Tuesday, April 4
San Luis Obispo, CA
6 p.m.
vs
Pepperdine
Photo by: Maddie Harrell
Cal Poly to Host Pepperdine for Midweek Game Tuesday Night
4/3/2023 1:47:00 PM | Baseball
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SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Two baseball teams who met in the 2014 NCAA San Luis Obispo Regional, but struggling in 2023 with young rosters, clash Tuesday night inside Baggett Stadium.
Cal Poly (7-17, 3-6 Big West) and Pepperdine (7-18, 2-7 West Coast) meet with aspirations of getting back on the winning side. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. with Mustang freshman right-hander Freddy Rodriguez (0-0, 3.86 ERA) to square off against Waves senior southpaw Nathan Diamond (0-5, 7.53 ERA).
In his last outing, Rodriguez finished one out shy of being eligible for his first collegiate win, allowing one earned run and six hits over 4 2/3 innings with three strikeouts in Cal Poly's 15-5 romp past Fresno State last week.
Diamond has given up 12 earned runs and 10 hits over 8 1/3 innings in his last four appearances on the mound (two starts) and is 6-12 with a 6.22 ERA and 99 strikeouts over 102 2/3 innings in his four-year Pepperdine career.
Cal Poly was swept by Long Beach State at Blair Field over the weekend, losing twice in walk-off fashion after a 10-2 setback in the opener. Pepperdine lost two of three games at San Diego and has won just three of its last 17 contests.
Second baseman Tate Shimao hit .364 (4-for-11) against the Dirtbags while third baseman Ryan Fenn, catcher Ryan Stafford, shortstop Aaron Casillas and first baseman Joe Yorke each had four hits as well for the Mustangs. Cal Poly committed just one error in the series, but the pitching staff surrendered 7.86 earned runs per contest.
For the season, Yorke and Steels are the only Mustangs with batting averages above the .300 mark. Steels is hitting .304 with 10 RBIs and four steals while Yorke sports a .301 mark with three doubles, a trio of home runs and a team-leading 23 RBIs in 18 games.
Casillas (.289), Stafford (.286), Fenn (.278), Shimao (.275) and left fielder Collin Villegas (.275) have made strong contributions offensively as well. Fenn and designated hitter Evan Cloyd both produced their first three-hit games as Mustangs in the Long Beach State series and Cloyd also capped a six-run first-inning rally at Fresno State with a three-run home run. Villegas brings an eight-game hitting streak into Tuesday's contest.
Pepperdine also has just two regulars hitting above .300. Second baseman Ryan Johnson is hitting .349 to date with six doubles, 10 home runs and 25 RBIs while designated hitter Jack Basseer owns a .321 mark with five doubles and 16 RBIs. Left fielder Charles Masino's 11-game hitting streak was snapped Sunday and Johnson now has 28 career home runs for the Waves.
Cal Poly is hitting .264 as a team with 39 doubles and 17 home runs. The Mustangs have committed 30 errors in 24 games for a .966 fielding percentage and the pitching staff has compiled a 6.06 staff ERA.
On the other hand, Pepperdine owns a .242 team batting average with 44 doubles and 23 home runs. The Waves have a .964 fielding percentage with 33 errors in 25 games and the pitching staff has given up 6.42 earned runs a contest.
Cal Poly won both midweek games against Pepperdine a year ago -- 14-6 in San Luis Obispo and 16-4 in Malibu -- and the two teams are meeting for the 69th time Tuesday night. The Waves still hold a 39-29 advantage in the series, which began in 1947. The two clubs split a pair of midweek games each of the last six years the two teams met from 2014-21 (they did not play each other in 2020 or 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic) until last season.
Pepperdine earned 2-1 and 10-6 wins over the Mustangs in the 2014 NCAA San Luis Obispo Regional en route to the NCAA Fort Worth Super Regional against TCU.
Cal Poly is 19-27 against Pepperdine since the Mustangs moved to Division I prior to the 1995 season. Larry Lee is 16-17 against his alma mater while Rick Hirtensteiner is 4-6 versus Cal Poly.
Coming off a 24-26 performance in 2022, Pepperdine was a regional qualifier for the 28th time in 2015, winning the West Coast Conference postseason tournament in Stockton and going 2-2 in the Fullerton Regional, their last regional appearance. The Waves captured the 1992 College World Series championship and have appeared in one Super Regional and two College World Series.
