LMU
Cal Poly Baseball to Split Five Road Games Between Los Angeles and Fresno
3/24/2026 9:00:00 PM | Baseball
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — After winning six times during a seven-game home stand, the Cal Poly baseball team hits the road for its next five contests, seeking to extend another winning streak and stay in front in the Big West Conference standings.
Coach Larry Lee's Mustangs take a five-game road winning streak, fourth-longest active run in the nation, to Loyola Marymount on Wednesday before resuming conference play Friday through Sunday at UC Riverside. Cal Poly also visits Fresno State next Tuesday. Go to the baseball schedule page at GoPoly.com for video stream and live stats links.
The Mustangs, 14-8 overall after winning two of three games versus UC Davis, are 8-1 in the Big West, a game-and-a-half ahead of UC San Diego (5-1). UC Santa Barbara, Cal State Northridge, Cal State Fullerton and the Aggies all share third place with 5-4 marks.
Loyola Marymount is 7-19 on the year (0-3 West Coast) after the Lions were swept in their conference series at home against Portland over the weekend. Loyola Marymount plays at No. 1-ranked UCLA on Tuesday night prior to its meeting with the Mustangs.
The Lions sport a .224 team batting average, led by shortstop Jaxson Wall at .400 with 10 extra-base hits and eight RBIs. Second baseman Andrew Mhoon is the only other Loyola Marymount player above the .300 mark, hitting .316 with 14 RBIs. First baseman Zach Wadas leads the Lions with his five home runs and 15 RBIs but is hitting just .151.
Loyola Marymount's only series win so far this season was against Washington on the second weekend of the season, though the Lions also beat Davidson twice in North Carolina at a multi-team event that also included Wake Forest. The Lions went 1-2 versus Tulane and Abilene Christian while posting 0-3 marks against Arizona State and Portland.
The Mustangs and Lions played once last year, Cal Poly earning a 9-1 victory in Los Angeles. Alejandro Garza was 3-for-4 at the plate, knocking in two runs, while Jack Collins and Braxton Thomas each contributed two hits and a pair of RBIs. Ryan Fenn also had two hits.
Despite the win, the Mustangs still trail the Lions in the all-time series, 19-22.
Loyola Marymount is coached by Donegal Fergus (third season, 60-78, Linfield (Ore.) '00), who previously served as an assistant coach at Washington, UC Santa Barbara and Seattle. He also was a minor league hitting coordinator for the Minnesota Twins.
UC Riverside sports a 7-16 overall mark (2-4 Big West) entering Tuesday's game against crosstown rival and future Big West member California Baptist. The Highlanders lost two of three games to both UC Davis and UC San Diego to open their Big West schedule.
The Highlanders earned 2-1 series wins against Wagner and San Francisco but went 0-4 against Utah Tach and 1-3 versus Utah Valley, another future Big West member.
Cal Poly and UC Riverside have played 220 baseball games against each other since the all-time series began in 1970, exceeded only by UC Santa Barbara (250) and CSUN (248). The Mustangs own a 131-89 advantage with three-game sweeps each of the last three seasons.
Cal Poly is 34-9 against the Highlanders over the last 14 years and Lee is 46-21 in games against UC Riverside.
Highlander head coach Justin Johnson (sixth season, 73-213, Mt. San Antonio '97) joined the UC Riverside baseball coaching staff in September 2014 as the program's director of baseball operations following one year as the head coach at Saint Katherine College. He became a volunteer assistant with the program the following year.
Prior to his stint at Saint Katherine's, Johnson spent two seasons as the associate head coach at Cal Tech, where he helped the Beavers to the program's first win in 10 years. Johnson began his coaching career at Valley View High School in Moreno Valley, where he helped guide the Eagles to two CIF-Southern Section playoff appearances.
A graduate of Diamond Bar High School, Johnson played at Mt. SAC for legendary coach Art Mazmanian. He was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays, and played a summer as a free agent with the Los Angeles Dodgers in extended spring training.
Former Major Leaguer Troy Percival, who was head coach at UC Riverside from 2015-20, returned to the Highlander coaching staff this spring as an assistant coach after managing the Idaho Falls Chuckers in the Pioneer League for two seasons.
Offensive leaders for UC Riverside are right fielder David Gibbs (.333, 13 RBIs), shortstop Manoah Chapman (.299, five doubles, 11 RBIs) and left fielder Jaxon Byrd (.282, five doubles). Third baseman Lucas Bonham leads the Highlanders with four home runs and 16 RBIs while hitting .239.
Cal Poly takes a .289 team batting average into this week's games with five regular starters hitting above the .300 mark.
Right fielder Cam Hoiland tops the Mustang hitting charts with a .386 average which includes eight doubles and a 10-game hitting streak. Center fielder Casey Murray Jr. is next with a 12-game hitting streak and a .376 mark, contributing seven doubles, three triples, a trio of home runs and 14 RBIs.
Also hitting above .300 are shortstop Nate Castellon (.330, 11 doubles), second baseman Andrew Garza (.316, six doubles, 20 RBIs) and third baseman Gavin Spiridonoff (.309). Catcher Ryan Tayman leads the Mustangs with 21 RBIs and sports a .291 average with four doubles and four home runs, including a pair of grand slams.
Lee said his starting pitchers this week will be freshman Sean McGrath (0-2, 14.09 ERA) on Wednesday, junior Griffin Naess (3-1, 3.55 ERA) on Friday, freshman Corden Pettey (2-1, 4.55 ERA) on Saturday and redshirt junior Carson Turnquist (2-0, 1.85 ERA) on Sunday. All are right-handers.
Cal Poly had its 10-game winning streak overall snapped Monday by UC Davis. It was the third-longest active streak in the nation at the time. During that run, the Mustangs hit .352, led by Murray (.465), Hoiland (.432), Spiridonoff (.429), Tayman (.378), left fielder Dante Vachini (.367) and Castellon (.364). Garza was 8-for-12 in the UC Davis series to lift his season average to .316.
In his 24th season at Cal Poly, Lee has compiled a 727-560-2 record with the Mustangs and, combined with his 16 seasons at Cuesta College, is 1,187-801-5 overall as a head coach. He guided Cal Poly to the Big West tournament crown in 2025 with a 4-1 mark and his program's fourth trip to the NCAA postseason, going 2-2 in the NCAA Eugene Regional.
