UC Santa Barbara
Cal Poly Defends Big West First Place in Blue-Green Rivalry Series
4/16/2025 5:45:00 PM | Baseball
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SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — With 247 games and 82 years of competition between Cal Poly (26-9, 14-1 BW) and UC Santa Barbara (24-11, 10-8 BW), the Blue-Green rivalry stands as the program’s most contested series and it will grow by three games this weekend.
The Mustangs and Gauchos will once again face off in Santa Barbara, where the two rivals will play game #250 of the all-time series on Saturday. Cal Poly narrowly trails in the series 116-131 but is 18-15 over the last decade of play, which includes the 2-1 series win last season (8-3 W, 10-11 L, 6-3 W).
Got our first ranking! ??@PerfectGameUSA slotted the Mustangs at #25 in this week’s poll! ??#RideHigh pic.twitter.com/0f440P4Gtv
— Cal Poly Baseball (@CalPolyBSB) April 16, 2025
Previously in Mustangs Baseball
Coming off a series win over Hawai’i last weekend, Cal Poly still stands atop the conference. Following Tuesday night’s shutout win over Santa Clara on Jackie Robinson Day, the Mustangs remain unbeaten in midweeks (7-0) and have put together a 25-4 overall run and 11-0 road record since the upset over Texas A&M.
As a result of that stellar run, in which very few teams throughout college baseball can say to have matched, the Mustangs were awarded the No. 25 spot in Perfect Game’s April 14th weekly poll while also receiving votes from USA Today, NCBWA, and D1Baseball.
Cal Poly’s last ranking was No. 18 by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper (now defunct) during the final week of the 2022 season, and the program’s highest-ever ranking was No. 1 by that same publication during the 2014 season. As of Wednesday, April 16, Cal Poly’s RPI was sitting at 18 as the only Big West representative in the top 20.
The Mustangs and Rainbow Warriors went the distance in a 10-inning nailbiter that saw Cal Poly's win streak end with the 4-2 loss in game one. Nate Castellon and Cam Hoiland homered in game two as Cal Poly evened the series 12-5 on Sunday.
Finally, Cal Poly overcame a deficit for the 12th time this season with a decisive 5-2 victory on Sunday. The crowd of 3,017 fans set a new Baggett Stadium attendance record for a three-game series (8,727).
Troy Cooper, Josh Morano, and Tanner Sagouspe combined for Cal Poly's third shutout of the season, and a sacrifice fly by Casey Murray Jr. accounted for the lone run of the game in a 1-0 Cal Poly victory over Santa Clara on Tuesday.
Thank you, Mustang fans! Last weekend against Hawai'i, we set a new three-game series attendance record for Baggett Stadium!
— Cal Poly Baseball (@CalPolyBSB) April 15, 2025
Let's keep up the momentum tonight heading into next week and #PacktheBagg
?? @Stitch_Head #RideHigh pic.twitter.com/o8v0aheKQt
Mustangs Riding High
Through the four-game week, Alejandro Garza increased his hitting streak to 18 games, which ties for the eighth-longest in Cal Poly Division I history. Garza leads the current Mustang starting lineup and is fourth in the Big West with 51 hits.
Jack Collins still leads the conference with 13 doubles and is tied for third with 10 home runs. Ryan Fenn and Garza both trail Collins in doubles (11), but Fenn paces all Mustangs with 11 stolen bases for sixth in the conference. Fenn and Garza recently switched places as the toughest batters to strike out in the country with Fenn now at 4th and Garza at 7th.
Cal Poly’s starting rotation of Griffin Naess, Josh Volmerding, and Ethan Marmie continues to provide solid work from the mound, and each of those pitchers has given up no more than two earned runs in their last outing.
Six-foot-seven reliever Chris Downs still leads all Mustang pitchers with a 1.91 ERA and has given up just seven runs through 15 appearances and 33 complete innings of work. Tanner Sagouspe, after an unfortunate blown save in game one against Hawai’i, struck out the Santa Clara side in the 9th on Tuesday to notch his sixth save of the year.
As of Tuesday, April 15, the Mustangs are fourth in Division I baseball for fielding percentage (.983) and barely trail the national leader UTRGV (.986). Offensively, Cal Poly comes in at 24th for hits, leading the conference by eight.
Previewing UC Santa Barbara
The series takes place on the odd Thursday-to-Saturday schedule, with games at 4:30 p.m., 6:00 p.m., and 1:00 p.m. at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium in Santa Barbara. Friday’s game two was picked up for an ESPNU broadcast, otherwise, Thursday and Saturday will proceed as usual on ESPN+.
Gauchos batters are hitting at a .280 average led by senior LeTrey McCollum who has compiled 50 hits, 25 RBI, a .360 average, and .972 OPS. The trio of Xavier Esquer, Jonathan Mendez, and Nate Vargas have combined for 35 doubles and 18 home runs, as Esquer leads the team with 31 RBI and 35 runs.
Although the Gauchos are putting together a respectable season at the plate, their pitchers are picking batters apart. UC Santa Barbara paces the conference and stands eighth in the Division I landscape with a 3.54 staff ERA.
Game two starter Calvin Proskey also leads the conference individually for ERA (2.08) while the entire UCSB rotation of Tyler Bremner, Proskey, and Jackson Flora is first, second, and fifth in the conference for strikeouts. The UCSB staff is 13th in the country for H/9, 11th for BB/9, and 16th for K/9. Bremner is MLB.com’s No. 4 ranked draft-eligible prospect.
Donovann Jackson and Nathan Aceves, the two most utilized Gaucho relievers, hold a combined record of 7-1 and allowed just 11 total runs this season between them through 58 2/3 innings.
Following the conference series against UC Santa Barbara, the Mustangs are right back home at Baggett Stadium next Tuesday for Fresno State before hosting UC Irvine on the weekend.
