Cal Poly Heads Back to Bay Area for Games Against Cal, UConn

Friday, February 24

Berkeley, CA

3:05 p.m.

California

Jake Steels singles in his first game at Cal Poly.

Cal Poly center fielder Jake Steels went 7-for-14 against Missouri State in his first three games in a Mustang uniform last weekend.

Photo by: Owen Main | Cal Poly Athletics

Cal Poly Heads Back to Bay Area for Games Against Cal, UConn

2/22/2023 3:57:00 PM | Baseball

WEEKLY NOTES: CAL POLY | CAL | UCONN | BIG WEST
AUDIO STREAM: FRIDAY VS. CAL | FRIDAY VS. UCONN | SATURDAY VS. CAL
VIDEO STREAM: FRIDAY VS. CAL | FRIDAY VS. UCONN | SATURDAY VS. CAL
LIVE STATS: FRIDAY VS. CAL | FRIDAY VS. UCONN | SATURDAY VS. CAL

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Cal Poly (2-1, 0-0 Big West), which opened its 2023 baseball season last weekend by winning two of three games against Missouri State, its first series win to open a season since 2016, travels to Berkeley this weekend for two games against Cal (3-1, 0-0 Pac-12) and one versus Connecticut (2-2, 0-0 Big East) at Evans Diamond.

First pitches are set for 3:05 p.m. Friday versus Cal, 7:05 p.m. Friday against UConn and 6:05 p.m. Saturday for the rematch with the Bears. All three contests will be broadcast on ESPN Radio (1280 AM and 101.7 FM) with Eric Burdick calling the play-by-play. The games also will be video streamed. Links for audio and video streams as well as live stats are available on the baseball schedule page at www.Go-Poly.com. Depending on the weather, Cal Poly's first game against Cal could be moved to 1 p.m. at Chabot College.

A year ago, the Mustangs claimed second place in the Big West for the fourth time in the last five full seasons, winning 22 of 30 games and nine of the 10 series. UConn finished 50-16 in 2022, winning both the Big East regular season and tournament titles to earn a trip to the NCAA College Park Regional, posting a 3-1 mark, and NCAA Stanford Super Regional, winning the first game 13-12 before losing to the Cardinal 8-2 and 10-5.

Cal Poly returns just three position starters — first baseman Joe Yorke and catchers Ryan Stafford and Collin Villegas, one of whom plays left field when not behind the plate — off last year's 37-21 club. Yorke hit .353 with 51 RBIs and committed just two errors in 475 fielding chances while Stafford compiled a .321 average with 16 doubles and 33 RBIs, throwing out 11 would-be base stealers and picking off four others. Villegas hit .290 with 20 doubles and 40 RBIs. Yorke and Stafford were first-team All-Big West selections while Villegas landed on the second unit.

Pitching could be a strength of the club with a dozen returnees, including Travis Weston, Cal Poly's Saturday starter the last two years. Bryce Warrecker, who had a strong summer in the Cape Cod League, and Derek True, a 20th-round draft pick of the Oakland Athletics last July, also return.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 won 13 straight games, the longest in a single season for the program, before losing the season finale at Hawai'i.

Cal returns four starting position players and eight pitchers off a squad that finished 29-27 in 2022 and sixth in the Pac-12. Top returnees include catcher Caleb Lomavita (.272, seven home runs, 46 RBIs, 15 steals in 2022), outfielder Rodney Green (.293, six home runs, 21 RBIs) and utility player Dom Souto (.336, five home runs, 27 RBIs). The pitching staff is headed by Tucker Bougie (3-0, 3.42 ERA), Christian Becerra (2-0, 3.86 ERA) and Paulshawn Pasqualotto (4-3, 4.57 ERA in 2021; injured in 2022), all right-handers.

The Bears are off to a 3-1 start with a two-games-to-one series win over Houston last weekend and an 8-4 non-conference triumph at Stanford on Tuesday night. Shortstop Carson Crawford is hitting .429 (6-for-14) four games into the season with a home run and eight RBIs while Lomavita has a .421 mark (8-for-19) with two homers and five RBIs. Green sports a .421 average as well (8-for-19) with a home run and four RBIs. Southpaw Ian May (1-0, 0.00 ERA), who pitched eight scoreless innings with seven strikeouts and three hits allowed in a 7-0 win over Houston, will start Friday's game against Cal Poly.

