Cal Poly to Host Dixie State for Four-Game Weekend Series

Friday, April 1

San Luis Obispo, CA

6 p.m.

Dixie State

Freshman Steven Brooks will make his fifth start of the season in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader against Dixie State.

Photo by: Owen Main | Cal Poly Athletics

Cal Poly to Host Dixie State for Four-Game Weekend Series

3/30/2022 11:56:00 AM | Baseball

WEEKLY NOTES: CAL POLY (PDF) | DIXIE STATE (PDF) | BIG WEST
VIDEO STREAM: FRIDAY | SATURDAY (GAME 1) | SATURDAY (GAME 2) | SUNDAY
AUDIO STREAM: FRIDAY | SATURDAY (GAME 1) | SATURDAY (GAME 2) | SUNDAY
LIVE STATS: FRIDAY | SATURDAY (GAME 1) | SATURDAY (GAME 2) | SUNDAY
GAME PROGRAM | TICKETS | DREW THORPE HONORED MULTIPLE TIMES

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 (14-10, 5-1 Big West) steps away from Big West play this week by playing five non-conference games at home. Following Tuesday's 15-6 win over Santa Clara, the Mustangs' seventh victory in their last eight contests, Cal Poly hosts Dixie State (13-10, 8-4 Western Athletic) for a four-game weekend series inside Baggett Stadium (cap.: 3,138).

First pitches are set for 6 p.m. Friday, a 1 p.m. doubleheader Saturday and a noon finale Sunday. All four games 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 games on Friday and Sunday with Chris Sylvester 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. Cal Poly rolled to a 13-6 win over Santa Clara on Tuesday as Mark Armstrong drove in four runs with a single, double and walk while southpaw Noah Larkin gave up just one run and three hits over five innings for his first collegiate victory.

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 at the time.

Soon to be renamed Utah Tech on July 1, Dixie State opened its 2022 season by losing two of three games at Arizona State, then won three of four games versus North Dakota State. The Trailblazers have played four Western Athletic Conference series over the last four weeks, winning all of them two games to one against Utah Valley, Sacramento State, New Mexico State and Seattle.

Dixie State is in its second year of transition to NCAA Division I after 14 Division II seasons. The Trailblazers have compiled a 470-285-1 record as a four-year school with four conference titles, all in the Division II Pacific West Conference (2009, 2011, 2014, 2015), and made six Division II regional appearances (all from 2012-17).

Dixie State, nicknamed the Trailblazers but with a Bison mascot, is hitting .292 as a team with 34 doubles, five triples and 14 home runs, scoring 163 runs in its 23 games so far. The Trailblazers are first in the WAC in sacrifice bunts (23), walks per game by the hitters (5.17), sacrifice bunts allowed (13) and double plays turned (25). The pitching staff has compiled a 5.39 ERA with 182 strikeouts over 197 innings, and the Trailblazers have committed 26 errors for a .970 fielding percentage.

Tenth-year head coach Chris Pfatenhauer (291-170-1 in nine-plus seasons at Dixie State, 343-229-1 in 12 seasons overall, UNLV 2000) welcomed back 22 lettermen from last year's 24-32 club (fourth in the WAC at 21-15), including six starting position players and 10 pitchers. Top returnees include catcher Kaden Hollow (.322, nine home runs, 41 RBIs in 2021), second baseman Tyler Hollow (.304) and third baseman/shortstop Shane Taylor (.288, six home runs, 25 RBIs, eight steals). The pitching staff is paced by Dillon Holliday (5-2, 4.32 ERA, one save in 2021), Jimmy Borzone (3-5, 7.23 ERA) and Ryan Hardman (3-6, 8.68 ERA, one save), all right-handers.

Top Trailblazer hitters so far in 2022 are first baseman Chase Rodriguez (.361, 18 RBIs), center fielder Jagun Leavitt (.343, 13 RBIs) and Taylor (.330, seven doubles, three home runs, 21 RBIs). Catcher Kaden Hollow (.322, six doubles, three home runs, 16 RBIs) was a WAC preseason all-conference team selection, was listed as one of the top 50 catchers in the nation by D1Baseball.com and is on the 2022 Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year watch list.

Pfatenhauer led the Trailblazers to consecutive PacWest titles in 2014 and 2015, five straight trips (six-straight overall) to the NCAA West Regionals from 2013-17, and has posted a .500 or better record in nine of those seasons. Prior to his arrival at Dixie State, he spent three seasons (2010-12) as assistant coach at Nevada under longtime head coach Gary Powers. For two seasons (2008-09), Pfatenhauer was an assistant coach at Chico State and he spent three seasons at the College of the Ozarks (Missouri), the last two as head coach.

From 2001-04, he was the head baseball coach and taught physical education at Faith Lutheran High School in Las Vegas, where he led the Crusaders to a 97-23 record, a pair of state titles and three Southern Nevada Championships. Pfatenhauer started the baseball program at the College of Southern Nevada as a club team in the summer of 1998. In addition he spent time as an assistant coach at Treasure Valley Community College (Ore.) and at Glendale College. Pfatenhauer is a 2000 graduate of UNLV and went on to earn a master's degree in Education from Southwest Baptist (Mo.) in 2007.

Cal Poly and Dixie State are meeting on the baseball field for the first time this weekend.

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 .432 mark, second in the Big West, which includes 14 doubles, a triple, four home runs and 29 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, and currently has a career-long 13-game hitting streak. Freshman catcher/left fielder Ryan Stafford is hitting .343 with 10 doubles, a pair of home runs and 13 RBIs while sophomore second baseman Nick Marinconz sports a .342 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 216 of their last 317 home games for a 68.1 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 (2012-21, not counting 2020).

Lee (20th season, 591-465-2, 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 1,051-706-5 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.

Next week, Cal Poly plays its second game of the season versus Cal in Berkeley on Tuesday before returning to conference play with a three-game series at home against preseason Big West favorite Long Beach State (Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 4 p.m., Sunday at 1 o'clock).