Cal Poly Resumes Big West Play at Home versus Long Beach State

Friday, April 8

San Luis Obispo, CA

6 p.m.

Long Beach State

Second baseman Nick Marinconz makes the turn in double play attempt versus Harvard four weeks ago. Cal Poly resumes Big West play this weekend at home against Long Beach State.

Shortstop Nick Marinconz makes the turn in double play attempt against Harvard four weeks ago. Cal Poly resumes Big West play this weekend at home against Long Beach State.

Photo by: Kyle Calzia / Cal Poly Athletics

Cal Poly Resumes Big West Play at Home versus Long Beach State

4/6/2022 5:15:00 PM | Baseball

WEEKLY NOTES: CAL POLY (PDF) | LONG BEACH STATE | BIG WEST
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SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Cal Poly (18-11, 5-1 Big West), off to its first 5-1 conference start in eight years and ranked for the first time in six years at No. 17 by Collegiate Baseball this week after winning all five home games last week, resumes conference play this weekend after playing six non-conference games in a row, hosting Long Beach State (14-13, 4-5 Big West) inside Baggett Stadium (cap.: 3,138).

First pitches are set for 6 p.m. Friday, 4 p.m. Saturday and 1 o'clock Sunday. All three games will be broadcast on ESPN Radio (1280 AM and 101.7 FM) with Zachary Anderson-Yoxsimer providing the play-by-play. The series also will be available on ESPN+ with Chris Sylvester calling the action. Links for video and audio streams as well as live stats are available on the baseball schedule page at www.GoPoly.com.

After a 7-9 start, Cal Poly won six straight and 11 of its last 12 contests, moving eight games above the .500 mark for the first time since the 2016 season when the Mustangs were 10-2, before falling at Cal 9-3 on Tuesday.

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 an 8-4 triumph, providing a turning point for the Mustangs as they have lost just once 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, and won all five games last week — a 15-6 nod over Santa Clara and 12-3, 6-4, 9-0 and 5-3 triumphs in a sweep against Dixie State.

In the series against the Trailblazers, catcher/outfielder Collin Villegas was 7-for-13 with four doubles, a triple, four runs scored and eight RBIs. For the week, he was 9-for-17 (.529) with five doubles, a triple, six runs scored and 10 RBIs. First baseman Joe Yorke was 7-for-16 with five RBIs in the Dixie State series while Lee and Tate Samuelson both collected six hits -- Lee knocking in six runs and Samuelson five. Cal Poly hit .326 in the series.

Freshman southpaw Noah Larkin earned two victories for the week with six strikeouts over 11 1/3 innings and a 0.79 ERA while junior Travis Weston, another left-hander, pitched 10 innings with nine strikeouts, including a complete-game two-hitter in Saturday's 9-0 triumph over Dixie State. The Mustang pitching staff compiled a 3.00 ERA for the week.

Cal scored four runs in the third inning and, after Cal Poly closed the gap to 4-3 with solo home runs by Nick Marinconz and John Lagattuta plus a pair of groundouts after a fifth-inning double by Brooks Lee, the Bears pulled away with five runs in the late innings. Lee extended his hitting streak to 18 games with two hits.

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.

Long Beach State is 14-13 for the season under third-year head coach Eric Valenzuela. The Dirtbags won two of three games against defending national champion Mississippi State to open the year, but were swept at home by Sacramento State the following weekend, part of a six-game losing streak that was snapped with a series win over North Dakota State.

Long Beach State also won two of three versus then-No. 15 Gonzaga and opened Big West play with a series win over Hawai'i before dropping two of three games at CSUN and two of three versus UC San Diego at home. The Dirtbags, picked to win the Big West title by coaches in a preseason poll, are 4-5 so far, tied for seventh place with CSUN.

Long Beach State is hitting .274 as a team with 48 doubles, three triples and 19 home runs, scoring 138 runs in its 27 games so far. The Dirtbags are first in the Big West in hits allowed per nine innings (7.88) and walks per nine innings (2.85) and second in the nation with four shutouts. The pitching staff has compiled a 3.56 ERA, second in the Big West, with 243 strikeouts over 240 innings, and the Dirtbags have committed 28 errors for a .972 fielding percentage.

The Dirtbags have claimed nine Big West titles (ending a nine-year drought in 2017), and have made 22 NCAA regional appearances and four trips to the College World Series, the last in 1998.

