Cal Poly second baseman Taison Corio has gone 7-for-17 (.412) over his last six games with two doubles, a pair of triples and five RBIs, bumping his batting average up 50 points to .257.
Photo by: Owen Main | Cal Poly Athletics
Cal Poly Resumes Big West Play at Long Beach State This Weekend
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Cal Poly (14-10 overall, 4-4 Big West), which has won 13 of 20 games, including series wins over USC and then-No. 6 UCLA, after a 1-3 start, and won its non-conference series against San Jose State last weekend, resumes Big West play this weekend by visiting Long Beach State (6-6, 6-6 Big West) for a four-game set at Blair Field (cap.: 3,000).
Coach Larry Lee's Mustangs and the Dirtbags of second-year head coach Eric Valenzuela clash Friday at 6 p.m. followed by a noon doubleheader Saturday and the finale Sunday at 1 o'clock.
All four 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 10-5 performance in the COVID-19 shortened 2020 campaign, Long Beach State returned 23 of 32 letter winners, including seven position starters and seven pitchers. Top returnees are center fielder Connor Kokx (.400, five RBIs in 2020), designated hitter Calvin Estrada (.290, seven RBIs) and first baseman Chase Luttrell (.370, four RBIs). The pitching staff is paced by right-handers Luis Ramirez (2-0, 2.73 ERA in 2020), Johnathan Lavallee (1-0, 3.27 ERA) and Devereaux Harrison (0-1, 1.32 ERA) along with southpaw Alfredo Ruiz (3-1, 1.80 ERA).
Opting not to play any non-conference games this season due to COVID-19 protocols, Long Beach State opened its 2021 season by dropping three of four games at Hawai'i. The Dirtbags split four games at home against CSUN and, last weekend, won three of four at UC San Diego.
Playing its final non-conference games of the year, Cal Poly won two of three games against San Jose State last weekend in Baggett Stadium. The Mustangs won Thursday's game 10-1 as Drew Thorpe earned his third win and Cal Poly scored six times in the fourth inning. After the Spartans evened the series with a 10-2 victory Friday, Travis Weston pitched eight scoreless innings with seven strikeouts for his third win in Saturday's 3-0 series-clinching shutout. Right fielder Nick DiCarlo produced hits in six consecutive at-bats — three singles, two doubles and a home run — and was 6-for-11 with two RBIs in the series.
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. It was a different story at USC as Cal Poly won two of three games in late February, 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. 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.
In March, Cal Poly notched its first series sweep since April 2019 with a 3-0 whitewashing against Utah Valley. The Mustangs erupted for 13 runs in the fifth inning en route to a 17-3 triumph in the opener. Sophomore southpaw and Boise State transfer Travis Weston tossed a complete-game two-hitter with a career-high 11 strikeouts in a 5-1 win while Andrew Alvarez, another lefty, tossed six scoreless innings with eight strikeouts and teamed with three relievers on a 6-0 shutout in the finale.
No. 6 UCLA visited San Luis Obispo and the Mustangs earned a series win against the Bruins for the first time since Cal Poly's Big West Conference championship season in 2014. The Mustangs won the opener 5-4, overcoming an early 3-0 deficit. Three Mustang pitchers combined to strike out 14 Bruins. In the middle game, Cal Poly produced a pair of five-run rallies and a 17-hit offensive attack with Brooks Lee, Myles Emmerson and Nick DiCarlo combining for nine hits and seven RBIs, but that wasn't enough as UCLA erased an early 5-0 deficit with 11 runs in the second, third and fourth frames, then had to hold on for a 13-12 victory. Lee and Cole Cabrera belted two-run home runs and Emmerson also knocked in two runs as Cal Poly clinched the series in the finale with an 8-5 victory.
Cal Poly opened Big West play with a 13-10 setback in its series opener at Matador Field, but bounced back with 7-6, 12-1 and 10-8 victories. Emmerson went 10-for-18 (.556) with three consecutive three-hit games for the Mustangs and Lee knocked in 10 runs. The Mustangs received strong relief pitching from Bryan Woo (5 1/3 innings, no runs, three hits, career-high matching seven strikeouts in Saturday's first game) and Kyle Scott (five innings, one run, four hits, no walks, career-high six strikeouts in the series finale).
After losing three of four games against UC San Diego in the second week of Big West play, Cal Poly hosted San Jose State for a three-game non-conference set. After a pair of lopsided games — Cal Poly winning 10-1 Thursday and San Jose State taking the middle game 10-2 — the Mustangs rode the combined three-hit pitching of Travis Weston and Kyle Scott to a 3-0 shutout in the series finale.
