Cal Poly to Visit CSU Bakersfield for Big West Series This Weekend

Thursday, April 6

San Luis Obispo, CA

6 p.m.

UC Riverside

Cal Poly first baseman Joe Yorke is back atop the Mustang hitters with a .314 average, including five doubles and three home runs. He also leads the team in RBIs with 33 in 23 games.

Photo by: Owen Main | Cal Poly Athletics

Cal Poly to Visit CSU Bakersfield for Big West Series This Weekend

4/13/2023 9:10:00 AM | Baseball

WEEKLY NOTES: CAL POLY | CSU BAKERSFIELD | BIG WEST
VIDEO STREAM: FRIDAY | SATURDAY | SUNDAY
AUDIO STREAM: FRIDAY | SATURDAY | SUNDAY
LIVE STATS: FRIDAY | SATURDAY | SUNDAY

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Cal Poly (10-19, 3-6 Big West), which has won seven of its last 13 games following a 3-13 start and swept UC Riverside last weekend, returns to Big West play this weekend by visiting Central California rival CSU Bakersfield (12-17, 3-9 Big West) for three games at Hart Field (cap.: 2,000).

First pitches are set for 6:05 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 1:05 p.m. Sunday. All three games of the series will be broadcast on ESPN Radio (1280 AM and 101.7 FM) with Chris Sylvester calling the play-by-play. The series will be video streamed on ESPN+ as well. Links for audio and video streams as well as for live stats are available on the baseball schedule page at www.GoPoly.com.

After opening with two wins in three games versus Missouri State, Cal Poly led San Jose State 11-10 before play was halted after eight innings due to darkness on Feb. 20. That game will be resumed April 18 in San Luis Obispo. The Mustangs then lost all three games in Berkeley — two to Cal and one to UConn, which won 50 games a year ago — won just once in four contests against No. 18 Oregon State, dropped three more games — one to Xavier and two against UC Santa Barbara — dropped the first two games of its Big West-opening series against Hawai'i before earning a 10-3 triumph in the finale, then won two of three versus UC Irvine before falling three times at Long Beach State.

Last weekend, the Mustangs swept UC Riverside by scores of 13-2, 9-8 and 3-1. Bryce Warrecker matched his career high with eight strikeouts in the opener while Ryan Stafford and Joe Yorke each drove in three runs. The Mustangs held 2-0, 6-2 and 9-6 leads before holding on for the win in the middle game, Yorke producing his sixth career game of four or more hits with three singles and a double, driving in three runs, and Yorke knocked in two more runs while Jakob Wright, Kaden Sheedy and Ryan Baum combined on a four-hitter in the series finale.

CSU Bakersfield won seven of its first nine games against St. Thomas, Saint Mary's and Manhattan before losing three times each to Stanford, Ohio State and UC Santa Barbara. After the 7-2 start, the Roadrunners lost 14 of their next 15 contests before winning last weekend's Big West series at Hawai'i, two games to one. All three games were 3-2 decisions, the Runners winning the first two and Hawai'i salvaging a win in the finale.

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.

Cal Poly returned 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.

CSU Bakersfield returned 15 lettermen, including four starting position players and seven pitchers, off a squad that finished 18-34 in 2022 and ninth in the Big West at 11-19. Top returnees include designated hitter James Bell (.300, 13 doubles, six home runs, 34 RBIs in 2022), second baseman Nick Salas (.209, five doubles, 13 RBIs), catcher Angel Saldivar (.259, 16 RBIs) and right fielder A.J. Miller (.294, 16 doubles, 12 home runs, 38 RBIs). The pitching staff is headed by right-handers Davonte Butler (0-1, 3.68 ERA in 2022) and Ryan Verdugo (2-1, 4.54 ERA) and southpaw Marcelo Saldana (0-0, 5.40 ERA).

Twenty-nine games into the 2023 season, catcher Matt Kurata leads all Roadrunner batters with a .388 average with three doubles and nine RBIs in 16 games. Left fielder Riley Kasper is next at .302 with six doubles and 11 RBIs while both Bell and first baseman Konnor Palmeira are hitting .278, Bell with 10 doubles and 24 RBIs and Palmeira with 15 RBIs. On the mound, left-hander Matt Comnos is 2-2 with a 3.25 ERA while Verdugo is 3-4 with a 4.85 ERA.

Picked by the head coaches to finish 10th in the Big West this season, CSU Bakersfield is hitting .266 as a team with 46 doubles, seven triples, 10 home runs and 24 steals in 27 attempts. The Roadrunners' pitching staff has compiled a 5.40 ERA with 201 strikeouts over 245 innings and CSU Bakersfield has committed 60 errors in 29 games for a .943 fielding percentage.

