Friday, May 28
San Luis Obispo, CA
5 p.m.
vs
Hawaii
Photo by: Owen Main | Cal Poly Athletics
Cal Poly Wraps Up 2021 Season This Weekend by Hosting Hawai'i
5/25/2021 9:37:00 AM | Baseball
WEEKLY NOTES: CAL POLY | HAWAI'I | BIG WEST
VIDEO STREAM | AUDIO STREAM | GAME PROGRAM
LIVE STATS: FRIDAY | SATURDAY 1 | SATURDAY 2 | SUNDAY
INTERVIEWS: MYLES EMMERSON | COLE CABRERA | BROOKS LEE
HONOLULU STAR-ADVERTISER FEATURE ON BROOKS LEE
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Coming off its second series win in as many weeks — a sweep of Cal State Fullerton at home and a three-games-to-one advantage at UC Davis — Cal Poly (27-25 overall, 17-19 Big West) wraps up the 2021 baseball season this weekend, hosting Hawai'i (24-22 overall, 16-20 Big West) for a four-game set inside Baggett Stadium (cap.: 3,138).
Coach Larry Lee's Mustangs and the Rainbow Warriors of 20th-year head coach Mike Trapasso 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. Over the next seven weeks, however, Cal Poly lost 18 of 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 ended the slide by sweeping 30-time conference champion Cal State Fullerton for just the second time in 48 years, batting .425 for the series, then winning three of four contests at UC Davis last weekend, bouncing back from Friday's 5-2 loss with 5-1, 3-2 and 6-2 victories.
Andrew Alvarez pitched his first career complete game with a four-hitter and six strikeouts in the opener of Saturday's doubleheader while Kaden Sheedy, making his third collegiate start, tossed a three-hitter in the series finale Sunday, also striking out six. Shortstop Brooks Lee, catcher Myles Emmerson and second baseman Nick Marinconz all collected six hits in the series, Lee driving in four runs, and third baseman Tate Samuelson added five hits and five RBIs.
Coming off an 11-6 performance in the COVID-19 shortened 2020 campaign, Hawai'i returned 26 of 36 letter winners, including eight position starters and nine pitchers. Top returnees are shortstop Kole Kaler (.407, 17 RBIs, four steals in 2020), outfielder Scotty Scott (.321, seven RBIs, four steals) and right fielder Tyler Best (.289, four RBIs). The pitching staff is paced by right-handers Aaron Davenport (4-0, 2.15 ERA in 2020) and Logan Pouelsen (0-2, 6.48 ERA) along with southpaw Brandon Ross (1-0, 1.35 ERA).
Hawai'i opened its 2021 season by winning 11 of its first 13 games, winning one of three games at Arizona State followed by sweeps of Hawai'i Pacific and Hawai'i Hilo. The Rainbow Warriors also won their first three games of a four-game Big West series against Long Beach State before falling 8-5 in the finals. Since and including that setback, Hawai'i has lost 20 of 33 contests, losing Big West series against UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, CSU Bakersfield, CSUN and UC San Diego, and will bring a 24-22 overall mark and 16-20 Big West record into this weekend's series against Cal Poly. The Rainbow Warriors swept UC Davis and won three of four games against both UC Riverside and Cal State Fullerton.
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 six weeks ago, splitting four games with UC Riverside, a 3-1 series loss at UC Santa Barbara and a sweep by CSU Bakersfield three weeks ago. Prior to the sweep over Cal State Fullerton, the Mustangs' lone Big West series win was at CSUN during the opening weekend of conference play.
Hawai'i's top hitters 46 games into its season are Kaler (.335, 12 doubles, 21 RBIs, 15 of 20 steals), center fielder Adam Fogel (.319, 16 doubles, 31 RBIs) and Scott (.308, eight doubles, 13 RBIs). The pitching staff has been paced by Davenport (3-5, 3.33 ERA), Cade Halemanu (5-2, 3.57 ERA) and Austin Teixeira (3-1, 3.43 ERA), all right-handers, and lefty Pouelsen (4-2, 3.68 ERA). Seven different pitchers have saves, led by righty Tyler Dyball with four saves to go with a 2-2 mark and 5.09 ERA.
Coached by Trapasso (20th season, 536-527, Oklahoma State '87), Hawai'i has a .282 team batting average. The Rainbow Warriors have stolen 33 of 49 bases, sport a Big West-leading 3.83 staff ERA with opponents hitting .278 and have compiled a .965 fielding percentage with 61 errors in 46 games.
Hawai'i is ranked No. 6 nationally in walks allowed per nine innings (2.56), 24th in strikeouts-to-walks ratio (2.96) and 27th in ERA (3.83). Scott is ranked 15th in the nation in sacrifice bunts (9) and 32nd having been hit by pitches 15 times while Davenport is No. 57 with his 93 strikeouts.
