Cal Poly Plays Next Three Weekends on the Road; UC Davis Next

Friday, May 5

Davis, CA

2:30 p.m.

UC Davis

Bryce Warrecker throws a pitch as Cal Poly's Friday night starter.

Cal Poly's Friday starter all season, Bryce Warrecker seeks his fourth victory of the 2023 season Friday afternoon at UC Davis.

Photo by: Owen Main | Cal Poly Athletics

Cal Poly Plays Next Three Weekends on the Road; UC Davis Next

5/4/2023 9:41:00 AM | Baseball

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

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Cal Poly (14-28, 8-13 Big West), which won 11 of 21 games after a 3-13 start but has lost five straight after being swept at home by UC San Diego, plays the next three weekends of its 2023 schedule away from home, starting with a three-game Big West Conference series at UC Davis (15-25, 5-13 Big West) on Phil Swimley Field at Dobbins Stadium (cap.: 3,500).

First pitches are set for 2:30 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. both Saturday and 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 also will be video streamed on ESPN+ as well. Links for audio and video streams as well as for live stats are available above as well as 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 and losing two of three at both CSU Bakersfield and CSUN the last two weekends.

Last weekend, the Mustangs were swept by UC San Diego, falling 5-1, 8-6 and 7-6, and dropping a 4-3 decision at Pepperdine on Tuesday. The Mustangs led in every game and, in the finale against UCSD as well as the midweek contest at Pepperdine, allowed the opposition to take the lead in its final at-bat for the 12th and 13th times this season.

Under second-year head coach Tommy Nicholson, UC Davis five weeks ago surpassed its win total of 2022. The Aggies were 6-13 after being swept by Cal State Fullerton on March 24-26 but have won nine times over the last five weeks to sprint past year's six-win total. UC Davis owns series wins over Seattle, CSU Bakersfield and UC Riverside plus a 2-2 split versus Utah Valley. The Aggies were swept by UC Santa Barbara on the road last weekend by scores of 6-5, 11-2 and 5-4 but bounced back with an 8-1 win at Pacific on Tuesday.

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.

UC Davis returned 12 lettermen, including four starting position players and five pitchers, off a squad that finished 6-35 in 2022 and 10th in the Big West at 5-25. Top returnees include outfielder Mark Wolbert (.351, 15 RBIs in 2022) and catcher Nathan Peng (.254). The pitching staff is headed by right-handers Kaden Riccomini (2-5, 5.93 ERA) and Nate Freeman (1-1, 6.40 ERA) along with southpaw Bryan Green (2-6, 5.45 ERA).

Forty games into the 2023 season, second baseman Alex Gouveia leads all Aggie hitters with a .335 average with a Big West-leading 20 doubles to go along with three home runs and 25 RBIs. Third baseman Nick Leehey is next with a .295 average, nine doubles, three home runs and 20 RBIs, followed by center fielder Damian Stone (.290, 15 RBIs). On the mound, the Aggies have used nine different starters, led by lefty Green (4-1, 4.21 ERA) and right-handers Alejandro Huezo (1-4, 7.59 ERA), Carter Delaney (0-3, 5.05 ERA) and Freeman (2-6, 6.69 ERA). The closer is Kaden Hogan with a 1-1 record, 4.62 ERA and five saves.

Picked by the head coaches to finish ninth in the Big West this season, UC Davis sports a .255 team batting average with 77 doubles, five triples, 26 home runs and 24 steals in 40 attempts. The Aggies' pitching staff has compiled a 5.83 ERA with 256 strikeouts over 353 innings and UC Davis has committed 42 errors in 40 games for a .972 fielding percentage.

The Aggies have appeared in one NCAA Division I regional (2008) and seven in Division II, making two appearances in the Division II College World Series (1995, 2003). UC Davis won the California Collegiate Athletic Association regular-season title in 2004 and nine Northern California Athletic Conference championships.

Former Aggies who made it to the Major Leagues include infielder Daniel Descalso (Cardinals, Rockies, Diamondbacks, Cubs) from 2010-19, pitcher Joe Biagini (Blue Jays, Astros, Cubs) from 2016-21, second baseman/outfielder Ty Kelly (Mets, Phillies) from 2016-18, pitcher Steve Brown (Angels) from 1983-84 and pitcher Eddie Gamboa (Rays) in 2016.

Nicholson (second season, 21-60, Texas '06) was named the 11th head coach in program history on Dec. 16, 2021 following four years as an assistant at Stanford, where he served as the Cardinal's hitting, infield, and third base coach. Under Nicholson, Stanford led the Pac-12 in home runs in 2019 with 48 and finished Nicholson's first season in 2018 with a .978 fielding percentage, the third-highest in program history.

Prior to his time in Palo Alto, Nicholson spent the 2017 season as an assistant at Sacramento State, where he helped lead the Hornets to the Stanford Regional. He also served as Sacramento State's infield coach in 2011 and 2012. Nicholson began his coaching career at his alma mater, Texas, working as a volunteer assistant from 2009-10 and then as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator from 2013-16.

Nicholson was selected in the 11th round of the 2000 MLB Draft by the Chicago White Sox. He spent 2000-05 with the White Sox and Rockies, reaching Triple-A. Nicholson hit .327 over his collegiate career at Texas with 147 runs scored, 223 hits, 37 doubles, four triples, nine home runs, 114 RBIs and 20 stolen bases and was the team's most valuable player in 1999 and 2000. He returned to graduate from Texas with his bachelor's degree in 2006.

Cal Poly and UC Davis have met 58 times on the baseball field since the series began in 1951. All but six of those meetings are over the last 17 seasons after the Aggies announced their intention to move to Division I, a transfer that was completed in time for the 2008 season. The Mustangs hold a 45-13 advantage in the series after sweeping the Aggies in 2022 at Baggett Stadium and winning three of four games in Davis in 2021.

Cal Poly had won eight consecutive series against UC Davis before the Aggies took two of three games in 2012 in Davis. Cal Poly is 40-12 against UC Davis, including a 24-3 mark in Baggett Stadium, since the Mustangs moved to Division I prior to the 1995 season. Larry Lee is 40-12 against UC Davis while Tommy Nicholson is 0-3 versus 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 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. Against the Tritons, Ryan Fenn went 7-for-13 with a double and three RBIs while Aaron Casillas was 6-for-13 with three RBIs. Collin Villegas was 5-for-11 with a home run in each game of the series and four RBIs. Cal Poly hit .305, averaging 6.6 runs and 11 hits, over 24 games prior to Tuesday's loss at Pepperdine.

Fenn is hitting .352 to date while Casillas sports a .335 mark with 11 doubles and 28 RBIs. Stafford owns a .322 mark with 12 doubles, five home runs and 29 RBIs while Steels is hitting .305 with 20 RBIs and nine steals. Villegas, the team's home run leader with 12 to go with 13 doubles and 31 RBIs, is hitting .290. Casillas had an 18-game hitting streak snapped in the UCSD series while Fenn's 15-game streak was halted by Pepperdine.

The Mustangs are hitting .281 as a team, fifth in the 11-team Big West, and the staff ERA is at 5.96, ninth in the conference. Cal Poly has committed 42 errors in 42 games for a .973 fielding percentage and has stolen 23 bases in 38 attempts.

The Mustangs are 4-15 when scoring first, 0-5 in extra innings and 3-18 when outhit by the opposition.

Next week, Cal Poly plays four more games, hosting Fresno State on Tuesday before traveling to Utah for a three-game non-conference series Friday through Sunday in Salt Lake City. The Mustangs have the bye in the Big West schedule next week.