Santa Clara
Cal Poly Begins Final Non-Conference Stint With Santa Clara, Utah Tech
5/7/2024 11:30:00 AM | Baseball
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – With six straight non-conference games on the horizon, including a weekend home series versus Utah Tech from May 10-12 book-ended by midweek contests at Santa Clara and Pepperdine, Cal Poly prepares to fight through the final few weeks of the season as the goal of a conference title is still very much alive.
The Mustangs (28-17, 17-7 BW) are coming off arguably their strongest run of games this season after taking six of their last seven, including an all-important series win over a ranked UC Irvine squad; their second series this season taken over a top-25 opponent. Cal Poly now has series wins and tiebreakers over UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, and CSUN who are all title contenders in the conference.
Congratulations to Ryan Stafford who has earned his second career Big West Field Player of the Week honor!
— Cal Poly Baseball (@CalPolyBSB) May 6, 2024
?? 13-for-21 (.619 AVG) and 2 HR in 4 G last week
?? Leads/co-leads Big West in AB, H, 2B, 3B, TB, GS, and CSB
Story ??: https://t.co/TRc5VzujzB#RideHigh pic.twitter.com/qpSBUDPD2J
DEALING from the mound to the dish this season! ??
— Cal Poly Baseball (@CalPolyBSB) May 6, 2024
The Mustangs currently sit 10th in D1 baseball with a fantastic 4.07 ERA while also top-25 in BB/9, K/BB, and WHIP.#RideHigh pic.twitter.com/5KpxaJkwJl
Riding High
Cal Poly has put up double-digit run totals in four of the last five contests, two of which came over the Anteaters. In the process, Ryan Stafford earned Big West Field Player of the Week for his efforts last week by batting 13-for-21 (.619 avg) with multiple hits in all four games while also extending his hit streak to an astounding 25 consecutive games.
Looking towards where Cal Poly has moved among national rankings and statistics, the Mustangs have jumped over 30 places in the RPI table, going from the 110’s to standing firmly at 80 after defeating UC Irvine and its 19th-ranked RPI. Per the NCBWA’s weekly rankings update, Cal Poly is receiving votes after taking their second top-25 series victory.
With another fantastic team effort in all three phases over four games last week, the Mustangs now rank 10th in Division I baseball with a 4.07 ERA, 17th in fielding percentage with a .980% efficiency, and 69th in batting average while 2nd in the Big West hitting at a .294 clip.
Scouting the... Broncos
Santa Clara (21-23, 8-10 WCC) hosts Cal Poly after handedly losing to the Mustangs 9-3 in San Luis Obispo back on Tuesday, April 16. The upcoming clash wraps up the split home-and-home series between the two foes.
After a series win over Saint Mary’s to partially close out April, the Broncos have fallen into a bit of a rut, falling narrowly to Stanford 7-6 before starting their conference series against San Diego with a 13th-inning 6-5 loss. Since then, Santa Clara were swept 2-0 and 14-4 in the remaining two games of the series.
Despite success against the Broncos earlier in the season, the Mustangs had previously lost the last three matchups to Santa Clara, building on an 11-12 stretch since 2011. Dating back to the first meeting in 1956, Santa Clara holds the all-time wins lead as Cal Poly is 43-51.
JonJon Berring leads the team in multiple batting categories, including a .326 average, 1.044 OPS, 11 doubles, and 15 stolen bases. However, the team is batting just .265 with five players hitting above the .270 mark.
On the pitching end, Santa Clara continues to struggle mightily at a 5.30 ERA as both regular starters Blake Hammond and Brandon Gomez are still trying to find solid footing at 4.09 and 4.29 respectively.
Scouting the... Trailblazers
Utah Tech (11-36, 9-18 WAC) also plays a midweek non-conference game on Tuesday like Cal Poly, with a homestand against Utah. The Trailblazers have lost seven of their last eight games while giving up at least nine runs in six of those.
Even so, they are still dangerous after playing a fantastic 29-18 Grand Canyon squad close in a series just a few weeks ago, even taking a 2-1 win during the series finale. However, the Mustangs dominated in last year’s series - the only games between the two teams in program history - when Cal Poly swept the four-game series 12-3, 6-4, 9-0, and 5-3.
With a team batting average of .247 Utah Tech has three players hitting over a .270 average. Hunter Katschke (46 hits, .289 avg, 9 home runs, and 27 RBIs) is far and away Utah Tech’s most dangerous offensive threat.
The Trailblazers are looking to settle defensively but have not been successful throughout the season, currently holding a 7.97 team ERA as they have just one pitcher with under a 4.00 ERA: Aaron Morris with 25.1 IP and a 3.55 ERA.
Looking Ahead
Following these five games, Cal Poly wraps up its final non-conference matchup of 2024 at Pepperdine next Tuesday. More immediately, and for the second-to-last home series of the Cal Poly baseball season, the series against Utah Tech will be four games with a Saturday doubleheader.
Friday has a normal 6:00 p.m. start time, Saturday’s doubleheader starts at 1:00 p.m. and will vary for the second game but is slated for 45-minutes following the end of the first, and finally Sunday’s 12:00 p.m. game will put a bow on the series.
