Fresno State
Cal Poly Wraps Up Four-Game Home Stand by Hosting Fresno State
2/21/2022 4:31:00 PM | Baseball
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SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Cal Poly (1-2, 0-0 Big West), which scored five runs on six hits and a sacrifice fly in the second inning and salvaged a victory in the final game of its season-opening three-game series against Washington, wraps up a four-game home stand Tuesday night with a single non-conference game against Central California rival Fresno State (3-0, 0-0 Mountain West) inside Baggett Stadium (cap.: 3,138).
First pitch for Larry Lee's Mustangs and the Bulldogs of mentor Mike Batesole — both head coaches in their 20th season at their present school —is set for 6 p.m. The game will be broadcast via audio and stream with Daniel Gillman providing the play-by-play. Audio and video streams as well as live stats will be provided, with links available on the baseball schedule page at www.GoPoly.com.
Cal Poly dropped a pair of one-run decisions against Washington, 6-5 on Friday and 4-3 on Saturday, before riding Sunday's five-run second-inning uprising to victory over the Huskies.
True freshman catcher Ryan Stafford led the way with a 5-for-11 performance at the plate, including three doubles and one RBI. Center fielder Reagan Doss was 4-for-10 with a double, triple and three RBIs while third baseman Tate Samuelson went 4-for-12 with one RBI. Second baseman Nick Marinconz, right fielder Matthias Haas and shortstop Brooks Lee all had three hits in the series. Samuelson, Haas and Stafford all had at least one hit in each of the three games. For Samuelson, coupled with a seven-game hitting streak to end the 2021 season, he has now hit in 10 straight games.
Fresno State rolled to 5-3, 17-2 and 5-1 triumphs over visiting UC Riverside to open its 2022 season.
For the 14th straight year, the Bulldogs opened their 100th season of baseball by rallying from a 3-2 deficit with three seventh-inning runs and 4 1/3 shutout innings from their relievers to defeat the Highlanders, 5-3. Using nine extra-base hits and an 11-run third inning, Fresno State routed UC Riverside 17-2 on Saturday. Zach Morgan went 4-for-5 while Ivan Luna and Tyler Davis each launched three-run home runs while Ivan Henderson was named the Mountain West Pitcher of the Week after throwing a career-high 5.2 innings while striking out a career-best 12 and allowing just four hits and one walk. Completing the sweep with Sunday's 5-1 win, Fresno State was led by senior designated hitter Mason Grotto, who went 4-for-4 with four singles, an RBI and a run scored. Nate Thimjon smacked a home run and added a single while Luna tallied a single, double, RBI and scored a run.
Fresno State is coming off a 20-25 campaign, finishing fifth in the Mountain West Conference at 16-18. The Bulldogs, who claimed the 2008 national championship, have made 34 NCAA tournament appearances, including four in the College World Series. The 2019 Mountain West regular season title and tournament championship was Fresno State's 36th conference championship.
The Bulldogs return 15 letter winners, including four position starters and six pitchers. Top returnees include infielder Andrew Kachel (.328, 11 home runs, 38 RBIs in 2021) and outfielders Luna (.310, 19 RBIs) and Vinny Bologna (.288, 16 RBIs). The pitching corps is paced by right-hander Kyle Pruhsmeier (3-1, 9.33 ERA in 2021) and southpaws Robbie Peters (1-3, 6.04 ERA, one save) and Jake Dixon (6-3, 5.81 ERA).
Junior right-hander Trevor Garcia (0-0, 0.00 ERA), who pitched two innings in the UC Riverside series over the weekend, will start Tuesday's game against Cal Poly. The graduate of Santa Maria High School and Hancock College earned 14 wins and compiled a 2.79 ERA in three Bulldog seasons, also hitting .309 when not pitching, and led the Saints to the CIF-Southern Section Division 6 title in 2017 as a junior.
Cal Poly and Fresno State, which didn't play each other in 2018, are meeting for the 185th time Tuesday night. The two teams last met in 2019, with the Bulldogs winning both midweek games by 16-6 and 8-6 victories. The Bulldogs also won both midweek games in 2017 and own a 118-66 advantage.
In 2005 Cal Poly swept Fresno State in a three-game series for the first time in the then-60-year history of the rivalry and duplicated the feat opening the 2006 campaign in Baggett Stadium and again in 2007 at Beiden Field. The Mustangs have won 22 of their last 32 games against the Bulldogs, including three of five games during Fresno State's national championship season in 2008.
Lee is 24-12 against Fresno State while Batesole sports a 21-29 mark against Cal Poly, including a 9-5 record while he was at CSUN.
collegiate start on the mound for Cal Poly on Tuesday.
Batesole, who coached at CSUN for seven years prior to becoming coach of the Bulldogs in 2003, is a two-time National Coach of the Year. His Bulldogs won seven straight conference titles from 2006-12 and made six NCAA appearances in that time, advancing to the regional title game three times before winning the national championship in 2008. Under Batesole, Fresno State produced its fourth straight 30-win season in 2018 and Batesole has produced a total of 87 players who have been selected in the annual Major League Baseball draft during his previous 19 years at the helm.
During his tenure at CSUN from 1996-2002, the Matadors captured a Western Athletic Conference (1996) and Big West Conference title (2002). The Matadors made two NCAA Tournament appearances under Batesole and his record of 256-158-1 at Northridge ranks him second all-time in program history. His .620 winning percentage also ranks as the best ever in school history. In Batesole's seven years at CSUN, 37 of his players made it to the professional ranks.
