Pepperdine
Cal Poly and Pepperdine Meet for Third Midweek of Season Series
4/20/2026 10:00:00 PM | Baseball
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Erasing the memory of its second loss via walk-off each of the last two Sundays and getting back on the winning track are the goals for the Cal Poly baseball team when it travels to Malibu on Tuesday for its third and final midweek meeting of the year against Pepperdine.
First pitch is set for 3 p.m. and the non-conference game will be video streamed on ESPN+. Links for the video stream and live stats can be found on the Cal Poly baseball schedule page at GoPoly.com.
Cal Poly won the first two matchups versus the Waves, 12-2 on March 3 and 7-3 on April 14, both contests inside Baggett Stadium. Brady Estes, Josh Morano and Chris Downs combined for 18 strikeouts while the Mustang bats exploded for 10 runs in their final two at-bats to shatter a 2-2 tie in the first meeting. Dylan Kordic and Ryan Tayman belted multi-RBI home runs and Sean McGrath struck out six over 4 1/3 innings as Cal Poly rallied from an early 3-0 deficit to win the second matchup.
McGrath (2-2, 6.45 ERA) will start the third meeting on the mound for Cal Poly, facing Pepperdine freshman southpaw Jack Fowler (11-4, 5.11 ERA). The Mustangs have yet to see Fowler, a graduate of Foothill High School in Pleasanton, on the mound this season.
After Oregon State rallied for a walk-off 3-2 win on April 12, Cal Poly clinched its series at first-place UC San Diego last weekend with 11-3 and 5-3 victories. Sunday's walk-off 16-15 win by the Tritons despite a 24-hit Mustang offensive attack left Cal Poly, UC San Diego and UC Santa Barbara tied for first place in the Big West standings, all with 12-6 conference marks and four weekend series remaining on the schedule for each team.
Cal Poly is 21-17 for the season while Pepperdine sports a 13-26 record after winning two of three West Coast Conference games at Loyola Marymount.
Six Mustang regulars sport batting averages above the .300 mark, led by reigning Big West Field Player of the Week Alejandro Garza. After going 8-for-17 in the UC San Diego series with five doubles and six RBIs, Garza has lifted his batting average 110 points to .379 over the last six weeks. Along with that average, he leads the Big West in hits (66) and is fifth nationally in total hits and hits per game.
Garza has logged multiple hits in seven of his last eight games and in 13 of his last 18 outings. He tops the Mustangs with 20 multi-hit performances this season and, during his current eight-game hitting streak, Garza has gone 23-for-39 (.590) with seven doubles, a home run, and nine RBIs.
Other Mustangs at or above the .300 mark include catcher Ryan Tayman (.331, 12 home runs, 40 RBIs), center fielder Casey Murray Jr. (.329, nine doubles, four home runs, 18 RBIs), shortstop Nate Castellon (.327, 13 doubles, 14 RBIs), designated hitter/outfielder Xander McLaurin (.308, seven doubles, 13 RBIs) and outfielder Cam Hoiland (.300, 10 doubles, 18 RBIs).
Cal Poly is hitting .303 as a team while Pepperdine, under head coach Tyler LaTorre (second season, 25-68, UC Davis '06), sports a .258 mark, paced by third baseman Daniel Patterson with a .301 average, 11 doubles, nine home runs and 23 RBIs.
Despite six consecutive victories over the Waves, Cal Poly still trails in its series against Pepperdine, 41-37. First meeting between the two schools was in 1947.
Cal Poly head coach Larry Lee is 734-569-2 in 23-plus seasons with the Mustangs and, combined with his 16 seasons at Cuesta College, is 1,194-810-5 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.
The Mustangs return home this weekend to host CSUN for a three-game Big West series. Game times are 6:05 p.m. Friday, 3:05 p.m. Saturday and 1:05 p.m. Sunday.
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