Cal Poly to Open Big West Play at Home Versus CSUN This Weekend

Friday, March 18

San Luis Obispo, CA

6 p.m.

CSUN

Matthias Haas is greeted in dugout after a home run.

Matthias Haas is greeted in the dugout after belting his third home run of the year, a two-run shot in the series finale against Harvard last Sunday. Cal Poly hosts CSUN this weekend.

Photo by: Kyle Calzia / Cal Poly Athletics

Cal Poly to Open Big West Play at Home Versus CSUN This Weekend

3/16/2022 12:12:00 PM | Baseball

WEEKLY NOTES: CAL POLY (PDF) | CSUN | BIG WEST
AUDIO STREAM: FRIDAY | SATURDAY | SUNDAY
VIDEO STREAM: FRIDAY | SATURDAY | SUNDAY
LIVE STATS: FRIDAY | SATURDAY | SUNDAY
TICKETS | THORPE NAMED BIG WEST PITCHER OF THE WEEK | GAME PROGRAM

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Cal Poly (7-9, 0-0 Big West), which has lost six of its last nine games following a 4-3 start, wraps up an eight-game home stand and opens Big West Conference play this weekend by hosting CSUN (10-6, 0-0 Big West) for a three-game series inside Baggett Stadium (cap.: 3,138).

All three games will be broadcast on ESPN Radio (1280 AM and 101.7 FM) with Zachary Anderson-Yoxsimer providing the play-by-play and also available on ESPN+ with Chris Sylvester on the mic. Links for video and audio streams as well as live stats are available on the baseball schedule page at www.GoPoly.com.

Cal Poly opened the 2022 season by dropping a pair of one-run decisions against Washington, 6-5 and 4-3, before riding a five-run second-inning uprising to victory over the Huskies in the series finale. True freshman catcher Ryan Stafford led the way with a 5-for-11 performance at the plate with three doubles and one RBI.

Following an 8-4 midweek win over Fresno State — sparked by a two-run home run off the bat of right fielder Matthias Haas in the fifth inning and a three-run double by shortstop Brooks Lee in the sixth — the Mustangs went out on the road and took two of three games from Missouri State in Arlington, Texas, before losing two of three contests at UNLV. Last week, Cal Poly fell 3-1 to San Jose State on Tuesday and split a four-game weekend set against the Ivy League's Harvard, winning the first two contests 5-0 and 10-1 before falling 4-3 and 9-4. Drew Thorpe pitched a three-hit shutout in the opener while Brett Borgogno hit a grand slam and Lee produced his first four-hit game as a Mustang with two singles, a double and his third home run of the year in Saturday's first game of a doubleheader.

In each of its first 10 games this season, Cal Poly held a lead or was tied in the sixth inning or later but lost five of the contests.

CSUN is off to a 10-6 start under third-year head coach Dave Serrano, who announced in late January that he would be retiring following the current season. The Matadors lost two of three games at UCLA to open the campaign, then swept a four-game home series against Pacific. After losing two of three at Stanford, CSUN split two midweek games against Grand Canyon before winning a three-game series at McNeese State last weekend. On Tuesday, the Matadors defeated Loyola Marymount 7-4 as outfielder Wes Bart homered, doubled and singled and first baseman Joey Cramer added three hits of his own.

CSUN is hitting .271 as a team with 21 doubles, seven triples and 17 home runs, scoring 106 runs in their 16 games so far. The Matadors lead the Big West in triples, home runs and runs scored and are second in batting average. The pitching staff has compiled a 4.00 ERA with 98 strikeouts over 139.1 innings, and the Matadors have committed 21 errors for a .966 fielding percentage.

CSUN claimed its lone Big West title in 2002, and captured the Western Athletic Conference crown in 1996, both under Mike Batesole, now head coach at Fresno State. CSUN captured NCAA Division II national titles in 1970 and 1984 under Bob Hiegert.

Former Matadors who played in the Major Leagues include Jason Thompson, Adam Kennedy, Robert Fick, Lyman Bostock and Kameron Loe.

Cal Poly and CSUN have met 236 times on the baseball field since the series began when both teams were California Collegiate Athletic Association members back in 1959. The Matadors hold a 125-111 advantage after Cal Poly won three of four games a year ago in Northridge, bouncing back from a 13-10 loss in the opener for 7-6, 12-1 and 10-8 victories.

