Friday, May 14
San Luis Obispo, CA
5 p.m.
vs
Cal State Fullerton
Photo by: Owen Main | Cal Poly Athletics
Cal Poly to Host Cal State Fullerton in Penultimate Home Series
5/11/2021 3:24:00 PM | Baseball
WEEKLY NOTES: CAL POLY | CAL STATE FULLERTON | BIG WEST
AUDIO STREAM | VIDEO STREAM | GAME PROGRAM
LIVE STATS: FRIDAY | SATURDAY 1 | SATURDAY 2 | SUNDAY
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Cal Poly (20-24 overall, 10-18 Big West) plays two of its final three series of the 2021 baseball season at home, beginning with Cal State Fullerton (19-24 overall, 12-12 Big West) this weekend inside Baggett Stadium (cap.: 3,138).
Coach Larry Lee's Mustangs and the Titans of 10th-year head coach Rick Vanderhook clash Friday at 5 p.m. followed by a 1 p.m. 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.
After a 1-3 start, Cal Poly won 10 of 13 games, including series wins over USC and then-No. 6 UCLA. The Mustangs also opened Big West play March 20-22 by taking three of four games at CSUN, improving to 11-6 overall. Since then, Cal Poly has lost 18 of its last 27 contests, losing conference series against UC San Diego, UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara and CSU Bakersfield and splitting four-game series versus Long Beach State and UC Riverside.
The Mustangs have lost six straight and nine of their last 10 after being swept at CSU Bakersfield last weekend by scores of 9-5, 7-6, 5-1 and 6-4. Cal Poly was swept by the Roadrunners for just the second time in series history — CSU Bakersfield earned a 3-0 sweep in 2011, also at Hardt Field — and the Mustangs were swept in a four-game series for the first time in their 27-year Division I history.
Coming off a 4-12 performance in the COVID-19 shortened 2020 campaign, Cal State Fullerton returned 22 of 29 letter winners, including 11 position starters and 10 pitchers. Top returnees are third baseman Zach Lew (.339, nine RBIs in 2020), center fielder Jackson Lyon (.267, three RBIs) and catcher Austin Schell (.261, two RBIs). The pitching staff is paced by right-handers Tanner Bibee (1-3, 2.63 ERA in 2020) and Kyle Luckham (2-0, 2.52 ERA) along with southpaw Titus Groeneweg (0-1, 5.40 ERA).
Cal State Fullerton opened its 2021 season with a pair of wins over Pac-12 member Utah but dropped 12 of its next 14 games. The Titans battled back to even their overall mark at 18-18, winning 14 of 20 contests, but lost the final three games of Big West series against Hawai'i and UC San Diego the last two weeks and bring a 19-24 overall mark to San Luis Obispo this weekend.
The Titans are 12-12 in Big West games, tied for sixth place with CSUN and seven games behind first-place UC Irvine. Cal State Fullerton has won conference series versus UC Riverside and UC Davis along with 2-2 splits against UC Santa Barbara and CSUN. The Titans' lone win against the Tritons last weekend was in the opener, a 16-inning 6-3 triumph thanks to a three-run home run by Deylan Pigford. Cal State Fullerton is 5-0 in extra-inning games this year.
More than halfway through its 56-game schedule this season, Cal Poly fell below the .500 mark in Big West games by dropping three of four games to UC Irvine three weeks ago, splitting four games with UC Riverside, a 3-1 series loss at UC Santa Barbara and last week's sweep by CSU Bakersfield. The Mustangs' lone Big West series win was at CSUN during the opening weekend of conference play.
The Mustangs were outhit in all four games of the CSU Bakersfield series and compiled a 7.31 staff ERA, the highest of any Cal Poly series thus far this season. Myles Emmerson finished the series 6-for-14 with three doubles, Tate Samuelson was 5-for-16 and Cole Cabrera 5-for-15.
Cal State Fullerton's top hitters 43 games into its season are left fielder Caden Connor (.331, nine doubles, 22 RBIs), catcher Cole Urman (.312, 19 RBIs), Pigford (.300, 10 doubles, three home runs, 16 RBIs) and right fielder Jayson Brandow (.298, nine doubles, 22 RBIs). The pitching staff has been paced by Bibee (6-4, 3.10 ERA), Luckham (3-7, 5.65 ERA) and Michael Knorr (1-3, 6.99 ERA), all right-handers. Cameron Repetti, also a righty, has five saves, a 4-0 mark and a 2.16 ERA.
Coached by Vanderhook (10th season, 321-214 Trinity University '03), Cal State Fullerton has a .268 team batting average. The Titans have stolen 22 of 32 bases, sport a 5.62 staff ERA with opponents hitting .278 and have compiled a .974 fielding percentage with 43 errors in 43 games.
Cal State Fullerton is ranked No. 12 nationally in both sacrifice bunts (34) and batters hit by Titan pitchers (68), 17th in walks allowed per nine innings (3.06), 25th in sacrifice flies (24) and 39th in triples (12). Luckham is No. 1 having hit 17 batters while Josh Urps is 29th with five sacrifice flies.
