Cal Poly Wraps Up 2017 Season by Hosting UC Riverside This Weekend
5/22/2017 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
WEEKLY NOTES: CAL POLY | UCR | BIG WEST
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VIDEO STREAM: BIG WEST | MUSTANG NEWS
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Cal Poly (26-27, 14-7 Big West), which moved into a second-place tie with Cal State Fullerton in the Big West Conference standings after sweeping UC Santa Barbara last weekend for the second straight year and has won 18 of its last 29 games after an 8-16 start to the 2017 season, plays its final series of the year this weekend with a three-game Big West set against UC Riverside (21-30, 7-14 Big West) inside Baggett Stadium (cap.: 2,800).
First pitches for the series are set for 6 p.m. both Thursday and Friday and 1 o'clock Saturday. All three games of the series will be broadcast on ESPN Radio 1280 with Chris Sylvester providing the play-by-play. Links for live stats and audio and video streams are available on the baseball schedule page at www.GoPoly.com as well as at the top of this preview.
Prior to Saturday's game, Cal Poly's five seniors -- pitcher Slater Lee, first baseman Michael Sanderson, outfielder Kevin Morgan and infielders Alec Smith and Brett Binning -- will be honored in a pregame ceremony.
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 returned after starting seven games a year ago.
After winning just twice during a season-opening 11-game road trip, Cal Poly posted a 6-6 mark in a 12-game home stand in March. Since the start of Big West play on the final day of March, the Mustangs have hit .296, have outscored the opposition 166-119, have compiled a 3.42 ERA and 18-11 record and own a .975 fielding percentage with 28 errors in the 29 games.
Those numbers are in sharp contrast to the .253 average, 42 errors and 121 runs surrendered en route to an 8-16 record in the first 24 games of the season.
Last week, the Mustangs earned their first series sweep at UC Santa Barbara since 2007 and swept the Gauchos for the second straight year. Scores were 11-2, 7-4 and 9-2. Cal Poly hit .325 in the series, outscored the Gauchos 27-8, outhit UCSB 38-15 and compiled a 1.33 staff ERA. Among the Mustangs' hits were six doubles, two triples and five home runs.
Shortstop Kyle Marinconz (pictured above) was 9-for-15 in the series with two doubles and a pair of home runs, driving in six runs, while catcher Nick Meyer was 6-for-12 with a double and a triple. Outfielder Kevin Morgan had five hits and five RBI, center fielder Alex McKenna also had five hits, second baseman Scott Ogrin knocked in four runs with two doubles and a triple and designated hitter Elijah Skipps homered twice, both three-run blasts in Sunday's game, and drove in seven runs in the series.
With one weekend series still to be played for everyone but CSUN in the Big West, Cal Poly is No. 1 in conference games only in batting average (.308), hits (236) and fewest triples and home runs allowed. The Mustangs are No. 2 in ERA (3.72), strikeouts by the pitchers (160), wins (14) and saves (6) and No. 4 in fielding percentage (.972).
UC Riverside bounced back from a 12-4 loss with 9-3 and 12-2 victories to claim its three-game Big West series against UC Irvine last weekend. The Highlanders' only other series win in conference play was against UC Santa Barbara in late April. UC Riverside jumped to a 10-5 start with series wins over Fresno State, Holy Cross and Kansas State before losing 17 of its next 20 contests. The Highlanders have gone 8-8 since being swept by CSUN in Northridge.
UC Riverside has 20 returning lettermen -- five position starters and nine pitchers -- off last year's 26-29 squad which finished tied for fourth place in the Big West at 12-12. Among the returnees are center fielder Mark Contreras (.333, 24 RBI in 2016), shortstop Colby Schultz (.277, four home runs, 17 RBI) and first baseman Aaron Cisneros (.274, eight home runs, 26 RBI).
Top returning pitchers for UC Riverside are Angel Landazuri (5-5, 4.73 ERA in 2016), Richard Delgado (1-8, 5.12 ERA) and closer Ryan Lillie (4-3, 4.15 ERA, seven saves), all right-handers. Lillie will start Thursday's game against Cal Poly, but the other two starters are undecided.
So far this season, Contreras tops all Highlander hitters with a .360 average with 11 doubles, eight triples and 22 RBI. Schultz is next at .308 with 14 doubles and 19 RBI, followed by second baseman Cody Sporrer (.293, 27 RBI).
Lillie sports a 2-6 record and 4.76 ERA with four saves while Delgado is 1-2 with a 5.59 ERA. Alex Fagalde, another right-hander, is 6-4 with a 3.82 ERA.
Coached by Troy Percival (third year, 62-99, UC Riverside '91), UC Riverside has a .260 team batting average through 51 games. The Highlanders have stolen 20 of 33 bases and sport a 5.33 staff ERA and .968 fielding percentage with 62 errors in 51 games.