Cal Poly swept CSUN in 2019 at Baggett Stadium and the Matadors won two of three games at Matador Field in 2018. In 2014, Cal Poly swept the Matadors at Matador Field to clinch the Big West title. Cal Poly is 46-34 against CSUN since the Mustangs moved to Division I prior to the 1995 season. Larry Lee is 39-21 against CSUN while Dave Serrano is 13-12 against Cal Poly — 4-5 while head coach at UC Irvine from 2005-07 and 9-7 at Cal State Fullerton from 2008-11. The Mustangs and Matadors did not meet in 2020, Serrano's first year at CSUN, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A six-time NCAA Tournament head coach, Serrano (third season at CSUN (41-30), 16th season overall (487-332-1), Trinity University '03) was announced as the 10th head baseball coach in Matador history on June 23, 2019.

Serrano has spent 26-plus seasons coaching at the Division I level, including 15-plus seasons as head coach. Serrano is one of 12 coaches all-time to lead two different schools to the College World Series. In his six NCAA Tournament trips as a head coach, he has led four teams to the NCAA Super Regionals. As a head coach and an assistant coach, Serrano has been a part of seven College World Series and 16 NCAA Tournaments.

Serrano's first Matador team in 2020 started the year 7-0, posting the program's best start in 27 seasons while the 2021 squad, playing only Big West games, finished 21-19, tied for fourth place. He began his head coaching career at UC Irvine in 2005 where he led the Anteaters to two NCAA Regionals in three years and the school's first-ever trip to the College World Series in 2007.

Serrano took over head coaching duties at Cal State Fullerton in 2008, leading the Titans to the postseason in each of his four seasons. His squad advanced to the Super Regionals in his first three years, highlighted by a College World Series trip in 2009. Named Big West Coach of the Year in 2010, Serrano coached the Titans to three conference championships. He also spent six seasons as head coach at Tennessee from 2012-17 and spent the 2018 season at West Virginia as the Mountaineers' pitching coach.

From 1997-2004, Serrano served eight seasons as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at Cal State Fullerton. Prior to Fullerton, Serrano was an assistant coach at Tennessee from 1995-96 and he began his coaching career at Cerritos College in 1988, his seven-year reign highlighted by a state title in 1989. Serrano graduated from Cerritos High School in 1982. He played at Cerritos College for two seasons, was a Junior College All-American and led the Falcons to a state title in 1985 with a 12-1 record on the mound. He played one season at Cal State Fullerton under head coach Augie Garrido in 1986.

Picked by Big West head coaches to finish seventh this year, CSUN welcomed back a total of 18 letter winners, including three position starters and nine pitchers. Top returnees include utility player Kai Moody (.393, 25 RBIs, 10 steals in 2021), third baseman Mason Le (.277, 16 RBIs) and shortstop Brandon Bohning (.237, 13 RBIs, 10 steals). The pitching staff is paced by Blaine Traxel (5-1, 3.78 ERA, three saves in 2021), Gavin Lizik (1-3, 6.75 ERA) and Blake Sodersten (3-2, 4.02 ERA), all right-handers).

Sixteen games into the 2022 season, West is the lone Matador regular hitting over the .300 mark with a .371 average, though center fielder Jakob Simons has hit .381 in eight games and catcher Grayson Tarlow owns a .379 mark in 12 games. Sodersten (3-1, 3.20 ERA), Traxel (3-1, 3.72 ERA) and Ryan Wentz (1-1, 2.05 ERA), also a right-hander, have started 13 of CSUN's 16 games while righty closer Blake Schreiver has earned three saves so far.

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) got the nod for the first four Sunday games this season with freshman right-hander Steven Brooks of Cosumnes Oaks High School in Elk Grove, Calif., starting in midweek games. 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.

So far this season, Lee leads all Mustang hitters with a .444 mark, which includes 12 doubles, three home runs and 23 RBIs. He is on pace to surpass his own school doubles record (27) set last year as well as his 57 total RBIs in 2021. Freshman catcher/left fielder Ryan Stafford is hitting .313 with eight doubles and a pair of home runs while sophomore second baseman Nick Marinconz sports a .300 average.

The Mustangs have a combined 331-277 conference record (.545 winning percentage) in 24 years as a member of the Big West (no conference games were played in 2020), the last 18 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 212 of their last 313 home games for a 67.7 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 I 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 (20th season, 584-464-2, Pepperdine '83) 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 1,044-705-5 record over 35-plus 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.

Next week, Cal Poly visits Cal for a single game Tuesday, then resumes Big West Conference play with a three-game weekend series at UC San Diego (Friday at 6:30 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m., Sunday at 1 p.m.).