Cal Poly to Visit Fresno State on Tuesday for Second Midweek Game
2/24/2020 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
WEEKLY NOTES: CAL POLY | FRESNO STATE | BIG WEST
AUDIO STREAM | VIDEO STREAM | LIVE STATS
THORPE NAMED BIG WEST PITCHER OF THE WEEK
AUDIO STREAM | VIDEO STREAM | LIVE STATS
THORPE NAMED BIG WEST PITCHER OF THE WEEK
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Cal Poly (3-5), which opened its 2020 baseball season with two wins in three games at the MLB4 Tournament at Scottsdale, Ariz., including a walk-off triumph against defending national champion and No. 1-ranked Vanderbilt, then dropped four of five home games last week, plays its second midweek contest Tuesday on the road at Fresno State (2-4).
First pitch is set for 6:05 p.m. inside Bob Bennett Stadium. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN Radio 1280 with Chris Sylvester calling the play-by-play. Links for audio and video streams as well as live stats are available on the baseball schedule page at www.GoPoly.com.
Cal Poly let 3-0 and 7-2 leads slip away, but overcame an 8-7 deficit with sacrifice flies by Cole Cabrera and Tate Samuelson in the bottom of the ninth inning to edge Vanderbilt 9-8. The Mustangs also defeated Connecticut 5-0 as Taylor Dollard (seven innings, 10 strikeouts) and Dylan Villalobos (two innings, two strikeouts) combined on a two-hit shutout. In between, Cal Poly fell to No. 8 Michigan 8-5.
Last week the Mustangs dropped their home opener to Pepperdine, 9-2, then lost three of four games against BYU, winning only the opener of Saturday's doubleheader 10-0 as freshman right-hander Drew Thorpe tossed eight scoreless innings with 13 strikeouts, two shy of the school's Division I record.
The win over UConn gave Cal Poly a victory in its season opener for the seventh time in the last nine years. Mustang head coach Larry Lee is 11-7 in the first game of the year.
Fresno State won two of three games against Big West member UC Irvine to open the season before Washington swept the Bulldogs by scores of 8-1, 3-1 and 9-6. All six games were played at Bob Bennett Stadium as the Bulldogs play their first 12 games of the season at home.
The Mustangs return 10 of the 11 position players who started 20 or more games in 2019 and eight of last year's 13 pitchers. The group of veterans is paced by junior corner infielder Tate Samuelson, who has led Cal Poly in home runs and RBIs each of the last two years, senior center fielder Bradlee Beesley, who is in or near the all-time top 10 in several offensive categories at Cal Poly, and junior right-hander Taylor Dollard, who was 5-0 with a 2.89 ERA and four saves as a relief pitcher a year ago and is making the switch to the weekend rotation this spring as the Mustangs' Friday night starter.
Junior left fielder Cole Cabrera, Cal Poly's leadoff hitter this year, went 6-for-15 in the MLB4 Tournament with two doubles, a pair of RBIs and four runs scored to lead the Mustangs in Scottsdale. Senior center fielder Bradlee Beesley and freshman third baseman Nick Marinconz each added four hits while junior first baseman Tate Samuelson drove in five runs.
Senior catcher Myles Emmerson was 9-for-18 at the plate in the BYU series and threw out four would-be Cougar base stealers, two in each game of Saturday's doubleheader. Samuelson and Beesley each added seven hits — Samuelson driving in three runs to lift his team-leading season total to nine in eight games.
The Cal Poly pitching staff has produced a 3.27 ERA so far. UConn hit just .091 against Dollard, all four runs surrendered by Andrew Alvarez were unearned and he struck out seven over 4 2/3 innings and Thorpe tossed seven solid innings in a no-decision against Vanderbilt, allowing two runs and four hits with six strikeouts. Despite winning three of four games, BYU was held to just a .174 team batting average in the series.
The Mustangs, who committed nine errors in the MLB4 Tournament, including seven in the loss to Michigan, shored up the defense last week with just four errors in five games. Cal Poly is No. 8 in the nine-team Big West, however, with its .958 fielding percentage and only 28 of the 40 runs the Mustang pitching staff has allowed so far this season are earned.
Fresno State welcomed back 19 lettermen, including two position starters and 10 pitchers off last year's 40-16-1 squad which won the Mountain West Conference regular season title as well as the conference tournament and lost twice to Stanford after winning the first two games in the NCAA Stanford Regional.
Top Fresno State returnees are designated hitter/first baseman Emilio Nogales (.290, 27 RBIs in 2019), outfielder Nate Thimjon (.267, 27 RBIs) and catcher Zach Presno (.221, 10 home runs, 45 RBIs). The Bulldog pitching staff is paced by right-handers Oscar Carvajal (4-0, 2.68 ERA, two saves in 2019) and Kevin Larson (2-1, 4.06 ERA) along with southpaw closer Jaime Arias (1-3, 3.28 ERA, 12 saves).