Cal State Fullerton has won 30 conference titles in 45 Division I seasons, has appeared in 40 regionals, including 27 consecutive seasons, a streak that ended in 2019, along with 14 Super Regionals and 18 College World Series, capturing national championships in 1979, 1984, 1995 and 2004. The Titans are 636-239 since late 1992 at Goodwin Field and have never had a losing season in 47 Division I campaigns (excluding the pandemic-shortened 2020 season).
Vanderhook returned home to Cal State Fullerton on June 24, 2011, where he spent the better part of a quarter century as a player and assistant coach under head coaches Augie Garrido, Larry Cochell and George Horton. He was also an assistant coach alongside now-departed head coach Dave Serrano from 1997-2004 and spent three seasons as an assistant coach to John Savage at UCLA from 2009-11.
Cal Poly and Cal State Fullerton have met 116 times on the baseball field since the series began when both teams were California Collegiate Athletic Association members back in 1966. The Titans hold a 72-44 advantage, sweeping the Mustangs in 2018 at Goodwin Field and claiming two of three games at Baggett Stadium in 2019. Cal Poly won two of three games at Baggett Stadium in 2016 and 2017, bouncing back from series-opening losses with a pair of victories each time. Cal Poly swept the 2014 series in Baggett Stadium and has enjoyed some recent success with 17 victories in the last 39 meetings over the previous 13 seasons, winning series at home in 2007, 2011, 2014, 2016 and 2017.
Cal Poly is 22-60 against Cal State Fullerton since the Mustangs moved to Division I prior to the 1995 season. Lee is 18-33 against Cal State Fullerton while Vanderhook is 13-11 as a head coach against Cal Poly.
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.
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.
Leading the squad's hitters 44 games into the season is Lopez at .341 with eight doubles and 26 RBIs. Brooks Lee is hitting .320 with 17 doubles, three triples, seven home runs and 39 RBIs. Lee 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, and had a nine-game hitting streak halted by CSUN and a 12-game streak stopped by UC Irvine. Emmerson sports a .287 mark with 11 doubles, a triple and 16 RBIs.
Drew Thorpe (4-5, 4.17 ERA), Travis Weston (4-6, 3.50 ERA) and Andrew Alvarez (5-3, 4.57 ERA) remain anchored in the starting rotation while Bryan Woo, Derek True, Kyle Scott (five 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 their 56 games inside Baggett Stadium, opening the season with 25 of their first 36 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 200 of their last 295 home games for a 67.8 winning percentage.
Lee (566-454-2) 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 1,026-695-5 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 its final road series of the year at UC Davis. First pitches with the Aggies are set for 2:30 p.m. Friday, a noon doubleheader Saturday and a 1 o'clock finale Sunday.
AUDIO STREAM | VIDEO STREAM | GAME PROGRAM
LIVE STATS: FRIDAY | SATURDAY 1 | SATURDAY 2 | SUNDAY
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Cal Poly (20-24 overall, 10-18 Big West) plays two of its final three series of the 2021 baseball season at home, beginning with Cal State Fullerton (19-24 overall, 12-12 Big West) this weekend inside Baggett Stadium (cap.: 3,138).
Coach Larry Lee's Mustangs and the Titans of 10th-year head coach Rick Vanderhook clash Friday at 5 p.m. followed by a 1 p.m. 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.
After a 1-3 start, Cal Poly won 10 of 13 games, including series wins over USC and then-No. 6 UCLA. The Mustangs also opened Big West play March 20-22 by taking three of four games at CSUN, improving to 11-6 overall. Since then, Cal Poly has lost 18 of its last 27 contests, losing conference series against UC San Diego, UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara and CSU Bakersfield and splitting four-game series versus Long Beach State and UC Riverside.
The Mustangs have lost six straight and nine of their last 10 after being swept at CSU Bakersfield last weekend by scores of 9-5, 7-6, 5-1 and 6-4. Cal Poly was swept by the Roadrunners for just the second time in series history — CSU Bakersfield earned a 3-0 sweep in 2011, also at Hardt Field — and the Mustangs were swept in a four-game series for the first time in their 27-year Division I history.
Coming off a 4-12 performance in the COVID-19 shortened 2020 campaign, Cal State Fullerton returned 22 of 29 letter winners, including 11 position starters and 10 pitchers. Top returnees are third baseman Zach Lew (.339, nine RBIs in 2020), center fielder Jackson Lyon (.267, three RBIs) and catcher Austin Schell (.261, two RBIs). The pitching staff is paced by right-handers Tanner Bibee (1-3, 2.63 ERA in 2020) and Kyle Luckham (2-0, 2.52 ERA) along with southpaw Titus Groeneweg (0-1, 5.40 ERA).
