Cal Poly Travels to Face NCAA Baseball's Winningest Program

Friday, February 23

Austin, TX

4:30 P.M.

Texas

Larry Lee manages his Cal Poly baseball team from the dugout.

Photo by: Owen Main | Cal Poly Athletics

Cal Poly Travels to Face NCAA Baseball's Winningest Program

2/22/2024 4:30:00 PM | Baseball

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — After another thrilling 5-4 victory that came down to the last at-bats, the Mustangs go on the road for the first time in 2024 to take on the most successful regular season college baseball program of all-time, the No. 16 ranked Texas Longhorns. The three-game series is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 23 through Sunday, Feb. 25 with start times of 4:30pm, 11:30am, and 11:00am respectively between the trio of contests. Cal Poly comes into the series after four straight home games to start the season, including a recent 5-4 walk off win against the visiting North Dakota State Bison.

Against the Bison, Cal Poly experienced a tough start to the game as North Dakota State opened up the game with three runs that would go unanswered into the third inning before Joe Yorke hit a sacrifice fly on top of another in the fifth inning to cut the deficit again. A relief corps of Charlie Royle, Jacob Torres, Ryan Baum, and Tanner Sagouspe proceeded to allow just four more hits and one unearned run through the final eight-and-a-half innings as the Mustangs buckled down against the 2023 Summit League Semifinalists.

Savvy base running and consistent batting from Jake Steels, alongside Cal Poly taking advantage of some Bison defensive blunders, put Cal Poly in a position to win the game. Tied up 4-4 in the ninth inning and with two outs and the game on the line, pinch hitter Dylan Knowles made his first swings of 2024 count with the 5-4 game-winning RBI.

Despite a few offensively light games in February, the Mustang pitching staff and defense have helped keep them in games, allowing more than four runs only once so far this season. Cal Poly will strive for that same defensive prowess coming up against one of the most productive and deadly offenses in the country, as Texas currently averages over 10 runs scored per nine innings.
Larry Lee and the Mustangs are no strangers to battling the best of the best, as they have faced six ranked opponents in this decade alone, highlighted by a stunning 9-8 victory over #1 Vanderbilt back in 2020. Surprisingly, this will be the first time that Cal Poly (2-2) and Texas (3-1) duel. The historic program's first season dates all the way back to the game's infancy in 1896, just a mere twenty years after the National League's creation in the professional sphere. Coming into 2024, the Longhorns hold an all-time record of 3,741-1,419-32 (.724). Texas will look to rely on its deep offense and stout pitching alike. Ranked #30 for batting average and #16 for hits in Division I, the Longhorns are led by college baseball's 69th-ranked prospect (Future Stars Series) Jared Thomas who currently holds a team-leading .563 batting average to pair with 9 hits and 8 runs. On the defensive end, Texas has a 37th-ranked 2.84 team ERA and will turn to a large bullpen of capable pitcher, as the Longhorns had just two players pitch more than 3.2 innings through their first four games of the season. Cal Poly's own 139th-ranked college prospect Ryan Stafford and the rest of the batting corps will look for more consistent at-bats and raise the team average as the Mustangs will primarily lean on their No. 89 team ERA pitching staff and No. 40 fielding percentage of 0.986. With returning all-conference honoree Ryan Fenn making his way back into the lineup as a pinch hitter, the Mustangs will look for the offensive spark they need to down a powerhouse like Texas.

After the three-game road series in the Lone Star State, the Mustangs are back home for a fifteen-game home stretch from Mar. 1-24, starting with Pac-12 foe Utah to kick off the month.