No. 26 Cal Poly to Host Nos. 6/7 Stanford for Single Game Tuesday

Tuesday, April 19

San Luis Obispo, CA

6 p.m.

Stanford

Tickets

In his 20th season as head coach at Cal Poly, Larry Lee enters Tuesday's game against Stanford with 599 victories.

Photo by: Owen Main | Cal Poly Athletics

No. 26 Cal Poly to Host Nos. 6/7 Stanford for Single Game Tuesday

4/18/2022 5:26:00 PM | Baseball

WEEKLY NOTES: CAL POLY | STANFORD
AUDIO STREAM | VIDEO STREAM | LIVE STATS | TICKETS

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Cal Poly (22-13, 7-2 Big West), ranked No. 26 by Collegiate Baseball this week, winner of 15 of its last 19 games after a 7-9 opening and off to a 9-3 start in conference games, alone in second place, will host Nos. 6/7 Stanford (20-11, 11-7 Pac-12) for a single non-conference contest 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. The game also will be available on ESPN+ with Daniel Gillman 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.

After the 7-9 start, Cal Poly put together five- and six-game winning streaks, moving nine games above the .500 mark for the first time since the 2016 season by taking two of three games in a Big West series at UC Irvine last weekend. The Mustangs, 0-5 in one-run games prior to the series, bounced back from a 7-1 loss in the opener with 4-3 and 7-6 victories.

Cal Poly opened the 2022 season by dropping a pair of one-run decisions against Washington, 6-5 and 4-3, before claiming the series finale. Following an 8-4 midweek win over Fresno State, 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.

The early season slide continued as Cal Poly fell 3-1 to San Jose State and split a four-game weekend set against the Ivy League's Harvard. That series included Drew Thorpe's three-hit shutout in the opener, a grand slam by Brett Borgogno and Brooks Lee's first four-hit game as a Mustang.

On March 18, Cal Poly rallied from a 4-0 deficit with a decisive five-run eighth-inning outburst for a 6-4 triumph over CSUN, providing a turning point for the Mustangs as they have lost just four times since. Cal Poly completed the sweep against the Matadors, earned a series win at UC San Diego highlighted by a combined 20-strikeout effort from Thorpe and Jason Franks, won all five games versus Santa Clara and Dixie State two weeks ago and won Big West series against Long Beach State and defending conference champion UC Irvine, both two games to one, to stay within striking distance of first-place UC Santa Barbara.

Franks earned two saves by retiring all 10 UC Irvine batters he faced as Cal Poly rallied for the 4-3 win Friday, scoring all four runs in the ninth inning capped by a two-run triple off the bat of Collin Villegas that wiped out a 3-0 deficit, and jumped to a 7-0 lead and held on for the 7-6 triumph in Saturday's finale. Matthias Haas was 4-for-7 in the series with a double and three RBIs.

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. 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.

Stanford is 20-11 for the season under fifth-year head coach David Esquer. The Cardinal opened the year by winning nine of its first 14 games before being swept by then-No. 16 Arizona in Tucson on March 19-21. Stanford rebounded with a sweep of Washington State, a 2-1 series win at then-No. 3 Oregon State, another series sweep against Arizona State and, last weekend, a two-games-to-one series win at No. 12 UCLA. The Cardinal has won 11 of its last 14 games and reside in third place in the Pac-12, tied with Arizona with 11-7 conference marks and 1.5 games behind Oregon State and Oregon (both 10-5).

Stanford is hitting .279 as a team with 64 doubles, seven triples and 41 home runs, scoring 192 runs in its 31 games so far. The Cardinal is first in the Pac-12 in shutouts (7) and strikeouts per nine innings (10.3) and second in ERA (3.65), hits allowed per nine innings (7.82) and home runs per game (1.32). The pitching staff has compiled a 3.65 ERA with 319 strikeouts over 278 2/3 innings, and the Cardinal has committed 35 errors for a .969 fielding percentage.

Stanford's storied baseball history includes two College World Series titles (back-to-back in 1987 and 1988), 17 CWS appearances (including last spring), 33 NCAA Regional berths, 19 conference titles, 86 winning seasons in 127 years, six 50-plus win seasons, 69 All-Americans, 35 U.S. National Team members, seven Olympians and 27 Major League Baseball first-round picks.