Hawai'i played its first Big West season in baseball in 2013 after 33 years in the Western Athletic Conference, claiming titles in 1991, 1992 and 2011 and the tournament crown in 2010. Cal Poly also played in the WAC in 1995 and 1996 before joining the Big West. The Rainbow Warriors reached the College World Series in 1980, finishing second, and have made 13 NCAA regional appearances, the last in 2010.
Trapasso has led the Rainbow Warriors to winning records in 12 of his 19 seasons at the helm and 30 or more wins eight times, the last in 2012. He was named WAC Coach of the Year three times.
Trapasso was an assistant coach at Georgia Tech for seven years and at Missouri and South Florida for three seasons each. He was a pitcher at Oklahoma State from 1984-86 and, drafted four times, pitched briefly for two years in the minor leagues.
Cal Poly has a 23-11 advantage over Hawai'i in the series dating back to 1995, sweeping the Rainbow Warriors in Manoa in 2014 as well as in 2015 at Baggett Stadium. In 2019, the last time the two teams met, Cal Poly won two of three games inside Baggett Stadium, taking the first two contests 12-4 and 3-2 before falling in the finale 4-1. In 2018, the Mustangs won the first two games in Manoa, 16-0 and 10-9, before dropping the finale 6-2. Larry Lee is 16-5 against Hawai'i while Trapasso is 5-16 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 walk-off 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 52 games into the current season is Brooks Lee at .341 with 23 doubles (two shy of the school record), three triples, nine home runs and 50 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 earned his third after the Cal State Fullerton series two weeks ago. He had a nine-game hitting streak halted by CSUN and a 12-game streak stopped by UC Irvine and currently has another nine-game streak. Lopez also is hitting .341 with eight doubles and 26 RBIs , but is sidelined the rest of the 2021 season due to a knee injury. Emmerson sports a .313 mark with 13 doubles, a triple and 21 RBIs while second baseman Nick Marinconz has elevated his average to .277 by going 21-for-57 (.368) over his last 16 games.
Drew Thorpe (5-6, 3.78 ERA), Travis Weston (5-6, 3.28 ERA) and Andrew Alvarez (7-3, 4.05 ERA) remain anchored in the starting rotation while Bryan Woo (out the rest of the year due to elbow injury), Bryce Warrecker and Kyle Scott (six saves) have worked the most innings out of the bullpen so far. Warrecker tossed 4 2/3 scoreless innings in relief for a win at UC Davis last weekend.
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 204 of their last 299 home games for a 68.2 winning percentage.
Lee (573-455-2) 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 1,033-696-5 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.
Four Mustang players will be honored on Senior Day at about 12:40 p.m. Sunday. They are fourth-year juniors Cole Cabrera, Connor Gurnik and Nick DiCarlo and fifth-year senior catcher Myles Emmerson.
NCAA regional hosts will be announced Sunday, with pairings released Monday at 9 a.m. on ESPNU.
VIDEO STREAM | AUDIO STREAM | GAME PROGRAM
LIVE STATS: FRIDAY | SATURDAY 1 | SATURDAY 2 | SUNDAY
INTERVIEWS: MYLES EMMERSON | COLE CABRERA | BROOKS LEE
HONOLULU STAR-ADVERTISER FEATURE ON BROOKS LEE
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Coming off its second series win in as many weeks — a sweep of Cal State Fullerton at home and a three-games-to-one advantage at UC Davis — Cal Poly (27-25 overall, 17-19 Big West) wraps up the 2021 baseball season this weekend, hosting Hawai'i (24-22 overall, 16-20 Big West) for a four-game set inside Baggett Stadium (cap.: 3,138).
Coach Larry Lee's Mustangs and the Rainbow Warriors of 20th-year head coach Mike Trapasso 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. Over the next seven weeks, however, Cal Poly lost 18 of 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.
Andrew Alvarez pitched his first career complete game with a four-hitter and six strikeouts in the opener of Saturday's doubleheader while Kaden Sheedy, making his third collegiate start, tossed a three-hitter in the series finale Sunday, also striking out six. Shortstop Brooks Lee, catcher Myles Emmerson and second baseman Nick Marinconz all collected six hits in the series, Lee driving in four runs, and third baseman Tate Samuelson added five hits and five RBIs.
Coming off an 11-6 performance in the COVID-19 shortened 2020 campaign, Hawai'i returned 26 of 36 letter winners, including eight position starters and nine pitchers. Top returnees are shortstop Kole Kaler (.407, 17 RBIs, four steals in 2020), outfielder Scotty Scott (.321, seven RBIs, four steals) and right fielder Tyler Best (.289, four RBIs). The pitching staff is paced by right-handers Aaron Davenport (4-0, 2.15 ERA in 2020) and Logan Pouelsen (0-2, 6.48 ERA) along with southpaw Brandon Ross (1-0, 1.35 ERA).
