Cal Poly Plays on Road for Second Straight Weekend, Visiting Utah

Friday, May 12

Salt Lake City, UT

5 p.m.

Utah

Ryan Fenn is swinging a hot bat at Cal Poly.

Cal Poly third baseman Ryan Fenn has been hitting nearly .400 over the last seven weeks, lifting his batting average to a team-leading .350.

Photo by: Owen Main | Cal Poly Athletics

Cal Poly Plays on Road for Second Straight Weekend, Visiting Utah

5/10/2023 11:06:00 PM | Baseball

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

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Cal Poly (16-30, 9-15 Big West), which bounced back from a pair of weekend shutout losses at UC Davis with an 11-3 win over Fresno State on Tuesday, plays the second of three consecutive weekends away from home, visiting Utah (20-27-1, 8-18-1 Pac-12) for a three-game non-conference series at Smith's Ballpark (cap.: 14,511) in Salt Lake City.

First pitches are set for 5 p.m. Friday, 1 p.m. Saturday and noon Sunday (all Pacific). All three games of the series will be broadcast on ESPN Radio (1280 AM and 101.7 FM) with Zachary Anderson-Yoxsimer calling the play-by-play. The series also will be video streamed on Utah Live Stream 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 was completed April 18 in San Luis Obispo, a 12-10 Mustang victory. Cal Poly 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, lost 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, sweeping UC Riverside, losing two of three at CSU Bakersfield and CSUN, and swept by UC San Diego at home.

Last weekend, the Mustangs lost two of three games at UC Davis as the Aggies won a series against the Mustangs for the first time since 2015. Third baseman Ryan Fenn was 4-for-10 with a double and one RBI for Cal Poly, which hit .172 in the series.

Under second-year head coach Gary Henderson, Utah finds itself last in the 11-team Pac-12 at 8-18-1 after losing two of three games at Oregon State last weekend. The Utes won the opener 13-9 to extend their winning streak to five games before falling 6-5 and 11-4. Utah also played a pair of midweek games, letting a 7-3 lead slip away in the final two innings of a 13-7 loss to BYU and edging New Mexico State 7-6 on a walk-off 10th-inning one-out bloop single to shallow center field by Kai Roberts. The Utes had won just 14 of 39 games prior to the five-game win streak, beating Utah Tech 13-3, sweeping Washington State at home by 6-3, 12-10 and 12-11 scores and upsetting Oregon State.

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 was considered 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.

Utah returned 18 lettermen, including five starting position players and eight pitchers, off a squad that finished 26-27-1 in 2022 and 10th in the Pac-12 at 10-20. Top returnees include designated hitter Landon Frei (.330, 33 RBIs in 2022) and outfielders TJ Clarkson (.286, 11 home runs, 38 RBIs) and Kai Roberts (.277, 35 RBIs, 10 steals). The pitching staff is paced by right-handers Blake Whiting (2-2, 4.13 ERA, five saves in 2022) and Zac McCleve (2-2, 4.75 ERA, four saves) along with southpaw Micah Ashman (2-1, 3.29 ERA).

Forty-eight games into the 2023 season, first baseman Jayden Kiernan tops all Utah hitters with a .412 mark, three home runs and 24 RBIs, followed by Clarkson (.302, 17 doubles, 12 home runs, 37 RBIs) and catcher Davis Cop (.284, nine home runs, 44 RBIs). On the mound, the Utes have been led by right-handers Merit Jones (2-3, 7.69 ERA), Jaden Harris (2-3, 8.02 ERA) and Cam Day (3-5, 10.23 ERA) along with southpaw Bryson Van Sickle (2-5, 5.50 ERA). The closer is Ashman with a 1-3 record, 2.48 ERA and nine saves.

Picked by the head coaches to finish last in the Pac-12 this season, Utah sports a .276 team batting average with 83 doubles, six triples, 41 home runs and 53 steals in 70 attempts. The Utes' pitching staff has compiled a 6.92 ERA with 396 strikeouts over 417 1/3 innings and Utah has committed 65 errors in 48 games for a .963 fielding percentage.

Utah launched its baseball program in 1892 and has made five NCAA regional appearances, the last in 2016. The Utes are 7-10 in NCAA Tournament play and are 90-205 all-time in Pac-12 games. Utah was a member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) from 1963 through 1998, winning four WAC North Division titles, before competing in the Mountain West from 1999 through 2011 with two second-place finishes and three thirds to its credit.

A dozen former Utes have made it to the Major Leagues, including first baseman C.J. Cron, who was drafted 17th overall (first round) by the Los Angeles Angels in 2011.

Henderson (second season, 46-54-2, San Diego State '87) was named the ninth head coach in program history on June 9, 2021 following two years as an assistant for the Utes. Henderson owns 33 prior years of experience, highlighted by stops at Florida, Oregon State, Kentucky and Mississippi State prior to coming to Utah. Well-known for his ability to produce Major League talent on the mound, 11 of Henderson's pitching protégés have reached the Majors since 2012.

Prior to his stint with the Gators, Henderson made stops at Cal State Fullerton, Chapman University, Riverside City College and San Diego State, his alma mater. In his playing days, Henderson pitched one year at Linfield College before transferring to San Diego State. He compiled a 19-5 career record at the two schools, earning his first career win in a road matchup at Southern California.

Cal Poly and Utah have met 12 times on the baseball field since the series began in 1991. The Mustangs won nine of those contests, including a two games to one series win at San Luis Obispo in 2002, the last meeting between the two schools. Larry Lee is coaching against Utah for the first time this weekend while Gary Henderson is 1-1 against the Mustangs when he was head coach at Chapman in 1993.

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 less than .265 over the next four weekends 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, a .327 mark in a sweep over UC Riverside, .332 in the CSU Bakersfield series, .330 at CSUN and .286 against UC San Diego. The average slipped to .172 at UC Davis last weekend, Ryan Fenn going 4-for-10 with a double and one RBI. Cal Poly hit .305, averaging 6.6 runs and 11 hits, over 24 games prior to a May 2 loss at Pepperdine.

Fenn is hitting .350 to date while Casillas sports a .325 mark with 12 doubles and 30 RBIs. Stafford owns a .321 mark with 15 doubles, six home runs and 34 RBIs while Steels is hitting .308 with 23 RBIs and 11 steals. Villegas, the team's home run leader with 12 to go with 15 doubles and 33 RBIs, is hitting .284. Casillas had an 18-game hitting streak snapped in the UC San Diego series while Fenn's 15-game streak was halted by Pepperdine.

The Mustangs are hitting .278 as a team, fifth in the 11-team Big West, and the staff ERA is at 5.75, ninth in the conference. Cal Poly has committed 43 errors in 46 games for a .975 fielding percentage and has stolen 28 bases in 44 attempts.

The Mustangs are 4-15 when scoring first, 0-5 in extra innings and 3-20 when outhit by the opposition. Thirteen of Cal Poly's losses occurred in games in which the opponent overcame a deficit or snapped a tie in its last at-bat.

Next week, Cal Poly plays four more games, hosting Fresno State on Tuesday before traveling to defending Big West champion UC Santa Barbara for a three-game Big West series Friday through Sunday.