Cal placed fifth in the 2011 NCAA College World Series, claimed CWS titles in 1947 and 1957, has appeared in the NCAA postseason 14 times, most recently 2019 when the Bears went 0-2 in the Fayetteville Regional, and has reached the College World Series six times and last won a conference title in 1980.

Cal made an initial decision in September 2010 to discontinue the baseball program due to pressure on the university's budget. Following a fundraising effort that generated approximately $10 million in commitment, Golden Bear baseball was reinstated April 8, 2011.

Cal Poly and Cal have met 59 times on the baseball field since the series began in 1948. The Bears hold a 42-17 advantage after splitting two games against the Mustangs in a pair of midweek games at Evans Diamond. Cal is 14-10 against Cal Poly since the Mustangs moved to Division I prior to the 1995 season.

Mike Neu (sixth season at Cal (130-107), eighth season overall (1170-172), Phoenix '08) was named head coach at Cal on July 5, 2017 after two seasons as head coach at Pacific. Neu was pitching coach at Cal from 2012-15 and head coach at Diablo Valley College from 2009-11. As a player, the Napa, Calif., native enjoyed a standout career at Miami before going on to play in the Dodgers, Marlins, A's and Reds organizations. Neu was called up to the Major Leagues with the A's on April 9, 2003, and compiled a 3.64 ERA in 32 relief appearances that season.

UConn has 15 returning lettermen off last year's 50-16 squad that won the Big East title and qualified for the NCAA College Park Regional and NCAA Stanford Super Regional, posting a 4-3 postseason mark. Five position starters and seven pitchers return, led by outfielder Korey Morton (.411, six home runs, 28 RBIs, nine steals in 2022), first baseman Ben Huber (.327, 11 home runs, 66 RBIs, seven steals) and utility player David Smith (.307, nine home runs, 48 RBIs, 23 steals). Cal Poly likely will face sophomore right-hander Ian Cooke (7-1, 3.64 ERA in 2022) on Friday night.

UConn has made 22 NCAA regional appearances and five trips to the College World Series, the last in 1979. Located in Storrs, Conn., the Huskies have won 23 conference titles, including Big East titles in their first two years in the conference.

Head coach Jim Penders (20th season, 658-434-2, Connecticut '94) has led the Huskies to eight NCAA Tournament appearances, and two Super Regional appearances in 2011 and 2022. UConn has also won a regular season or conference title seven times with Penders in the dugout and hosted the 2010 Norwich Regional. Under his watch, 17 Huskies have earned All-America honors and 65 players have either been drafted or signed by professional baseball clubs.

Penders has led his squad to 30 or more wins in 15 of his 18 full years at Connecticut. An assistant coach for several years at UConn as well, he was a four-year letter winner as a Husky, hitting .354 with seven home runs and 46 runs batted in as a senior in 1994. Pender was an all-state performer in baseball at East Catholic High School and served as his senior class president.

Cal Poly and UConn have met just once on the baseball field, the Mustangs earning a 5-0 victory in the 2020 MLB4 Tournament at Scottsdale, Ariz. Taylor Dollard and Dylan Villalobos combined on a two-hit shutout. Dollard tossed seven innings, allowing two singles and two walks with 10 strikeouts for the win. Villalobos retired all six batters he faced for a save.

Cal Poly's first full practice session of 2023 on Jan. 27 featured 19 newcomers and a completely new staff of assistant coaches under 21st-year head coach Larry Lee. Pitching coach Seth Moir, an assistant at San Jose State the last two seasons, outfielder coach and associate head coach/recruiting coordinator Matt Fonteno, who has served as an assistant coach at USC, UC Santa Barbara, Saint Mary's and Nevada the last 10 years, and Logan Denholm, a catcher at UC Davis and Sacramento State and most recently a volunteer assistant coach at San Jose State, were hired last summer.

The staff has the unenviable task of finding replacements for a pair of multiple All-Americans — Thorpe and shortstop Brooks Lee, both drafted last July by the New York Yankees and Minnesota Twins, respectively. Lee hit .342 in 2021 and .357 last spring, combining for 25 home runs and 112 RBIs in the two seasons en route to a pair of Big West Conference Field Player of the Year awards. Thorpe was 10-1 with a 2.32 ERA and a school-record 149 strikeouts, which led the nation at the conclusion of the 2022 regular season, on his way to Big West Pitcher of the Year honors.

With their departure, Lee and his new coaching staff are faced with finding and developing replacements for three infield positions, two in the outfield and the designated hitter along with two starters in the weekend pitching rotation.
"It's a total rebuild, especially on the position player side where we only return three regulars from last year's squad," said Lee. "Our offensive and defensive lineups will look totally different than a year ago with six of nine new faces in the starting lineup every game.