A graduate of Garden Grove High School, Batesole played collegiately at Oral Roberts at third base and spent four seasons playing professionally in the Los Angeles Dodgers farm system from 1985-88.
Lee welcomed back 22 lettermen off last year's squad, including seven position starters and all but three pitchers. The 2022 Mustang roster, bolstered by the addition of three transfers from Boise State and one from Washington State a year ago, has added a pair of graduate students this spring in infielder Brett Borgogno (Cal State Fullerton and Louisiana-Lafayette) and outfielder John Lagattuta (Cal) along with utility player Matthias Haas, a transfer from Brown.
Topping the list of returnees is five-time 2021 All-American Brooks Lee, a preseason All-American five times as well this spring. Projected to be a top-five draft pick in July, Lee hit a team-leading .342 with 10 home runs, 57 RBIs and a school-record 27 doubles as a redshirt freshman in 2021 en route to Big West Co-Field Player of the Year and Co-Freshman Field Player of the Year honors.
The group of returnees also includes designated hitter Matt Lopez, third baseman Tate Samuelson, first baseman Joe Yorke, second baseman Nick Marinconz, utility player Taison Corio and pitchers Drew Thorpe, Travis Weston, Bryce Warrecker, Kyle Scott and Dylan Villalobos, among several others.
The entire infield is back as Yorke made 54 starts at first base, Marinconz (27) and Corio (23) combined for 50 starts at second base, Lee started 54 games at shortstop and Samuelson was in the starting lineup 53 times at third base.
Lopez was second on the team in hitting at .341 with 26 RBIs in 39 games.
The outfield is a work in progress with the loss of Cole Cabrera in center field, Sam Biller in left and Nick DiCarlo in right. Reagan Doss, who started 21 games in the outfield last year and hit .258 with six doubles and 13 RBIs in 37 games, replaces Cabrera in center field. A pair of catchers lead the depth chart in left field — Ryan Stafford of Folsom High School and returnee Collin Villegas — while Haas of Oakland's Bishop O'Dowd High School and Brown and Lagattuta of Davis Senior High School and Cal likely will share duties in right field. Villegas and Stafford are listed 1-2 behind the plate.
On the mound Drew Thorpe was 6-1 with a 3.15 ERA in home games last spring, finishing with a 6-6 mark and 3.79 ERA. He led the squad in strikeouts with 104, which is No. 10 all-time in the Cal Poly record book, and compiled double-digit strikeouts three times in 2021. Travis Weston (5-6, 3.28 ERA) earned three complete games, the most by a Mustang pitcher since Joey Wagman also collected three complete games in 2013. Weston was a starter in Saturday doubleheaders.
Thorpe and Weston will start Friday and Saturday, respectively, for the second year in a row. Sophomore Kaden Sheedy (1-2, 5.40 ERA in 2021) gets the nod Sunday with freshman right-hander Steven Brooks of Cosumnes Oaks High School in Elk Grove, Calif., expected to start in midweek games, including Tuesday's game against Fresno State. Sheedy made four starts in the final six weeks of the 2021 season, including a complete-game three-hitter with six strikeouts in the series finale at UC Davis.
The Mustangs have a combined 331-277 conference record (.545 winning percentage) in 24 years as a member of the Big West, the last 19 under Lee. Cal Poly has had just three losing seasons since 2000 and has reached the 30-win mark 13 times this century, including 2021. The Mustangs have won 209 of their last 306 home games for a 68.3 winning percentage.
Since and including 2011, Cal Poly is the only Big West team to have a winning or .500 overall record each year (excluding the pandemic-shortened 2020 season). Also since 2011, Cal Poly is the only Big West team to finish at least fourth or higher every year, including one first place, five seconds, one third and three fourths.
Since 2011, Lee guided the Mustangs to wins in 58 of 91 Big West series with a pair of 2-2 splits for a 63.4 winning percentage. The Mustangs won seven of eight conference series in both 2014 and 2017. Cal Poly is the only Big West team to have a winning overall record in each full season since 2011 and the Mustangs are the only Big West team to finish fourth place or higher every year. Since 2003, Cal Poly has finished below fourth place only twice.
Cal Poly has had 19 MLB draft picks in the top 10 rounds since and including 2011. Only Cal State Fullerton has had more with 22. The next tier are three teams with a total of 10 in that time span. Cal Poly has had a total of 34 top-10 round MLB draft picks in the last 18 years.
Since 2012, Cal Poly has had eight Division 1 All-Americans. Also, since 2003, Cal Poly has had 11 players make it to the Major Leagues. In the rest of the history of the program, there were nine to have made it to The Show.
Cal Poly is seventh among 25 California Division I schools and 10th in the West Region (47 schools) with 299 wins over the last nine years (not counting 2020).
Lee (578-456-2) surpassed Fresno State's Bob Bennett for the Big West record for overall wins with a 2-1 series-opening win at USC in February 2021. 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 1,038-698-5 record over 35 seasons as a head coach and coached his 1,000th game as Cal Poly's head coach on April 1, 2021, a 10-1 win over UC San Diego.
Cal Poly hits the road for a three-game weekend series against Missouri State. Due to a forecast of temperatures in the low 30s and wintry weather in Springfield, Missouri, the series has been moved to Arlington, Texas. A single game will be played Saturday at 11 a.m. Pacific followed by a 9 a.m. Pacific doubleheader Sunday at Clay Gould Stadium on the campus of the University of Texas at Arlington.