Stanford owns a 48-6 advantage in its series against Cal Poly.  Last meeting was in 2019, a 7-1 Cardinal victory as Andrew Daschbach hit four home runs and knocked in five runs. Alex Williams allowed one run on four hits in a career-high 7.2 innings, striking out three without allowing a walk for a win. Stanford also won 5-2 in 2017 at Sunken Diamond. Cal Poly's last win over the Cardinal was a 3-1 decision in 2011 in Palo Alto. The Cardinal and Mustangs also played the first game inside Baggett Stadium on Jan. 21, 2001, Cal Poly claiming a 6-5 victory in 12 innings.

Esquer (fifth year at Stanford (23 seasons overall), 155-65 at Stanford (680-532-2 overall), Stanford '87) is the 21st head coach in program history, succeeding Mark Marquess, who retired after 41 years at the helm of the Cardinal. Esquer played under Marquess on Stanford's 1987 national championship team, and served as an assistant on The Farm from 1991-96. He spent 18 years as the head coach at Cal, where he was the 2011 National Coach of the Year and led the Bears to five NCAA Regionals and the 2011 College World Series, compiling a 525-467-2 mark.

A shortstop at Stanford from 1984-87, Esquer was a starter on the Cardinal's 1987 College World Series championship team. He went on to play professional baseball for four seasons with the Baltimore Orioles, California Angels and Milwaukee Brewers. In three seasons as the top assistant at Pepperdine, Esquer was the program's chief recruiting coordinator as well as hitting instructor, infield coach and handler of the third base coaching duties. He was a three-sport star and class valedictorian at Palma High School in Salinas.

Picked by Pac-12 head coaches to finish first this year after earning a College World Series berth in 2021 for the first time since 2008, Stanford welcomed back a total of 29 letter winners, including seven position starters and 14 pitchers. Top returnees include center fielder Brock Jones (.311, 18 home runs, 62 RBIs, 14 steals in 2021), third baseman Drew Bowser (.302, seven home runs, 41 RBIs) and utility player Tommy Troy (.247, 10 home runs, 28 RBIs). The pitching staff is paced by right-hander Alex Williams (5-2, 3.42 ERA in 2021) and southpaws Quinn Mathews (5-2, 6.08 ERA) and Drew Dowd (2-1, 6.99 ERA).

Thirty-one games into the 2022 season, first baseman Carter Graham leads the Cardinal offensively with a .372 average, eight doubles, nine home runs and 38 RBIs. Infielder Brett Barrera is next at .360 with 11 doubles, four home runs and 23 RBIs while right fielder Braden Montgomery is hitting .288 with nine home runs and 27 RBIs. Montgomery also is slated to start on the mound for the Cardinal on Tuesday with an 0-2 record, 8.10 ERA and 15 strikeouts over 10 innings. Jones is hitting .279 (five home runs, 16 RBIs), Bowser .259 (five home runs, 14 RBIs) and Troy .238.

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.

As the team's designated hitter, 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. Stafford has made 27 starts behind the plate and Villegas eight with 19 additional starts in the outfield.

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 .401 mark, first in the Big West, which includes 17 doubles, a triple, seven home runs and 37 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 had a career-long 19-game hitting streak snapped by Long Beach State two weeks ago. Sophomore second baseman Nick Marinconz sports a .325 average with five doubles, a home run and eight RBIs while Villegas sports a .306 mark with 14 doubles, three home runs and 29 RBIs, lifting his average 90 points over his last 19 games by going 22-for-61 (.361) with 10 doubles, a triple, two home runs and 25 RBIs.. Stafford is hitting .295 with 12 doubles, a pair of home runs and 16 RBIs.

The Mustangs have a combined 340-280 conference record (.548 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 222 of their last 324 home games for a 68.5 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 62 of 95 Big West series with a pair of 2-2 splits for a 64.9 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, 599-468-2, 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 and is one shy of the 600 mark. 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 1,059-709-5 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.

Cal Poly resumes Big West play with a three-game series at UC Riverside this weekend.