Cal Poly to Visit Southern California for Three-Game Series

Friday, February 26

Los Angeles, CA

5 p.m.

USC

Cal Poly third baseman Tate Samuelson went 7-for-16 during the Nevada series last weekend.

Cal Poly to Visit Southern California for Three-Game Series

2/24/2021 8:50:00 AM | Baseball

WEEKLY NOTES: CAL POLY | USC | BIG WEST
AUDIO STREAM: FRIDAY | SATURDAY | SUNDAY
LIVE STATS | VIDEO STREAM

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Cal Poly (1-3 overall, 0-0 Big West), which opened its 2021 season with a 4-0 shutout before losing the four-game series to Nevada at home, plays its only non-conference road series this weekend by visiting the USC Trojans (2-1, 0—0 Pac-12) inside Dedeaux Field (cap.: 2,500).

Coach Larry Lee's Mustangs and the Trojans of second-year head coach Jason Gill, a former player under Lee while both were at Cuesta College, clash Friday at 5 p.m., Saturday at 2 o'clock and Sunday at 1 p.m.

The first and third games of the series will be broadcast on ESPN Radio (1280 AM and 101.7 FM) with Jay Holloway providing the play-by-play. The middle game of the series will be available via audio stream. Links for live stats and audio and video streams are available on the baseball schedule page at www.GoPoly.com.

Coming off a 10-5 performance in the COVID-19 shortened 2020 campaign, USC returned 28 of 31 letter winners, including eight position starters and nine pitchers. Top returnees are utility player Jamal O'Guinn (.378 in 2020), catcher/first baseman Clay Owens (.346, 17 RBIs) and infielder Ben Ramirez (.310, 13 RBIs). The pitching staff is led by Isaac Esqueda (0-1, 1.20 ERA in 2020), Alex Cornwell (2-1, 3.66 ERA) and Brian Gursky (1-1, 0.00 ERA), all southpaws. Esqueda, Cornwell and righty Chandler Champlain (0-0, 1.23 ERA) will start the three games against Cal Poly.

Coached by Gill (second season, 12-6, Cal State Fullerton '96), USC won two of three games against Loyola Marymount last weekend. The Trojans won 3-2 on Friday and 5-0 on Saturday, both at home, and fell 9-8 on the Lions' home turf Sunday.

Esqueda started the opener and allowed two runs and six hits over five innings in the no-decision. Trailing 2-0, USC scored single runs in the sixth, seventh and ninth innings for the win. A bases-loaded walk was the decider. Champlain and Gursky combined on a six-hit shutout with 10 strikeouts in Saturday's shutout while seven Trojan pitchers combined to give up 20 hits in the series finale. USC committed five errors in the last game, leading to four unearned runs for the Lions.

Cal Poly followed its season-opening 4-0 shutout against Nevada with 2-1, 11-8 (10 innings) and 12-6 setbacks. Drew Thorpe and Dylan Villalobos combined on a two-hitter in the opener, but the Mustangs stranded 38 runners on the base paths in the remaining three games of the series. Junior third baseman Tate Samuelson and senior catcher Myles Emmerson led the way at the plate for Cal Poly, Samuelson going 7-for-16 (,438) with a double, triple and four RBIs and Emmerson going 6-for-14 (.429) with two doubles and three runs scored.

With 12 national championships in the sport, the Trojans are far and away the leader in that category (no other school has more than six). Since starting baseball in 1889, the Trojans have a record of 2,671-1,555-18 (.631) against college opponents, and have captured 38 conference titles, last claiming the Pac-12 championship in 2002 under Mike Gillespie.

Rod Dedeaux coached USC from 1942-86, leading the school to 11 of its NCAA crowns, including five straight from 1970-74 (no other school has strung together more than two in a row). Trojans have been named first team All-American 52 times, with Jay Roundy, Pat Harrison, Bill Bordley and Gabe Alvarez being two-time selections. Mark McGwire (1984), Seth Etherton (1998) and Mark Prior (2001) were national Players of the Year.

USC has appeared in 41 regionals, the last time in 2015, compiling a 102-45 mark in postseason play. The Trojans have won 784 of 100 College World Series games.

USC boasts many successful major leaguers such as Ron Fairly, Don Buford, Tom Seaver, Dave Kingman, Fred Lynn, Roy Smalley, Steve Kemp, Mark McGwire, Randy Johnson, Bret and Aaron Boone, Jeff Cirillo, Barry Zito, Geoff Jenkins and Mark Prior. In all, Trojans have been drafted 340 times, with a national-best 114 Trojans having played in the major leagues.

