Cal State Fullerton
Cal Poly Opens Big West Slate vs. Cal State Fullerton Before SJSU Midweek
3/6/2025 3:00:00 PM | Baseball
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SAN LUIS OBISPO — Leading up to the Big West baseball campaign, the Mustangs have won five of their last six games and outscored opponents 60-33. Cal Poly (6-6, 0-0 BW) now hosts Cal State Fullerton (4-8, 0-0 BW) for the start of conference play at Baggett Stadium.
About Last Week…
Cal Poly’s offense is coming off a historic weekend against Seton Hall, tallying the most runs for a four-game series (50) in Division I program history since 2003 (53) at Southern Utah. Game two’s 20 runs for Cal Poly was the program’s most in a single game since a 21-0 shutout of Pacific in 2011.
Most recently, the Mustangs won their second-midweek game of the season after a 7-3 result at Fresno State. In what might typically be a “staff day” for some bullpens, Cal Poly only needed starter Luke Kalfsbeek and Chris Downs to split the game, combining for six strikeouts and just one walk allowed.
Ryan Fenn, Alejandro Garza, Jack Collins, and Dylan Kordic gathered multiple hits against the Bulldogs to help Cal Poly tally its fifth double-digit hits game of the season.
How about THAT for a home opener, Mustang fans??#RideHigh pic.twitter.com/kgyVqcH2B8
— Cal Poly Baseball (@CalPolyBSB) March 1, 2025
The Stangs keep on rollin’ for their third straight win ??
— Cal Poly Baseball (@CalPolyBSB) March 2, 2025
Cal Poly racks up 21 hits en route to a 20-12 victory over Seton Hall in the first game of a doubleheader!! Game 2?? will start around 5:25 p.m.#RideHigh pic.twitter.com/ISWbzwCgax
Mustangs Riding High
After a 7-for-17 and 7 RBI weekend against Seton Hall, Jack Collins stands fourth in the Big West for both hits (19) and RBIs (16). The junior catcher is also second for runners caught stealing (5) and has a perfect fielding record (1.000%). Collins increased his hitting streak to 12 games with a 3-for-5, 2 RBI effort in the 7-3 midweek win over Fresno State.
True freshman Dante Vachini tied for the sixth-most single-game RBIs in program history with a 4-for-5 game one of the Seton Hall series, also collecting four runs, one triple, and four putouts in left field. He finished the weekend with a .500 batting average and 10 total RBIs.
Friday starter Griffin Naess had a fantastic third start of the season after rocky appearances at UCLA and Texas A&M. The sophomore righty went six complete innings, allowing only a pair of hits while keeping Seton Hall scoreless and sitting seven on strikes.
Tanner Sagouspe and Reece Bueno both remain Cal Poly’s statistically best relievers this season. as Sagouspe kept his ERA at 0.00 and earned a game-three save. Bueno held the line in Cal Poly’s 20-12 win over the Pirates as he allowed no runs.
Chris Downs has also enjoyed a solid sophomore campaign thus far, making three appearances and 6 2/3 innings over the last five games, allowing just one run in the process.
Woah, is it conference time already??
— Cal Poly Baseball (@CalPolyBSB) March 5, 2025
Join us this weekend for our Big West opener at Baggett, Mustang fans! ??#RideHigh pic.twitter.com/BR8THCyGBO
Vs… Cal State Fullerton
The Titans, four-time NCAA champions and 17-time Big West title winners, currently lead the all-time series over Cal Poly 74-54. However, the Mustangs are 10-3 against Cal State Fullerton in the post-COVID era, which included a 7-0 double series sweep from 2021-22.
Cal State Fullerton has played a competitive non-conference schedule leading up to the start of Big West play and has performed well despite a sub-.500 record. The Titans played a tight series against Fresno State and took a game off the Bulldogs, but most recently outscored Wichita State and San Diego State 23-11 in a 3-1 stretch over their last four games.
Fullerton’s batters have hit the fourth-most home runs (14) in the Big West this season but have struggled to consistently find runs. Even so, junior slugger Andrew Kirchner paces the conference for RBIs (21), which is nearly a third of the team’s total RBIs for the season.
On the defensive side of things, sophomore reliever Andrew Wright is second in the conference for ERA (0.73) through seven appearances and 12 1/3 innings.
Similarly to Cal Poly, Cal State Fullerton is adept at using small ball tactics this season, sitting third in Division I baseball for sacrifice bunts as Cam Burdick is second individually.
At… San Jose State
Following the three-game conference opener, Cal Poly travels for its third consecutive road midweek matchup, this time against San Jose State on Tuesday, March 11 before a road conference series in Long Beach.
The Spartans, currently 8-4 on the season with series wins over Louisiana, Utah Valley, and San Francisco, swept the Mountain West regular season and tournament titles back in 2023 and made it back to the conference finals last season.
One of Cal Poly’s tightest all-time records is against San Jose State (49-53-1), supported by a 5-5 record against each other in the last ten matchups. Cal Poly swept a doubleheader over the Spartans back in 2023, narrowly beating them by three total runs 6-5 and 12-10.
Leading batter Alex Fernandes is currently the Mountain West’s best by batting average (.472) and 30th in NCAA Division I baseball. Even more impressive is the Spartans’ pitching, 42nd in the nation for team ERA (3.51), headlined by sub-3.00 ERAs from four pitchers who have thrown at least ten innings.