Cal State Fullerton opened its 2021 season with a pair of wins over Pac-12 member Utah but dropped 12 of its next 14 games. The Titans battled back to even their overall mark at 18-18, winning 14 of 20 contests, but lost the final three games of Big West series against Hawai'i and UC San Diego the last two weeks and bring a 19-24 overall mark to San Luis Obispo this weekend.
The Titans are 12-12 in Big West games, tied for sixth place with CSUN and seven games behind first-place UC Irvine. Cal State Fullerton has won conference series versus UC Riverside and UC Davis along with 2-2 splits against UC Santa Barbara and CSUN. The Titans' lone win against the Tritons last weekend was in the opener, a 16-inning 6-3 triumph thanks to a three-run home run by Deylan Pigford. Cal State Fullerton is 5-0 in extra-inning games this year.
The Mustangs were outhit in all four games of the CSU Bakersfield series and compiled a 7.31 staff ERA, the highest of any Cal Poly series thus far this season. Myles Emmerson finished the series 6-for-14 with three doubles, Tate Samuelson was 5-for-16 and Cole Cabrera 5-for-15.
Cal State Fullerton's top hitters 43 games into its season are left fielder Caden Connor (.331, nine doubles, 22 RBIs), catcher Cole Urman (.312, 19 RBIs), Pigford (.300, 10 doubles, three home runs, 16 RBIs) and right fielder Jayson Brandow (.298, nine doubles, 22 RBIs). The pitching staff has been paced by Bibee (6-4, 3.10 ERA), Luckham (3-7, 5.65 ERA) and Michael Knorr (1-3, 6.99 ERA), all right-handers. Cameron Repetti, also a righty, has five saves, a 4-0 mark and a 2.16 ERA.
Coached by Vanderhook (10th season, 321-214 Trinity University '03), Cal State Fullerton has a .268 team batting average. The Titans have stolen 22 of 32 bases, sport a 5.62 staff ERA with opponents hitting .278 and have compiled a .974 fielding percentage with 43 errors in 43 games.
Cal State Fullerton is ranked No. 12 nationally in both sacrifice bunts (34) and batters hit by Titan pitchers (68), 17th in walks allowed per nine innings (3.06), 25th in sacrifice flies (24) and 39th in triples (12). Luckham is No. 1 having hit 17 batters while Josh Urps is 29th with five sacrifice flies.
Cal State Fullerton has won 30 conference titles in 45 Division I seasons, has appeared in 40 regionals, including 27 consecutive seasons, a streak that ended in 2019, along with 14 Super Regionals and 18 College World Series, capturing national championships in 1979, 1984, 1995 and 2004. The Titans are 636-239 since late 1992 at Goodwin Field and have never had a losing season in 47 Division I campaigns (excluding the pandemic-shortened 2020 season).
Vanderhook returned home to Cal State Fullerton on June 24, 2011, where he spent the better part of a quarter century as a player and assistant coach under head coaches Augie Garrido, Larry Cochell and George Horton. He was also an assistant coach alongside now-departed head coach Dave Serrano from 1997-2004 and spent three seasons as an assistant coach to John Savage at UCLA from 2009-11.
Cal Poly and Cal State Fullerton have met 116 times on the baseball field since the series began when both teams were California Collegiate Athletic Association members back in 1966. The Titans hold a 72-44 advantage, sweeping the Mustangs in 2018 at Goodwin Field and claiming two of three games at Baggett Stadium in 2019. Cal Poly won two of three games at Baggett Stadium in 2016 and 2017, bouncing back from series-opening losses with a pair of victories each time. Cal Poly swept the 2014 series in Baggett Stadium and has enjoyed some recent success with 17 victories in the last 39 meetings over the previous 13 seasons, winning series at home in 2007, 2011, 2014, 2016 and 2017.
Cal Poly is 22-60 against Cal State Fullerton since the Mustangs moved to Division I prior to the 1995 season. Lee is 18-33 against Cal State Fullerton while Vanderhook is 13-11 as a head coach against Cal Poly.
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.
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.
Leading the squad's hitters 44 games into the season is Lopez at .341 with eight doubles and 26 RBIs. Brooks Lee is hitting .320 with 17 doubles, three triples, seven home runs and 39 RBIs. Lee 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, and had a nine-game hitting streak halted by CSUN and a 12-game streak stopped by UC Irvine. Emmerson sports a .287 mark with 11 doubles, a triple and 16 RBIs.
Drew Thorpe (4-5, 4.17 ERA), Travis Weston (4-6, 3.50 ERA) and Andrew Alvarez (5-3, 4.57 ERA) remain anchored in the starting rotation while Bryan Woo, Derek True, Kyle Scott (five 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 their 56 games inside Baggett Stadium, opening the season with 25 of their first 36 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 200 of their last 295 home games for a 67.8 winning percentage.
Lee (566-454-2) 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 1,026-695-5 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 its final road series of the year at UC Davis. First pitches with the Aggies are set for 2:30 p.m. Friday, a noon doubleheader Saturday and a 1 o'clock finale Sunday.
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