UC Irvine
Cal Poly Battles UC Irvine for Higher Placement in Big West
5/2/2024 3:30:00 PM | Baseball
Cal Poly Baseball
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SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – With the potential for movement in the conference table, Cal Poly (26-16, 15-6 BW) takes on #9 UC Irvine (33-8, 14-4 BW), the program that also concurrently occupies first place in the Big West.
Two of the hottest Big West foes, the Mustangs and Anteaters, go into this series fighting for what could turn out to make or break Cal Poly’s bid for a conference title and NCAA Regionals spot. After sweeping UC Davis last weekend and easily dealing with a strong Fresno State squad, Cal Poly has swung momentum in its favor heading into an incredibly important trio of games.
The Mustangs have now won four straight games for the fourth time this season alongside taking 27 of their last 33 games since a rough 2-7 start to the year. Despite the Hawai’i series dealing a blow to their position in the conference, the Mustangs are in as good of a position possible with consistently good pitching and having scored at least five runs in seven of their last nine games.
Ryan Stafford extended his hit streak to 22 games as the Mustangs totaled 6 home runs for a massive road win! On to UC Irvine!#RideHighhttps://t.co/mkY7J35ydE
— Cal Poly Baseball (@CalPolyBSB) May 1, 2024
In Retrospect
On the offensive side, Ryan Stafford and Jake Steels continue heading the Cal Poly bats with Stafford now leading the Big West in hits (67) while Steels is second (66) as well as third for batting average (.402).
For the second time this season and in the month of April alone, Stafford crushed a pair of home runs with 4 RBIs to also extend his hit streak (22 games) in a 5-for-6 effort against Fresno State.
For only the fourth time in the program’s Division I era, Cal Poly tallied six home runs in a game during Tuesday’s midweek affair against the Bulldogs. Steels led off with a fourth-pitch home run in the first inning before Zach Daudet and Stafford followed up in the second inning with dueling bombs. Daudet would go on to collect a career-high 6 RBIs after his second home run and a 2-RBI single.
Braxton Thomas, a redshirt freshman until the UC Davis series, fought off what was expected to be a season-long injury and has now seemingly entrenched himself as the everyday designated hitter.
Since shedding his redshirt 39 games into the season, true freshman Thomas tallied hits in three of his four games and RBIs in all four, including a game-winning walk-off RBI in game one against UC Davis and two straight home runs between April 28 and 30.
Cal Poly’s pitching staff continues to retain a low ERA, now at 4.11 and 13th in Division I. Starting pitchers Jakob Wright and Griffin Naess have combined to give up just 38 earned runs and over 114 2/3 innings, while the bullpen’s highlights include closer Tanner Sagouspe (2.56 ERA, 6 S) and Jake Torres (24 APP, 43 IP).
Scouting UC Irvine
After being ranked for the majority of 2024, the Anteaters are on an eight-game win streak, which also includes a pair of series sweeps over San Diego State and UC Riverside on top of a win over the Pac-12’s UCLA. The Mustangs, however, have the recent upper-hand with the last two season’s series being won 2-1 by Cal Poly.
Despite assuredly posting their best season since 2021’s Big West title and NCAA Regional appearance, the Anteaters have blemishes in their record that Cal Poly can turn to for inspiration. UC San Diego recently took a 2-1 series win over UC Irvine almost three weeks ago. UCI also dropped a pair of decisive 12-5 and 12-4 losses against USC, ranked just 92nd in RPI.
The Anteaters were also handed their first loss of the season by Fresno State in a 13-1 game in March after their thirteen-game win streak to start the year. Five of their eight losses came in the month of April, but they have still only continued to rise up the D1 rankings, now at #9 in D1Baseball’s list and 19th in RPI. UC Irvine is one of only two Big West teams - with the other being UC Santa Barbara - currently slated by D1Baseball to prospectively earn a NCAA Regionals berth.
UC Irvine paces the Big West with a team batting average of .312 and 459 total hits. The Anteaters are led by upperclassmen outfielders Myles Smith (.410 avg, 1.167 OPS) and Caden Kendle (.404 avg, 59 hits). Smith and Kendle are currently the only batters in the conference with higher averages than Jake Steels.
Despite a middling 4.67 ERA that sits fifth in the conference, Nick Pinto remains one of the best starting pitchers in the Big West with a 8-2 record to go with a 2.77 ERA, 67 strikeouts, and .246 opponent batting average. Bullpen pitching has not been UCI’s strength in 2024, as only one regular reliever holds less than a 4.00 ERA.
Coming off a sweep of UC Davis, @CalPolyBSB join @Stitch_Head's West Coast power rankings for the first time this season ????
— D1Baseball (@d1baseball) May 2, 2024
See where the Mustangs land ??
?? https://t.co/F3OyxflsI2 pic.twitter.com/iwVaRnbas1
Looking Ahead
Winning this series could mean the Mustangs moving further up the conference standings in their fight for a conference title, but losing the series to UC Irvine would almost guarantee the title out of reach due to all three teams above the Mustangs having a series in-hand and better win percentages as of the moment.
The all-important series is currently set for a normal, uninterrupted weekend of baseball. Despite Saturday looking at rain showers in San Luis Obispo, Irvine will have clear skies throughout the three-game series. Friday’s game starts at 6:00 p.m., while Saturday and Sunday both take place at 1:00 p.m. before another midweek home-and-home closer against Santa Clara next Tuesday.