"You're going to see some inexperience that could possibly show early on, but hopefully those players will allow themselves to slow the game down as the season progresses. With so many new faces in our offensive and defensive lineups, you're going to see some growing pains early in the season. We can't allow that to go on for too long," Lee added.

"Individually you're not going to replace guys like Brooks and Drew, two players who were as good as anyone in the country. Not only did they put up incredible numbers, they took on the responsibility of having the bull's-eyes on their backs and allowing all of their teammates to stay within themselves and not think that they had to do anything special.

"The effect that they had on games is hard to measure. You're hoping that you can get better in the other positions from last year in order to become more of a complete well-rounded team."

The preseason depth chart has two transfers topping the middle infield candidates — Ryan Fenn of Cuesta College at second base and Aaron Casillas of CSU Bakersfield at shortstop. A third transfer, Jake Steels of Hancock College, is expected to start in center field. True freshman Tate Shimao, redshirt freshman Tanner Sagouspe and either Matthias Haas (who transfered to Cal Poly from Brown a year ago) or true freshman Evan Cloyd are expected to start at third base, right field and designated hitter.

The Mustangs' weekend rotation on the mound featured Warrecker on Friday, Weston for the third straight year on Saturday and College of San Mateo transfer Ryan Baum (4-1, 1.62 ERA last spring) on Sunday. Weston was 7-3 with a 3.91 ERA a year ago and has five career complete games as a Mustang, including three shutouts. Warrecker missed the first half of the 2022 season and finished 2-0 with a 5.81 ERA before earning the Cape Cod League's most outstanding pitcher award while pitching for the Orleans Firebirds.

Other potential starters include Kaden Sheedy (3-2, 5.23 ERA), Steven Brooks (0-2, 5.33 ERA) and newcomers Freddy Rodriguez (River City HS), all right-handers. Top candidates in the bullpen are True (1-1, 4.79 ERA), Kyle Scott (0-3, 6.26 ERA, three saves) and Carlo Lopiccolo, among others. Scott produced seven saves and two wins in 2021.

The Mustangs opened their 2023 season with a robust .336 batting average in their three-game series against Missouri State, including eight doubles, a triple and three home runs. Center fielder Jake Steels led the way, going 7-for-14 with a double and three RBIs while shortstop Aaron Casillas was 6-for-12 with three doubles and five RBIs. Designated hitter Evan Cloyd and first baseman Joe Yorke each had five knocks — Yorke driving in seven runs — and third baseman Tate Shimao was 4-for-13 with three RBIs. Steels, Casillas, Cloyd and Shimao all were playing their first games in a Mustang uniform last weekend.

Monday's game at San Jose State was suspended after eight innings due to approaching darkness with Cal Poly holding an 11-10 lead. The contest will be resumed when the two teams meet again April 18 in San Luis Obispo. After scoring seven times in the seventh inning to overcome a 9-3 deficit, Cal Poly snapped a 10-10 tie on Stafford's RBI single in the eighth inning. San Jose State was retired in the bottom of the eighth before the game was halted.

The Spartans held 1-0, 5-1 and 9-3 leads but couldn't hold on. The game was tied twice at 1-1 and 10-10. Both teams collected 13 hits in the 3 hours and 45 minutes that were required to complete eight innings.

Lee (20th season, 616-477-2, Pepperdine '83) reached the 600-victory milestone April 22, 2022, 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 1,076-717-5 record over 36-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 won 11 of its 15 series in 2022 with a 2-2 split versus Harvard, losing series only against Big West champion UC Santa Barbara and non-conference foes Washington and UNLV. The Mustangs earned five sweeps versus Dixie State, CSUN, CSU Bakersfield and UC Davis at home and perennial national power Cal State Fullerton on the road, their first ever at Goodwin Field.

Cal Poly was ranked in the top 30 in the Collegiate Baseball national poll four times in April and also earned a No. 18 ranking during the final week of the regular season.

Cal Poly averaged 1,900 fans over 32 home dates last season, a Baggett Stadium record. The 2,738 fans who came out to see Stanford on April 19 was a record for a midweek game and the Mustangs have drawn at least 1,000 fans for each of their last 123 consecutive home games -- not including the 12 dates in 2021 when crowds were limited due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Next week, Cal Poly returns home to host Oregon State for a four-game series Thursday through Sunday inside Baggett Stadium.