Cal Poly to Host No. 6 UCLA for Weekend Three-Game Series

Friday, March 12

San Luis Obispo, CA

6 p.m.

UCLA

Senior catcher Myles Emmerson was Cal Poly's top hitter during last year's pandemic-shortened season and sports a .419 batting average this spring with a Big West-leading 18 hits in 10 games.

Photo by: Owen Main | Cal Poly Athletics

Cal Poly to Host No. 6 UCLA for Weekend Three-Game Series

3/9/2021 9:48:00 PM | Baseball

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

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Cal Poly (6-4 overall, 0-0 Big West), which bounced back from its season-opening 1-3 mark in a four-game series against Nevada by winning five of its last six games, plays its second straight home series this weekend by hosting No. 6 UCLA (9-3, 0-0 Pac-12) for a three-game set inside Baggett Stadium (cap.: 3,138).

Coach Larry Lee's Mustangs and the Bruins of 17th-year head coach John Savage clash Friday and Saturday at 6 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.

All three games of the series will be broadcast on ESPN Radio (1280 AM and 101.7 FM) 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.

Coming off a 13-2 performance in the COVID-19 shortened 2020 campaign, UCLA returned 23 of 30 letter winners, including eight position starters and a dozen pitchers. Top returnees are shortstop Matt McLain (.397, 19 RBIs in 2020), outfielder Kyle Cuellar (.341, nine RBIs) and second baseman Mikey Perez (.333, six RBIs). The pitching staff is paced by Zach Pettway (3-0, 1.05 ERA in 2020), Jesse Bergin (4-0, 1.27 ERA) and Nick Nastrini (2-1, 4.60 ERA), all right-handers. Those three are expected to start on the mound this weekend for UCLA.

Coached by Savage (17th season, 561-365-1, Nevada '91), UCLA opened its 2021 season by dropping two of three games at home against U. San Francisco. Since then, the Bruins have rattled off eight wins in their last nine outings, including a 6-2 victory at Cal State Fullerton on Tuesday night. UCLA also has beaten Loyola Marymount, UC Irvine, Pepperdine and USC during the run.

The Bruins were ranked No. 2 in several preseason polls, dropped back after losing two of three to the Dons, but have climbed back into the upper echelon of the polls by taking two of three versus UC Irvine and defeating the Titans three times.

Drew Thorpe and Dylan Villalobos combined on a two-hitter in Cal Poly's season-opening 4-0 win over Nevada, but the Mustangs stranded 38 runners on the base paths in the remaining three games of the series, falling 2-1, 11-8 (10 innings) and 12-6. 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.

It was a different story at USC as Cal Poly won two of three games two weeks ago, its first win of a three-game set against USC in 27 Division I seasons. Thorpe and Andrew Alvarez combined on a three-hitter in a 2-1 victory Friday night at Dedeaux Field and the Mustangs parlayed 16 hits into a 9-4 triumph Saturday afternoon, Samuelson, freshman shortstop Brooks Lee and junior designated hitter Matt Lopez all collecting three hits and driving in two runs. The Trojans jumped to a 6-0 lead in the first two innings Sunday and held on for a 7-6 win to salvage one victory in the series. Samuelson and Lee both hit solo home runs in the setback.

Cal Poly notched its first series sweep since April 2019 with a 3-0 sweep against Utah Valley last weekend. The Mustangs erupted for 13 runs in the fifth inning — two runs shy of the school Division I mark — to break open a 4-3 contest en route to a 17-3 triumph in the opener. Lee and Emmerson both had three hits — Lee with two doubles and a home run for three RBIs — as Cal Poly compiled a 16-hit attack for the second time this season. Sophomore southpaw and Boise State transfer Travis Weston tossed a complete-game two-hitter with a career-high 11 strikeouts in Saturday's 5-1 win. Lee again produced three hits. Andrew Alvarez, another lefty, tossed six scoreless innings with eight strikeouts and teamed with three relievers on a 6-0 shutout Sunday. Matt Lopez singled three times and Lee added a two-run home run and a sacrifice fly as both collected seven hits in the series.

UCLA has fielded a baseball team since 1920, winning one national title (2013) and 12 conference championships (the last in 2019). The Bruins have made five College World Series appearances, six Super Regionals and 23 regionals, compiling a 2,547-2,059-35 record all-time.

Under Savage's guidance, UCLA has advanced to the postseason in 11 of the last 14 seasons (excluding the pandemic-shortened 2020 season) and has produced 107 draft selections, including 41 players drafted within the first 10 rounds. The 13 selections in 2019 and two more in 2020 brought the program's total to 289 all-time MLB Draft selections. Savage has coached 15 players at UCLA that have competed in the major leagues.

Prior to taking over UCLA's program, Savage was head coach at UC Irvine for three seasons (2002-04) and was an assistant coach at USC (1997-2000) and Nevada (1992-96). He pitched at Santa Clara for three seasons and was selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the 16th round of the 1986 MLB Draft. Savage played two seasons in the Reds' minor league system.

The Bruins own a 28-11 advantage in their series against Cal Poly, beating the Mustangs once in the 2013 regional at Jackie Robinson Stadium en route to the national championship and sweeping Cal Poly in 2018 in Baggett Stadium. In its Big West championship season in 2014, Cal Poly won two of three games against UCLA at Jackie Robinson Stadium, including a 2-0 shutout pitched by then-freshman Slater Lee, a two-hitter with seven strikeouts.

Larry Lee is 7-14 against UCLA while John Savage is 21-9 against Cal Poly, including a 14-7 mark at UCLA and 7-2 record at UC Irvine.

UCLA is hitting .253 as a team with 19 steals in 21 attempts, a 2.44 staff ERA and a .976 fielding percentage with 10 errors in 12 games. Center fielder Kevin Kendall leads all Bruin hitters with a .353 average and seven steals, followed by McLain at .273 and right fielder Michael Curialle at .267 with six doubles and 10 RBIs, both team highs.

The UCLA pitching staff is paced by Pettway (0-0, 9.00 ERA), Bergin (2-1, 1.72 ERA) and Nastrini (2-0, 1.53 ERA). Three different Bruin relievers have one save each.

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 three 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 returned 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 has moved 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 the Friday night starter, with either Alvarez or Woo on Sundays.

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 will roam the grass in left field.

Leading the squad's hitters are Lopez with a .485 average, three doubles and 10 RBIs. Emmerson sports a .419 mark with two doubles and five RBIs while Lee, the reigning Big West Player of the Week after going 7-for-12 against Utah Valley with two doubles, a pair of home runs and seven RBIs, is hitting .417 with three doubles, a trio of homers and a team-leading 11 RBIs. Samuelson has three doubles, a triple and a home run within his .341 average at the plate, driving in eight runs. He produced an eight-game hitting streak to open the season.

Thorpe (2-0, 1.93 ERA) and Weston (1-1, 1.96 ERA) have anchored themselves in the starting rotation while six relievers — Chase Walter, Derek True, Zach Button, Kyle Scott, Dylan Villalobos and Bryce Warrecker — all have ERAs under 2.00.

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 (including three straight from 2017-19), 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 191 of their last 277 home games for a 69.0 winning percentage.

Lee (552-434-2) surpassed Fresno State's Bob Bennett for the Big West record for overall wins with the 2-1 series-opening win at USC two weeks ago. During the UC Davis series in 2019, Lee eclipsed 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 1,012-675-5 record over 34-plus seasons as a head coach.

Next week, Cal Poly opens Big West Conference play at CSUN. Games at Matador Field are scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday, an 11 a.m. doubleheader Sunday and a 2 p.m. finale Monday.