Cal Poly Opens 5-Game Home Stand Tuesday by Hosting Santa Clara

Tuesday, March 29

San Luis Obispo, CA

6 p.m.

Santa Clara

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Photo by: Owen Main | Cal Poly Athletics

Cal Poly Opens 5-Game Home Stand Tuesday by Hosting Santa Clara

3/28/2022 9:56:00 PM | Baseball

WEEKLY NOTES: CAL POLY (PDF) | SANTA CLARA
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DREW THORPE NAMED BIG WEST PITCHER OF THE WEEK

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- After winning five of its first six Big West games against CSUN (3-0 sweep) and UC San Diego (2-1 series win), its first 5-1 conference start in eight years, Cal Poly (13-10, 5-1 Big West) steps away from Big West play this week by playing five non-conference games at home, starting with Santa Clara (15-8, 4-2 West Coast) for a single game Tuesday night inside Baggett Stadium (cap.: 3,138).

First pitch is set for 6 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on ESPN Radio (1280 AM and 101.7 FM) with Zachary Anderson-Yoxsimer providing the play-by-play. ESPN+ also will broadcast the game with Daniel Gillman calling the action. Links for video (ESPN+) 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. Three weeks ago, 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 in the first game of a March 12 doubleheader.

Cal Poly defeated CSUN 6-4 (rallying from a 4-0 deficit with a decisive five-run eighth-inning outburst), 8-4 and 6-4 to open Big West play two weeks ago. The Mustangs earned a series win at UC San Diego last weekend, winning the opener 7-0 behind 20 strikeouts and a combined three-hit shutout by Drew Thorpe and Jason Franks. Following a 12-1 setback Saturday, Cal Poly clinched the series with a 4-2 win Sunday as Dylan Villalobos, Zach Button and Kyle Scott each pitched three innings. Ryan Stafford, Brooks Lee and Collin Villegas all had four hits in the series — Villegas driving in three runs.

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 and was 7-9 entering the CSUN series. The Mustangs are back above the .500 mark for the first time since winning the opener of their series against Missouri State on Feb. 26, lifting their mark to 3-2.

Santa Clara lost two of three games to USC opening the season, won three of four versus Northwestern, swept UC San Diego and lost two of three to Texas A&M before beginning West Coast Conference play with two games to one series wins over both San Francisco and Loyola Marymount. At 15-7 prior to Sunday's 4-2 loss to the Lions, the Broncos were eight games above the .500 mark for the first time since opening the 2018 campaign with an 11-3 mark. Last time Santa Clara was nine games above the break-even point was when the Broncos were 14-5 in 2018. Santa Clara last was 10 games above .500 in 2012 with a 13-3 start.

Santa Clara is hitting .271 as a team with 44 doubles, eight triples and 12 home runs, scoring 140 runs in its 23 games so far. The Broncos are first in the West Coast in strikeouts per nine innings (10.6) and third in both sacrifice bunts (9) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.70). The pitching staff has compiled a 3.90 ERA with 241 strikeouts over 201 innings, and the Broncos have committed 26 errors for a .968 fielding percentage.

Fifth-year head coach Rusty Filter (83-112, San Diego State '90) welcomed back 19 lettermen from last year's 18-33 club (ninth in the West Coast at 8-19), including five starting position players and seven pitchers. Top returnees include center fielder Coleman Brigman (.254, 10 RBIs in 2021), second baseman Dawson Brigman (.258, 17 RBIs) and utility player Matt Jew (.206, 17 RBIs). Top returning pitchers include Cole Kitchen (5-3, 3.58 ERA in 2021), Alex Reelfs (3-2, 4.25 ERA, two saves) and Jared Feikes (1-3, 6.83 ERA, one save), all right-handers.

Top Bronco hitters so far in 2022 are Coleman Brigman (.344, eight doubles, 21 RBIs), right fielder Michael O'Hara (.337, 13 RBIs), designated hiiter Eamonn Lance (.323, six doubles, 14 RBIs) and first baseman John Hanley (.319, 13 RBIs). Coleman Brigman produced a pair of walk-off hits last week —a two-out three-run ninth-inning home run snapping a 9-9 tie in a 12-9 win over San Jose State on Tuesday and a two-out RBI single in the 10th inning of a 4-3 win over Loyola Marymount on Friday.

Cal Poly will start freshman southpaw Noah Larkin (0-1, 6.48 ERA) on Tuesday while Santa Clara will counter with freshman right-hander Blake Hammond (0-0, 5.25 ERA), making his first collegiate start. Larkin was Cal Poly's starter at Cal last Tuesday, giving up two runs and three hits in 2 2/3 innings of a no-decision. The Mustangs bounced back from an early 2-0 deficit for a 14-4 victory.

Santa Clara has finished first in the West Coast Conference four times, the last in 2001. The Broncos are in their 140th year of competition in baseball, earning 2,330 wins with 12 NCAA regional appearances (the last in 1997) and one trip to the College World Series (1962).

Filter was pitching coach under Mark Marquess at Stanford for eight seasons before taking over for Dan O'Brien at Santa Clara in June 2017. He helped the Cardinal reach the NCAA Tournament five times, including three trips to the Super Regional, and developed 20 pitchers who were selected in the MLB Draft.

In 16 seasons as an assistant coach under Jim Dietz and Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn at his alma mater, Filter mentored 58 draft picks, including two top overall picks in the Major League draft, Stephen Strasburg in 2009 and Mark Appel in 2013. Filter played at San Diego State from 1987-90, originally as a catcher before moving to the mound, and was drafted by Toronto in 1990.

Cal Poly and Santa Clara have played 90 baseball games against each other since the series began in 1956. The Broncos hold a 48-42 advantage after posting an 8-5 win over the Mustangs in the lone meeting between the two schools in 2020 before the season was shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Santa Clara won both contests in 2019 by scores of 7-6 in 10 innings in San Luis Obispo and 5-0 at Santa Clara.

Santa Clara also won both meetings in 2018 while Cal Poly won twice in 2017. The Broncos have won five straight in the series after Cal Poly had won eight of 10 contests. Larry Lee is 19-20 against Santa Clara while Rusty Filter is 5-0 against Cal Poly.

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 the midweek contests. 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 .422 mark, second in the Big West, which includes 14 doubles, a triple, four home runs and 28 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 .337 with 10 doubles, a pair of home runs and 12 RBIs while sophomore second baseman Nick Marinconz sports a .343 average with two doubles, both at Cal last week.

The Mustangs have a combined 336-278 conference record (.547 winning percentage) in 24-plus years as a member of the Big West (no conference games were played in 2020), the last 18-plus 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 215 of their last 316 home games for a 68.0 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 has guided the Mustangs to wins in 60 of 93 Big West series with a pair of 2-2 splits for a 64.5 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, 590-465-2, 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 1,050-706-5 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.

This weekend, Cal Poly hosts Dixie State of St. George, Utah, for a four-game series (Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday doubleheader at 1 and 4:30 p.m., Sunday at noon).