Cal Poly opens a five-game home stand with Tuesday's contest and will host UC Riverside for a Big West Conference series Thursday through Saturday. Game times are 6 p.m. both Thursday and Friday and 1 o'clock Saturday.
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Two baseball teams who met in the 2014 NCAA San Luis Obispo Regional, but struggling in 2023 with young rosters, clash Tuesday night inside Baggett Stadium.
Cal Poly (7-17, 3-6 Big West) and Pepperdine (7-18, 2-7 West Coast) meet with aspirations of getting back on the winning side. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. with Mustang freshman right-hander Freddy Rodriguez (0-0, 3.86 ERA) to square off against Waves senior southpaw Nathan Diamond (0-5, 7.53 ERA).
In his last outing, Rodriguez finished one out shy of being eligible for his first collegiate win, allowing one earned run and six hits over 4 2/3 innings with three strikeouts in Cal Poly's 15-5 romp past Fresno State last week.
Diamond has given up 12 earned runs and 10 hits over 8 1/3 innings in his last four appearances on the mound (two starts) and is 6-12 with a 6.22 ERA and 99 strikeouts over 102 2/3 innings in his four-year Pepperdine career.
Cal Poly was swept by Long Beach State at Blair Field over the weekend, losing twice in walk-off fashion after a 10-2 setback in the opener. Pepperdine lost two of three games at San Diego and has won just three of its last 17 contests.
Second baseman Tate Shimao hit .364 (4-for-11) against the Dirtbags while third baseman Ryan Fenn, catcher Ryan Stafford, shortstop Aaron Casillas and first baseman Joe Yorke each had four hits as well for the Mustangs. Cal Poly committed just one error in the series, but the pitching staff surrendered 7.86 earned runs per contest.
For the season, Yorke and Steels are the only Mustangs with batting averages above the .300 mark. Steels is hitting .304 with 10 RBIs and four steals while Yorke sports a .301 mark with three doubles, a trio of home runs and a team-leading 23 RBIs in 18 games.
Casillas (.289), Stafford (.286), Fenn (.278), Shimao (.275) and left fielder Collin Villegas (.275) have made strong contributions offensively as well. Fenn and designated hitter Evan Cloyd both produced their first three-hit games as Mustangs in the Long Beach State series and Cloyd also capped a six-run first-inning rally at Fresno State with a three-run home run. Villegas brings an eight-game hitting streak into Tuesday's contest.
Pepperdine also has just two regulars hitting above .300. Second baseman Ryan Johnson is hitting .349 to date with six doubles, 10 home runs and 25 RBIs while designated hitter Jack Basseer owns a .321 mark with five doubles and 16 RBIs. Left fielder Charles Masino's 11-game hitting streak was snapped Sunday and Johnson now has 28 career home runs for the Waves.
Cal Poly is hitting .264 as a team with 39 doubles and 17 home runs. The Mustangs have committed 30 errors in 24 games for a .966 fielding percentage and the pitching staff has compiled a 6.06 staff ERA.
On the other hand, Pepperdine owns a .242 team batting average with 44 doubles and 23 home runs. The Waves have a .964 fielding percentage with 33 errors in 25 games and the pitching staff has given up 6.42 earned runs a contest.
Cal Poly won both midweek games against Pepperdine a year ago -- 14-6 in San Luis Obispo and 16-4 in Malibu -- and the two teams are meeting for the 69th time Tuesday night. The Waves still hold a 39-29 advantage in the series, which began in 1947. The two clubs split a pair of midweek games each of the last six years the two teams met from 2014-21 (they did not play each other in 2020 or 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic) until last season.
Pepperdine earned 2-1 and 10-6 wins over the Mustangs in the 2014 NCAA San Luis Obispo Regional en route to the NCAA Fort Worth Super Regional against TCU.
Cal Poly is 19-27 against Pepperdine since the Mustangs moved to Division I prior to the 1995 season. Larry Lee is 16-17 against his alma mater while Rick Hirtensteiner is 4-6 versus Cal Poly.
Coming off a 24-26 performance in 2022, Pepperdine was a regional qualifier for the 28th time in 2015, winning the West Coast Conference postseason tournament in Stockton and going 2-2 in the Fullerton Regional, their last regional appearance. The Waves captured the 1992 College World Series championship and have appeared in one Super Regional and two College World Series.
Cal Poly opens a five-game home stand with Tuesday's contest and will host UC Riverside for a Big West Conference series Thursday through Saturday. Game times are 6 p.m. both Thursday and Friday and 1 o'clock Saturday.
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