cal Poly's top hitter through 24 games is McKenna with a .323 mark, including five doubles and 10 RBI. Sanderson, who missed last weekend's series against Nebraska with a leg injury, owns a .290 average with five doubles, a triple and five RBI while George, who broke out of a 0-for-22 slump with two hits in the finale of the Nebraska series and three more at Fresno State, is hitting at a .258 clip with 16 RBI. Freshman Bradlee Beesley is hitting .256 and Meyer .250 with 16 RBI.
Uelmen, who has struck out 41 batters over 39 1/3 innings, leads the Mustang pitching corps. His record is just 1-4 because in a recent streak of three consecutive starts over 20 2/3 innings, he received zero runs from his teammates. Two weeks ago against Wichita State, he pitched seven strong innings with 10 strikeouts but was not involved in the 13-inning decision, a 5-4 Mustang win, and he gave up two earned runs and four hits over six innings in a 3-2 loss to Nebraska last week.
Howard picked up his first win with seven scoreless innings against Wichita State two weeks ago, notching a career-high 11 strikeouts. He gave up one earned run over five innings with eight strikeouts in a no-decision against Nebraska last week.
A year ago Cal Poly earned its 14th winning season since 2000 and reached the 30-win mark for the 11th time this century. The Mustangs were 23-8 at home last season and have won 140 of their last 186 home games for a winning percentage of 75.3 percent.
Cal Poly, which earned NCAA regional berths in 2009, 2013 and 2014, has finished fourth or higher in the Big West 12 times in its last 14 seasons, including back-to-back fourth-place finishes after capturing its first Big West championship in 2014.
Lee (463-352-2) 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. Lee's previous 14 clubs at Cal Poly have averaged 32.5 wins per season.
In addition to the four games already played against Pac-12 schools, Cal Poly's 2017 schedule also includes a three-game set at UCLA in late April. The schedule features 14 games against 2016 NCAA regional qualifiers, a 12-game home stand in March and 28 contests in all inside Baggett Stadium. All 56 Mustang games this spring will be played in the Golden State.
Next week Cal Poly continues Big West play with a three-game series against Hawai'i on Friday through Sunday inside Baggett Stadium.