The Roadrunners launched their baseball program in 2009 as an NCAA Division I independent before joining the Western Athletic Conference in 2013 and capturing the conference title in its first season. CSU Bakersfield won the WAC Tournament in 2015, qualifying for the NCAA's Los Angeles Regional at UCLA and posting a 1-2 mark. The Runners played their first Big West campaign in 2021.

One former Roadrunner has made it to the Major Leagues — southpaw pitcher Austin Davis with the Phillies — and a total of 20 CSU Bakersfield players have been drafted — two in the top 10 rounds in right-handers Scott Vrattvet (eighth round in 2013) and Darius Vines (seventh round in 2019). The Roadrunners have had three head coaches in their 14-year history — Bill Kernen (2009-15), Bob Macaluso (2016) and Jeremy Beard (2017-Present).

Jeremy Beard (seventh season, 130-178, Oregon State '97), pitching coach for the Runners in 2016, took over for Macaluso in December 2016. Beard coached at Portland in 2014 and 2015 and also has coached at Central Catholic High School (1998-2001) in Portland, Ore., Columbia Basin College (Wash.) from 2001-10 and Western Nevada College in 2011 and 2012. Beard was a pitcher at Oregon State, graduating in 1996.

Cal Poly and CSU Bakersfield have met 35 times on the baseball field since the series began in 2009. The Mustangs hold a 25-10 advantage in the series, winning six of the first seven as well as claiming eight consecutive contests from 2016-19 before the Runners swept a four-game series at Hardt Field in 2021. The two teams did not meet in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, Cal Poly swept the three-game Big West series, 14-1, 6-2 and 4-2 at Baggett Stadium.

Cal Poly rallied from an 8-0 deficit to beat the Roadrunners 11-8 in 2018 at Hardt Field, the largest comeback in the program's Division I history. The Mustangs rallied from a 9-2 deficit for an 11-10 win over Temple in 2000 and Cal Poly also came back from an 8-1 deficit to beat Washington 9-8 in 1995.

Cal Poly head coach Larry Lee is 25-10 against CSU Bakersfield while Beard is 4-9 against Cal Poly.

Cal Poly's first full practice session of 2023 on Jan. 27 featured 18 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 had the unenviable task of finding replacements for a pair of multiple All-Americans — Drew Thorpe and shortstop Brooks Lee, both drafted last July by the New York Yankees (second round) and Minnesota Twins (eighth overall selection), 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 were 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. "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 preseason depth chart had 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 the starter in center field. True freshman Tate Shimao, redshirt freshman Tanner Sagouspe and either Matthias Haas (who transfered to Cal Poly from Brown two years ago) or true freshman Evan Cloyd are expected to start at third base, right field and designated hitter, respectively.

The Mustangs' weekend rotation on the mound in the first four weeks featured Warrecker on Friday, Travis 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 due to injury 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 newcomer 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, but hit just .224 in three losses at Berkeley — two to Cal and one to UConn — .188 in the four-game series versus Oregon State, .224 in three games versus Xavier and UCSB four weeks ago and .262 against Hawai'i before turning things around with a .290 mark versus UC Irvine, 15 runs on 18 hits at Fresno State, a .274 average in three games at Long Beach State and a .327 mark in a sweep over UC Riverside. Ryan Stafford was 6-for-10 with two doubles and three RBIs while Joe York was 6-for-12 with two doubles and eight RBIs.

Steels sported a team-leading .438 batting average with a home run and three RBIs before he was sidelined two weeks with an injury. Yorke also was out with an injury for two weeks after hitting .308 with eight RBIs. Both returned to the lineup five weeks ago. Steels is hitting .307 to date, Yorke .314 with a team-leading 33 RBIs, Stafford .310, Casillas .308 and Ryan Fenn .292. Villegas, the team's home run leader with six to go with 20 RBIs, is hitting .250.

The Mustangs are hitting .265 as a team, eighth in the 11-team Big West, and the staff ERA is at 5.91, 10th in the conference. Cal Poly has committed 32 errors in 29 games for a .969 fielding percentage and has stolen just 13 bases in 20 attempts.

Lee (21st season, 624-495-2, 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 1,084-736-5 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 144 consecutive home games and 167 of their last 168 contests -- not including the 12 dates in 2021 when crowds were limited due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Next week, Cal Poly plays four more games, hosting San Jose State on Tuesday night which also includes completion of the game suspended Feb. 20 due to darkness, Cal Poly leading 11-10 after eight innings, then visiting CSUN for a three-game Big West series Friday through Sunday.