Cal Poly and Southern California have met 35 times on the baseball field. The Trojans hold a 27-8 advantage, winning two of three at Baggett Stadium in 2019. Larry Lee is 5-12 against USC while Gill is 5-9 against Cal Poly, all while at Loyola Marymount.

Hired as USC's head coach on June 14, 2019, Gill became a Trojan after 11 seasons at Loyola Marymount, where he posted a 322-286-1 (.530) overall record. In 2019, he led the Lions to a 34-25 record and into the NCAA postseason, with LMU reaching the final of the Los Angeles Regional after wins over Baylor and UCLA, before narrowly falling to the top-seeded Bruins.

Prior to his time at LMU, he was the hitting coach and recruiting coordinator under George Horton at both Cal State Fullerton and Oregon, bringing in a Top 10 recruiting class in 2007 at Fullerton. He was Horton's first hire as both men left Cal State Fullerton to begin the reconstruction of the Oregon baseball program in 2007.

Gill spent the three years (2001-04) preceding his time with the Titans at UC Irvine and was an assistant at LMU in 1999 and 2000, helping to lead the Lions to West Coast Conference titles in both seasons. Prior to that, he worked as an assistant at Nevada (1997-98), helping to lead the Wolf Pack to the program's second-ever postseason appearance.

Gill prepped at Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, Calif., then played two years under Lee at Cuesta College in 1993 and 1994. He received his bachelor's degree from Cal State Fullerton in kinesiology in 1996.

Before the 2020 season was halted last March 11 due to COVID-19, Cal Poly won two of three games in the MLB4 Tournament at Scottsdale, Ariz., rallying for two runs on sacrifice flies in the bottom of the ninth inning for a walk-off 9-8 triumph over defending national champion Vanderbilt and also shutting out Connecticut 5-0 behind the combined two-hit pitching of Taylor Dollard and Dylan Villalobos.

The Mustangs, however, won just 10 of their next 13 contests to finish 5-11. One of those victories was a 10-inning 5-4 decision over No. 5 Michigan inside Baggett Stadium as Taison Corio singled with one out and the bases loaded.

Lee welcomed back 20 lettermen off last year's squad, including seven position starters. The 2021 Mustang roster also has been bolstered by the addition of three transfers from Boise State, which dropped its baseball program last summer, and one from Washington State, first baseman/designated hitter Matt Lopez.

Catcher Myles Emmerson led the squad a year ago with his .317 average, but no other Mustang starter finished above .280. Emmerson is the only one of the five seniors on last year's squad who is returning this season under the NCAA rule allowing every 2020 spring sport athlete another year of eligibility due to COVID-19.

Last year's freshman class, which includes the likes of shortstop Brooks Lee, infielder Nick Marinconz and pitchers Drew Thorpe, Derek True and Kyle Scott, is considered one of Lee's strongest and the lineup also will feature the likes of veterans Cole Cabrera in center field, Taison Corio at second base and Tate Samuelson, who will move from first base across the diamond to third base this year.

In addition to Thorpe, Scott and True, the pitching staff will be led by returnees Andrew Alvarez and Bryan Woo in the starting rotation and Dylan Villalobos out of the bullpen. Thorpe is expected to start the season opener Friday night.

All three Boise State transfers figure to play prominent roles with the Mustangs this spring. Southpaw Travis Weston will be Cal Poly's Saturday starter, Joe Yorke is penciled on the depth chart No. 1 at first base and Reagan Doss is listed No. 1 in right field.

For the second time in the last five years, Cal Poly is playing all of its games in the Golden State. The 2017 squad also played all 56 games in California, going 28-28. The Mustangs also will play 33 of its 56 games inside Baggett Stadium, opening the season with 17 of their first 23 games at home.

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 has had just three losing seasons since 2000 and has reached the 30-win mark 12 times this century. The Mustangs have won 188 of their last 273 home games for a 68.9 winning percentage.

Lee (547-433-2) moved into a tie with Fresno State's Bob Bennett for the Big West record for overall wins with last week's 4-0 shutout against Nevada. During the UC Davis series in 2019, 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 reached the 500-victory milestone on April 20, 2018, with a 5-4 triumph over Long Beach State. He earned 460 wins in 16 seasons at Cuesta College and notched his 460th Mustang victory on March 13, 2017 against Gonzaga and his 1,000th career victory with a 3-0 triumph at UC Santa Barbara on May 23, 2019. He currently has a 1,007-674-5 record over 34-plus seasons as a head coach.

Next week, Cal Poly returns home to host Utah Valley for a three-game non-conference series. Games will start Friday and Saturday at 6 p.m. and Sunday at 1 o'clock.

Photo above of Tate Samuelson courtesy of Owen Main | www.fansmanship.com