Fresno State
Mustangs Visit Central Valley to Finish Fresno State Home-and-Home Series
4/29/2024 2:30:00 PM | Baseball
Cal Poly Baseball
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SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – Cal Poly (24-16, 14-6 BW) will play the first of its final three away midweek non-conference games when wrapping up the series against Fresno State (27-16, 14-7 MW) this weekend.
Although the Big West is currently stacked at the stop of the standings with title-eligible teams (which excludes UC San Diego) being separated by no more than one win, an at-large berth for anything less than first place is not on the table for the Mustangs. Cal Poly is more likely to see this midweek contest as a tune-up for what may very well turn out to be a make-or-break series this weekend against the assumed Big West title roadblock: UC Irvine.
Regardless, the Mustangs and Bulldogs will fight hard despite the unimportance of this game to their respective conference slates, as the last result between these two at Baggett Stadium ended with Fresno State collecting a pair of home runs to win 5-2. Cal Poly will surely want to avenge that result on the Bulldogs’ home field.
Last Week Against… UC Davis
Cal Poly is coming off a massively important series sweep over UC Davis after having a five-series win streak snapped in Hawai’i.
The Mustangs were forced into extras during the series opener, but pulled a savvy move with true freshman Braxton Thomas rescinding his redshirt and stepping up to bang the walk-off RBI in the eleventh. Thomas also picked up his first career home run in the series finale.
Following the thrilling extra innings win, the Mustangs only improved throughout the series, going on to handedly sweep the series with scores of 8-3 and 13-6 respectively.
Cal Poly has now regained its momentum and will look to continue building on that with what is essentially the season on the line this weekend.
It was bombs away at Baggett today ??
— Cal Poly Baseball (@CalPolyBSB) April 29, 2024
Freshman Braxton Thomas hit his first career home run while Jake Steels blasted his third of the season! ??#RideHigh pic.twitter.com/AFojfepiKx
Mustangs Riding High
Cal Poly’s typical top-six of the lineup remains one of the most dangerous on the west coast. Jake Steels, Ryan Stafford, Alejandro Garza, Joe Yorke, Ryan Fenn, and Dylan Kordic are all batting above a .290 average - including over .300 clips for those first four - while accounting for nearly 75% of the team’s hitting. Garza currently ranks as the second hardest batter to strike out in all of college baseball, rising from his third place spot last week (see post below).
Steels (65 hits) retained his spot as the top hitter in the conference, and Stafford (62 hits) follows just behind him in second place on top of the All-Preseason catcher leading in doubles (15). Steels is also one of just thirteen fielders in the conference to hold a perfect 1.000% fielding record, and he also ranks 19th in Division I for batting average (.409).
The Mustangs only continue to lower their ERA, and are now not only first in the conference but 12th in the NCAA DI landscape. All three starting pitchers enjoyed successful outings against UC Davis with special consideration to Jakob Wright who is still yet to allow more than three runs in a game, as well as Griffin Naess who remains undefeated on the year with a 6-0 record as a true freshman.
Scouting the… Bulldogs
As it was earlier this month, Fresno State is still sitting atop the Mountain West with a 14-7 record despite the last conference series ending in a sweep against San Jose State. Since then, the Bulldogs took a heavy 15-2 loss against CSUN and won a series 2-1 over Washington State.
Both the Bulldogs and Mustangs might be looking to utilize this midweek contest as another staff day, similar to when they last played on April 9, due to the foes each vying for their conference title. However, Cal Poly will need to be leery of Fresno State’s home run threat, which is what led to the 5-2 result last time. Leading Bulldog hitter Rocco Peppi is batting at a .357 clip with 13 bombs.
Alongside Peppi, Fresno State also has Tommy Hopfe and Eddie Saldivar who have both tallied 60 hits as well. Beyond the long ball, the Bulldogs have racked up 120 extra-base knocks, which places them in the top-10 for Division I.
Even so, Fresno State continues to struggle with pitching as only three players on the entire staff hold less than a 4.00 ERA with the combined team’s mark set at 5.13. The Bulldogs get their best pitching from the bullpen as Jack Anker (2.13 ERA, .84 WHIP) and Victor Arreola (2.54 ERA, .92 WHIP) highlight an otherwise tough year for the Fresno State hurlers.
First pitch of this contest is set for 5:05 p.m. from Fresno, CA on Tuesday. Following that game, the Mustangs then head to UC Irvine for a weekend series with game one set for Friday, May 3.