Coached by Mike Batesole (18th season at Fresno State, 585-445-1; 25th season overall, 841-603-1 overall; Cal State Fullerton '90), Fresno State has a .220 team batting average through six games. The Bulldogs have stolen four of four bases, sport a 6.33 staff ERA and have compiled a .967 fielding percentage with eight errors in six games.
Top Bulldog hitters to date are third baseman Zach Morgan (.333, five RBIs), Presno (.304, three home runs, six RBIs), second baseman Andrew Kachel (.294) and left fielder Ryan Higgins (.286). Scheduled to start on the mound Tuesday for Fresno State is freshman right-hander Alex Kendrick (0-0, 0.00 ERA), a graduate of Buhach Colony in Atwater, Calif. Kendrick allowed one unearned run and one hit with three strikeouts in 1 2/3 innings of relief in the series opener against Washington last Friday.
Cal Poly will go with true freshman right-hander Derek True (0-1, 4.50 ERA). In his first collegiate start last Tuesday against unbeaten Pepperdine, True scattered eight hits over 4 1/3 innings, allowing three earned runs with no walks and four strikeouts.
Fresno State has made 34 NCAA tournament appearances, including four in the College World Series and capturing the national title in 2008. The 2019 Mountain West regular season title was Fresno State's 36th conference championship but just the second since 2012.
Batesole, who coached at CSUN for seven years prior to becoming coach of the Bulldogs in 2003, is a two-time National Coach of the Year. His Bulldogs won seven straight conference titles from 2006-12 and made six NCAA appearances in that time, advancing to the regional title game three times before winning the national championship in 2008. Under Batesole, Fresno State produced its fifth straight 30-win season in 2019 and Batesole has produced a total of 85 players who have been selected in the annual Major League Baseball draft during his previous 17 years at the helm.
During his tenure at CSUN from 1996-2002, the Matadors captured a Western Athletic Conference (1996) and Big West Conference title (2002). The Matadors made two NCAA Tournament appearances under Batesole and his career record of 256-158-1 at Northridge ranks him second all-time in program history. His .620 winning percentage also ranks as the best ever in school history. In Batesole's seven years at CSUN, 37 of his players made it to the professional ranks.
A graduate of Garden Grove High School, Batesole played collegiately at Oral Roberts at third base and spent four seasons playing professionally in the Los Angeles Dodgers farm system from 1985-88.
Cal Poly and Fresno State, which didn't play each other in 2018, are meeting for the 185th time Tuesday night. The Bulldogs won both midweek games in 2019 and own a 117-67 advantage.
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 22 of their last 32 games against the Bulldogs, including three of five games during Fresno State's national championship season in 2008.
Lee is 24-12 against Fresno State while Batesole sports a 21-29 mark against Cal Poly, including a 9-5 record while he was at CSUN.
The Mustangs are playing 35 of their 59 games at home this season, including five consecutive weekend series against BYU, Michigan, Baylor, Oklahoma and San Diego State. Cal Poly hosts UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, Long Beach State and UC Davis for Big West series in April and May.
Cal Poly won the Big West title in 2014 and has placed second six times, third four times and fourth six times since 2000, posting a combined record of 310-258 in 23 years as a member of the Big West.
Cal Poly won seven of its 15 weekend series in addition to a 2-2 split with Saint Mary's in 2019. Along with their sweep of Columbia to halt an early season slide (2-9), the Mustangs swept CSUN, UC Davis and Long Beach State en route to a 12-2 start in Big West play, finishing 17-7 and two games behind UC Santa Barbara. A win on the final day of the season would have resulted in a tie for first place between the Mustangs and Gauchos and Cal Poly would have attained the conference's automatic qualifying berth in the NCAA regionals. The Mustangs won six of their eight Big West series.
Cal Poly has had just three losing seasons since 2000 and has reached the 30-win mark 12 times this century. The Mustangs have won 185 of their last 264 home games for a 70.0 winning percentage.
Lee (544-424-2) reached the 500-victory milestone on April 20, 2018, with a 5-4 triumph over Long Beach State. His 544 wins to date are No. 2 in the conference behind Fresno State's Bob Bennett (547) and, during the UC Davis series last year, Lee surpassed Cal Poly alum and former Long Beach State head coach Dave Snow with his 219th conference win. Snow guided the Dirtbags to 218 Big West wins from 1989-2001.
Lee, who earned 460 wins in 16 seasons at Cuesta College and notched his 460th Mustang victory on March 13, 2017 against Gonzaga, garnered his 1,000th career victory with a 3-0 triumph at UC Santa Barbara on May 23, 2019. He opened the 2020 campaign with a 1,001-660-5 record over 33 seasons.
Cal Poly returns home to face Michigan in a three-game series this weekend (Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 4 o'clock and Sunday at 1 p.m.
Photo courtesy of Owen Main | www.fansmanship.com
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