Hawai'i opened its 2021 season by winning 11 of its first 13 games, winning one of three games at Arizona State followed by sweeps of Hawai'i Pacific and Hawai'i Hilo. The Rainbow Warriors also won their first three games of a four-game Big West series against Long Beach State before falling 8-5 in the finals. Since and including that setback, Hawai'i has lost 20 of 33 contests, losing Big West series against UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, CSU Bakersfield, CSUN and UC San Diego, and will bring a 24-22 overall mark and 16-20 Big West record into this weekend's series against Cal Poly. The Rainbow Warriors swept UC Davis and won three of four games against both UC Riverside and Cal State Fullerton.
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 six weeks ago, splitting four games with UC Riverside, a 3-1 series loss at UC Santa Barbara and a sweep by CSU Bakersfield three weeks ago. Prior to the sweep over Cal State Fullerton, the Mustangs' lone Big West series win was at CSUN during the opening weekend of conference play.
Hawai'i's top hitters 46 games into its season are Kaler (.335, 12 doubles, 21 RBIs, 15 of 20 steals), center fielder Adam Fogel (.319, 16 doubles, 31 RBIs) and Scott (.308, eight doubles, 13 RBIs). The pitching staff has been paced by Davenport (3-5, 3.33 ERA), Cade Halemanu (5-2, 3.57 ERA) and Austin Teixeira (3-1, 3.43 ERA), all right-handers, and lefty Pouelsen (4-2, 3.68 ERA). Seven different pitchers have saves, led by righty Tyler Dyball with four saves to go with a 2-2 mark and 5.09 ERA.
Coached by Trapasso (20th season, 536-527, Oklahoma State '87), Hawai'i has a .282 team batting average. The Rainbow Warriors have stolen 33 of 49 bases, sport a Big West-leading 3.83 staff ERA with opponents hitting .278 and have compiled a .965 fielding percentage with 61 errors in 46 games.
Hawai'i is ranked No. 6 nationally in walks allowed per nine innings (2.56), 24th in strikeouts-to-walks ratio (2.96) and 27th in ERA (3.83). Scott is ranked 15th in the nation in sacrifice bunts (9) and 32nd having been hit by pitches 15 times while Davenport is No. 57 with his 93 strikeouts.
Hawai'i played its first Big West season in baseball in 2013 after 33 years in the Western Athletic Conference, claiming titles in 1991, 1992 and 2011 and the tournament crown in 2010. Cal Poly also played in the WAC in 1995 and 1996 before joining the Big West. The Rainbow Warriors reached the College World Series in 1980, finishing second, and have made 13 NCAA regional appearances, the last in 2010.
Trapasso has led the Rainbow Warriors to winning records in 12 of his 19 seasons at the helm and 30 or more wins eight times, the last in 2012. He was named WAC Coach of the Year three times.
Trapasso was an assistant coach at Georgia Tech for seven years and at Missouri and South Florida for three seasons each. He was a pitcher at Oklahoma State from 1984-86 and, drafted four times, pitched briefly for two years in the minor leagues.
Cal Poly has a 23-11 advantage over Hawai'i in the series dating back to 1995, sweeping the Rainbow Warriors in Manoa in 2014 as well as in 2015 at Baggett Stadium. In 2019, the last time the two teams met, Cal Poly won two of three games inside Baggett Stadium, taking the first two contests 12-4 and 3-2 before falling in the finale 4-1. In 2018, the Mustangs won the first two games in Manoa, 16-0 and 10-9, before dropping the finale 6-2. Larry Lee is 16-5 against Hawai'i while Trapasso is 5-16 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 walk-off 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 52 games into the current season is Brooks Lee at .341 with 23 doubles (two shy of the school record), three triples, nine home runs and 50 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 earned his third after the Cal State Fullerton series two weeks ago. He had a nine-game hitting streak halted by CSUN and a 12-game streak stopped by UC Irvine and currently has another nine-game streak. Lopez also is hitting .341 with eight doubles and 26 RBIs , but is sidelined the rest of the 2021 season due to a knee injury. Emmerson sports a .313 mark with 13 doubles, a triple and 21 RBIs while second baseman Nick Marinconz has elevated his average to .277 by going 21-for-57 (.368) over his last 16 games.
Drew Thorpe (5-6, 3.78 ERA), Travis Weston (5-6, 3.28 ERA) and Andrew Alvarez (7-3, 4.05 ERA) remain anchored in the starting rotation while Bryan Woo (out the rest of the year due to elbow injury), Bryce Warrecker and Kyle Scott (six saves) have worked the most innings out of the bullpen so far. Warrecker tossed 4 2/3 scoreless innings in relief for a win at UC Davis last weekend.
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 204 of their last 299 home games for a 68.2 winning percentage.
Lee (573-455-2) 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 1,033-696-5 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.
Four Mustang players will be honored on Senior Day at about 12:40 p.m. Sunday. They are fourth-year juniors Cole Cabrera, Connor Gurnik and Nick DiCarlo and fifth-year senior catcher Myles Emmerson.
NCAA regional hosts will be announced Sunday, with pairings released Monday at 9 a.m. on ESPNU.
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