Cal Poly and Long Beach State have met 156 times on the baseball field since the series began when both teams were California Collegiate Athletic Association members back in 1957. The Dirtbags hold a 96-60 advantage after splitting four games against the Mustangs a year ago at Blair Field.

In a strange scheduling twist, Long Beach State has hosted six of the last eight series against Cal Poly dating back to 2013. The two teams played at Blair Field in 2013 and 2014 after the Big West was forced to adjust schedules due to Hawaii's entrance and Pacific's departure. The Big West also revamped schedules for 2017, forcing Cal Poly to visit Long Beach State a second straight year again. The COVID-19 pandemic forced a halt to the 2020 season before any conference games were played, leaving Cal Poly with no option but to play back-to-back at Long Beach State in both 2019 and 2021.

Long Beach State was 16-2 in a six-year stretch against the Mustangs until Cal Poly won two of three in 2009, its first series win at Blair Field since 1997. The Mustangs swept the 2019 series in Long Beach by scores of 4-2, 7-1 and 5-4 and also won all three games in Baggett Stadium in 2018 by 5-4, 5-2 and 8-2 scores. Cal Poly is 27-54 against Long Beach State since the Mustangs moved to Division I prior to the 1995 season.

Larry Lee is 21-34 against Long Beach State while Eric Valenzuela is 4-6 against Cal Poly, including a 2-4 mark while he was head coach at Saint Mary's.

Valenzuela (third season at Long Beach State (52-33), ninth season overall (232-189), Pepperdine '01) coached the Gaels from 2014-19, compiling a 180-156 record with four consecutive 30-win seasons, including a West Coast Conference title and NCAA regional playoff berth in 2016.

Before heading to Moraga, Valenzuela was pitching coach and recruiting coordinator for four seasons under Tony Gwynn at San Diego State. He spent six seasons (2004-09) across town at San Diego, helping the Toreros reach the NCAA postseason on three occasions, and made his collegiate coaching start at Saint Mary's, serving as the recruiting coordinator for the Gaels from 2001-03.

As a player, Valenzuela was a High School All-American at Bishop Amat before reaching the College World Series with Arizona State in 1998. He transfered to Pepperdine, where he was the captain on the 2001 team that went 42-18 and won the WCC title before graduating from Pepperdine and turning to coaching.

Former Dirtbags in the Major Leagues include Jason Giambi, Evan Longoria, Troy Tulowitzki, Jason Vargas and Jered Weaver.

Picked by Big West head coaches to win the conference title this year, Long Beach State welcomed back a total of 22 letter winners, including six position starters and 10 pitchers. Top returnees include first baseman/outfielder Chase Luttrell (.316, eight home runs, 30 RBIs in 2021), first baseman/third baseman Jonathan Long (.341, five home runs, 16 RBIs) and utility player Charlie Loust (.289, 23 RBIs). The pitching staff is paced by Devereaux Harrison (3-1, 1.57 ERA, 10 saves in 2021), Luis Ramirez (4-4, 4.27 ERA) and Jack Noble (3-2, 2.79 ERA), all right-handers.

Twenty-seven games into the 2022 season, third baseman Tanner Carlson leads all Dirtbag hitters with a .369 average, including five doubles and 11 RBIs. Center fielder Rocco Peppi is hitting .351 with 14 RBIs while Luttrell owns a .321 mark with 11 doubles, four home runs and 18 RBIs. Shortstop Sebastian Murillo is hitting .316 and Long checks in with a .300 mark and a team-leading 20 RBIs.

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. 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 .430 mark, first in the Big West, which includes 17 doubles, a triple, six home runs and 35 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 18-game hitting streak. Sophomore second baseman Nick Marinconz sports a .339 average with two doubles and six RBIs while freshman catcher/left fielder Ryan Stafford is hitting .314 with 11 doubles, a pair of home runs and 13 RBIs. Catcher/left fielder Collin Villegas has lifted his average 92 points to .308 over his last 13 games, going 16-for-41 (.390) with nine doubles and 19 RBIs.

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 220 of their last 321 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 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, 595-466-2, 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 1,055-707-5 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 continues Big West play with a three-game series at UC Irvine (Friday and Saturday at 6 p.m., Sunday at 1 o'clock).