UC Riverside, a member of the Big West since 2002, claimed the Big West title in 2007 and has qualified for the NCAA Division I regionals twice -- in 2003 and 2007. The Highlanders also earned NCAA Division II playoff berths nine times, capturing the national title in both 1977 and 1982.
Percival, who replaced Doug Smith on July 29, 2014, was a catcher during his three years with the Highlanders and was drafted after his junior year by the California Angels in the sixth round of the 1990 Amateur Draft. Following a year as a catcher in the minors, Percival was converted to a relief pitcher, and during his rookie season of 1995, he finished fourth in American League Rookie of the Year balloting, going 3-2 with three saves and a 1.95 ERA, striking out 94 batters in 74.0 innings. The Angels made him their full-time closer in 1996, and he rewarded them by recording 36 saves and striking out 100 batters in 74.0 innings. Percival earned his first of four All-Star nods that season as he finished fourth in the league in saves. By the time his professional career ended in 2009, Percival had 358 saves on his big-league résumé, ninth on Major League Baseball's all-time career list.
Since his retirement from major league baseball, Percival worked as a volunteer pitching coach for Riverside Poly High School in Riverside (2010-12), and as head coach at his high school alma mater, Moreno Valley High School (2013-14). He also spent a year working in the Angels organization as a roving pitching instructor.
Cal Poly and UC Riverside have met 195 times on the baseball field since the series began when both teams were California Collegiate Athletic Association members back in 1970. The Mustangs hold a 111-84 advantage, losing two of three games to the Highlanders a year ago in Riverside. Cal Poly, which won two of three games in 2014 in Riverside en route to the Big West title, swept the Highlanders in 2012, 2013 and 2015. Cal Poly, 14-4 against UC Riverside over the last six years, is 29-19 against the Highlanders since the Mustangs moved to Division I prior to the 1995 season. Larry Lee is 26-16 against UC Riverside while Troy Percival is 2-4 against Cal Poly.
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), a second-team All-Big West selection in 2016, 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 53 games is McKenna with a .362 mark, including 11 doubles, five home runs and 30 RBI with 28 multiple-hit games. He is 51-for-127 (.402) over his last 28 games with 18 multiple-hit contests. Sanderson is hitting .319 with 10 doubles, a triple, a pair of home runs and 24 RBI, going 52-for-157 (.331) over his last 39 games after hitting .242 in the first nine contests of the year.
Beesley is hitting .307 with 13 doubles and three triples, going 59-for-176 (.335) since and including the middle game of the San Diego State series when he produced his first four-hit game. He was hitting .160 prior to that contest March 4. Marinconz has lifted his average 46 points over the last 17 games to .280 by going 26-for-70 (.371) while Kevin Morgan is hitting .261. Elijah Skipps has gone 10-for-27 (.370) over the last two weeks to bump his average up 25 points to .253.
Uelmen, who has struck out 88 batters over 89 1/3 innings, leads the Mustang pitching corps. His record is just 3-8 because in an early-season stretch of three consecutive starts over 20 2/3 innings, he received zero runs from his teammates and Cal Poly also was shut out in his start May 5 at Long Beach State. Ten 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. He gave up two earned runs and four hits over six innings in a 3-2 loss to Nebraska the following week and one earned run and seven hits over six frames in a non-decision 10-inning 3-2 win at UC Irvine eight weeks ago. Uelmen's first win was in the season opener at Cal on Feb. 18, he notched win No. 2 six weeks ago at UC Davis, giving up one run and five hits over six innings, and earned his third win last week at UC Santa Barbara as his teammates supported him with 11 runs.
Howard (7-1, 2.24 ERA, second-best in the Big West), who started the season in the bullpen, picked up his first win with seven scoreless innings against Wichita State 10 weeks ago, notching a career-high 11 strikeouts, and has won his last five starts against Cal State Fullerton, UCLA, Long Beach State, CSUN (complete-game seven-hitter with 10 strikeouts) and UCSB. In his first weekend start, junior southpaw Trent Shelton allowed two unearned runs and two hits over six innings with six strikeouts for the win at UCSB on Sunday.
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 150 of their last 203 home games for a winning percentage of 73.9 percent. Cal Poly, which earned NCAA regional berths in 2009, 2013 and 2014, has finished fourth or higher in the Big West 13 times in its last 15 seasons, including back-to-back fourth-place finishes after capturing its first Big West championship in 2014.
Lee (481-363-2) 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. Lee earned 460 wins in 16 seasons at Cuesta College and, in his 15th season at Cal Poly, notched his 460th Mustang victory on March 13 against Gonzaga.
Cal Poly has played seven games against Pac-12 teams this season, winning one of three in the season-opening series at Cal, falling at Stanford on Feb. 23 and losing two of three contests at UCLA. The schedule also featured 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.