Long Beach State's top hitters 12 games into its season are Estrada (.326, two doubles, three home runs, 10 RBIs), Luttrell (.321, two doubles, three home runs, eight RBIs) and Kokx (.318, two doubles, one home run, four RBIs, seven of eight steals). Both third baseman Jonathan Long and left fielder Charlie Loust sport .308 averages. The Dirtbags' best pitching performance of the UC San Diego series was turned in by sophomore right-hander Jack Noble with 6 1/3 scoreless innings and 11 strikeouts in the doubleheader nightcap. Ramirez allowed two runs and four hits over 6 1/3 innings with eight strikeouts in the series finale while Lavalle gave up one run and two hits over six innings with six strikeouts in the opener. All were winning pitchers in the series.
The Dirtbags are hitting .264 as a team with 20 doubles and 12 home runs, stealing 10 of 19 bases. Long Beach State has compiled a 3.53 staff ERA with 129 strikeouts over 104 2/3 innings and a .973 fielding percentage with 11 errors in 12 games.
The Dirtbags have claimed nine Big West titles (ending a nine-year drought in 2017), and have made 22 NCAA regional appearances and four trips to the College World Series, the last in 1998.
Cal Poly and Long Beach State have met 152 times on the baseball field since the series began when both teams were California Collegiate Athletic Association members back in 1957. The Dirtbags hold a 94-58 advantage, though the Mustangs swept the 2019 series in Long Beach by scores of 4-2, 7-1 and 5-4 and also won all three games in Baggett Stadium in 2018 by 5-4, 5-2 and 8-2 scores.
Long Beach State was 16-2 in a six-year stretch against the Mustangs until Cal Poly won two of three in 2009, its first series win at Blair Field since 1997, and also won two of three in 2010 and 2015 in San Luis Obispo. Cal Poly is 25-52 against Long Beach State since the Mustangs moved to Division I prior to the 1995 season.
Larry Lee is 19-32 against Long Beach State while Eric Valenzuela is 2-4 against Cal Poly, all six games while he was head coach at Saint Mary's.
Valenzuela coached the Gaels from 2014-19, compiling a 180-156 record with four consecutive 30-win seasons, including a West Coast Conference title and NCAA regional playoff berth in 2016. Before heading to Moraga, Valenzuela was pitching coach and recruiting coordinator for four seasons under Tony Gwynn at San Diego State. He spent six seasons (2004-09) across town at San Diego, helping the Toreros reach the NCAA postseason on three occasions, and made his collegiate coaching start at Saint Mary's, serving as the recruiting coordinator for the Gaels from 2001-03.
As a player, Valenzuela was a High School All-American at Bishop Amat before reaching the College World Series with Arizona State in 1998. He transfered to Pepperdine, where he was the captain on the 2001 team that went 42-18 and won the WCC title before graduating from Pepperdine and turning to coaching.
Former Dirtbags in the Major Leagues include Jason Giambi, Evan Longoria, Troy Tulowitzki, Jason Vargas and Jered Weaver.
Before the 2020 season was halted on 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.
Matt Lopez sports a team-leading .427
batting average with six doubles and 20 RBIs.
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 is 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 is Cal Poly's Saturday starter, Joe Yorke has started all but one game at first base and Reagan Doss roams the grass in the outfield.
Leading the squad's hitters 24 games into the season are Lopez with a .427 average (No. 3 in the Big West), six doubles, one home run and 20 RBIs. Lee, who claimed back-to-back Big West Player of the Week awards after going 7-for-12 against Utah Valley and 7-for-14 versus UCLA, driving in 14 runs in the two series, is hitting .357 with 11 doubles, two triples, six homers and a team-leading 30 RBIs. He had a nine-game hitting streak halted by CSUN. Emmerson sports a .337 mark with six doubles, a triple and 12 RBIs while Samuelson has five doubles, a triple and three home runs within his .284 average at the plate, driving in 19 runs. He produced an eight-game hitting streak to open the season and has reached base in all 21 games he has played thus far.
Thorpe (3-2, 3.82 ERA), Weston (3-2, 2.58 ERA) and Alvarez (3-2, 6.75 ERA) remain anchored in the starting rotation while Bryan Woo, Derek True, Kyle Scott (two saves) and Dylan Villalobos have worked the most innings out of the bullpen so far.
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 its first 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 197 of their last 287 home games for a 68.6 winning percentage.
Lee (560-440-2) surpassed Fresno State's Bob Bennett for the Big West record for overall wins with the 2-1 series-opening win at USC in late February. 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 1,020-681-5 record over 34-plus seasons as a head coach and coached his 1,000th game as Cal Poly's head coach on April 1, a 10-1 win over UC San Diego.
Next week, Cal Poly plays the first of two consecutive Big West series at home, hosting UC Irvine for a four-game set April 16-18. UC Riverside visits Baggett Stadium on April 23-25. First pitches for both series are set for 6 p.m. Friday, a noon doubleheader Saturday and a 1 p.m. finale Sunday.
