Cal Poly to Host Pepperdine for Final Home Midweek Game Tuesday

Tuesday, May 10

San Luis Obispo, CA

6 p.m.

Pepperdine

Tickets

Photo by: Photo by Connor Lau

Cal Poly to Host Pepperdine for Final Home Midweek Game Tuesday

5/9/2022 4:48:00 PM | Baseball

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

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Cal Poly (27-20, 14-7 Big West), which snapped a six-game losing streak by sweeping a Big West Conference series at home against CSU Bakersfield over the weekend, plays its final home midweek contest of the 2022 season Tuesday night, hosting Pepperdine (20-22, 8-13 West Coast) inside Baggett Stadium (cap.: 3,138).

First pitch is set for 6 p.m. The game will be video streamed on ESPN+ with Chris Sylvester providing the play-by-play. The game also will be available on ESPN Radio (1280 AM and 101.7 FM) with Zachary Anderson-Yoxsimer 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.

The two teams also will clash one week later in Malibu at 3 p.m.

After a 7-9 start, Cal Poly put together five- and six-game winning streaks, moving 10 games above the .500 mark for the first time since the 2016 season by taking two of three games in back-to-back Big West series on the road at UC Irvine and UC Riverside.

The Mustangs slipped into third place in the Big West following 10-7 (11 innings), 8-3 and 7-3 losses to No. 13 UC Santa Barbara at home on April 29-May 1, but climbed back into second place by sweeping CSU Bakersfield by scores of 14-1, 6-2 and 4-2. Ryan Stafford went 8-for-11 at the plate with a home run, five runs scored and six RBIs en route to Big West Field Player of the Week honors while Joe Yorke was 7-for-14 with two doubles and three RBIs.

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 Big West-opening triumph over CSUN, providing a turning point for the Mustangs as they won 11 of 12 contests. 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 six weeks ago and won Big West series against Long Beach State, defending conference champion UC Irvine and UC Riverside, all two games to one, to stay within striking distance of the first-place Gauchos.

The Mustangs are back above the .500 mark after the 0-2, 4-5, 5-7 and 7-9 starts, going 20-11 since the start of Big West play March 18.

Pepperdine won its first four games of the 2022 season, sweeping the Villanova series at home, and was 8-3 after sweeping Cal State Fullerton in early March and 16-11 following a sweep of Pacific and a midweek win over Big West leader UC Santa Barbara on April 5. Since then, however, the Waves have lost 11 of their last 15 games, losing four straight West Coast series against Saint Mary's, San Francisco, Santa Clara and, last week at home, BYU by scores of 4-2, 6-3 and 4-2.

Pepperdine is hitting .264 as a team with 61 doubles, seven triples and 36 home runs, scoring 218 runs in its 42 games so far. The Waves are third in the West Coast in double plays per game (0.76) and fourth in walks allowed per nine innings (3.55) but last in hits (386), on-base percentage (.342), runs scored (218), runs scored per game (5.2), sacrifice flies (12) and strikeouts per nine innings (7.0). The pitching staff has compiled a 4.48 ERA with 294 strikeouts over 375 innings, and the Waves have committed 43 errors in 42 games.

Pepperdine is coming off a 20-25 campaign, finishing seventh in the West Coast at 12-15. A regional qualifier for the 28th time in 2015 and 1992 College World Series champion, Pepperdine has appeared in one Super Regional (Fort Worth in 2014) and two College World Series. The Waves won the 2015 West Coast Conference postseason tournament in Stockton and went 2-2 in the Fullerton Regional, their last regional appearance.

Former Waves who made it to the Major Leagues include Chase d'Arnaud (2011-18 with Pirates, Phillies, Braves, Red Sox, Padres and Giants), Mike Scott (1979-91 with Mets and Astros), Chad Krueter (1988-2003 with Rangers, Tigers, Mariners, White Sox, Angels, Royals and Dodgers), Mike Fetters (1989-2004 with Angels, Brewers, Athletics, Orioles, Dodgers, Pirates, Diamondbacks and Twins) and Danny Haren (2003-15 with Cardinals, Athletics,, Diamondbacks, Angels, Nationals, Dodgers, Marlins and Cubs).

Coached by Rick Hirtensteiner (seventh season, 156-155, Pepperdine '89), the Waves returned 30 letter winners from last year's squad, including two position starters and 15 pitchers. Top returnees include shortstop John Peck (.256, seven home runs, 19 RBIs in 2021), catcher Ryan Johnson (.237, 45 RBIs) and outfielder Grant Schoen (.206). Topping the list of returning pitchers are Brandon Llewellyn (5-1, 3.37 ERA in 2021), Trevor Hinkel (3-8, 6.91 ERA, one save) and Trevor Kniskern (1-4, 7.06 ERA, two saves), all right-handers.

Davis Luikart (0-0, 1.93 ERA), a freshman right-hander from Austin Texas, will start for Pepperdine on Tuesday, facing Cal Poly's Steven Brooks (0-2, 5.95 ERA), also a freshman right-hander.

Peck tops all Pepperdine hitters so far this season with a .382 average, 10 doubles, five home runs and 27 RBIs while left fielder Charles Masino is hitting .307 with 13 RBIs. Outfielder Mike Malinchek sports a .299 average with seven doubles and nine RBIs.

Hirtensteiner, a four-year standout at Pepperdine who earned All-American honors as a senior in 1989, was an assistant at Pepperdine for 17 seasons before replacing Steve Rodriguez (now head coach at Baylor) prior to the 2016 campaign.

Cal Poly and Pepperdine have met 66 times in baseball since the series began in 1947. The Waves hold a 39-27 advantage and the two clubs have split a pair of midweek games each of the last six years the two teams met (they did not play each other in 2020 or 2021). In 2019, Cal Poly led Pepperdine 11-6 when the March 12 game in Malibu was suspended due to darkness. It was completed May 7 in Baggett Stadium, Cal Poly prevailing 13-7, before Pepperdine won the regularly scheduled game 6-5 on a hit batsman with the bases loaded in the 11th inning. The Mustangs had scored four times in the ninth inning to force overtime, Tate Samuelson capping the rally with a three-run home run.

Pepperdine also earned 2-1 and 10-6 wins over the Mustangs in the 2014 NCAA San Luis Obispo Regional.

Cal Poly is 17-27 against Pepperdine since the Mustangs moved to Division I prior to the 1995 season. Larry Lee is 14-17 against his alma mater while Rick Hirtensteiner is 4-4 versus 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, 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 continues to be 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 36 starts behind the plate and Villegas 11 with 27 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 .366 mark, second in the Big West, which includes 20 doubles, a triple, nine home runs and 40 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 six weeks ago. Sophomore second baseman Nick Marinconz sports a .320 average with seven doubles, a home run and 15 RBIs while Yorke is hitting .310 with 30 RBIs and a 13-game hitting streak, Stafford .305 with 13 doubles and 23 RBIs and Villegas .299 with 16 doubles, two triples, four home runs and 36 RBIs.

Samuelson, a fifth-year Super Senior, has already broken school records for most games played (222) and at-bats (871) in a career and is No. 3 in hits (238) and RBIs (154) and fifth in hit by pitches (29). Hitting .246 this year, Samuelson is one home run and two walks shy of the top 10 and six RBIs short of the school record (Steve Wood with 160).

The Mustangs have a combined 345-284 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 225 of their last 331 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 64 of 98 Big West series with a pair of 2-2 splits for a 65.3 winning percentage. The Mustangs won seven of eight conference series in both 2014 and 2017 and is 6-1 so far this spring. 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 lone 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, 604-475-2, 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 earned win No. 600 on April 22 with a 9-3 nod over UC Riverside. 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 1,064-715-5 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 returns to Big West play over the weekend by visiting Cal State Fullerton (Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 6 and Sunday at 1).