UC San Diego
Co-Regular Season Champion and Two-Seed Mustangs to Face Three-Seed UC San Diego
5/20/2026 3:15:00 PM | Baseball
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — A year ago, the Cal Poly baseball team captured the Big West Championship as the second seed and qualified for an NCAA regional playoff berth.
Coach Larry Lee's Mustangs seek to do the same this week in the second edition of the five-team event that was revived after a 26-year hiatus.
Armed with a six-game winning streak and a co-championship in the regular season of the Big West, No. 2 seed Cal Poly takes on third-seeded UC San Diego, making its first Division I postseason appearance, on Thursday at 6 p.m. on UC Irvine's Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark.
The four- or five-day event opens Wednesday with a play-in game between No. 4 Hawai'i and fifth-seeded Cal State Fullerton at 6 p.m. The winner plays top-seeded UC Santa Barbara, the other Big West regular season co-champion, on Thursday at 1 p.m.
Thursday's winners square off Friday at 1 p.m., followed by Thursday's two losers in an elimination game at 6 p.m. The loser's bracket final is set for Saturday at 1 p.m. with the winner advancing to the championship game at 6 p.m. An extra championship contest, if necessary in the double-elimination event, is scheduled for Sunday at noon.
All games will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Steve Quis providing the play-by-play and John Kentera serving as the analyst. Links for the video streams and live stats of games involving the Mustangs can be found on the Cal Poly baseball schedule page at GoPoly.com.
The Gauchos and Mustangs finished tied for first place in the Big West with 22-8 records. UC Santa Barbara (37-16 overall) earned the top seed by virtue of their series win over Cal Poly (33-21) at Baggett Stadium in early April.
UC San Diego (24-26 overall) claimed third place with an 18-12 mark, followed by fourth-place Hawai'i (16-14) and fifth-place Cal State Fullerton (15-15). UC Irvine, the conference's regular season champion and top seed in last year's Big West tournament, and UC Davis both finished one victory shy of a 2026 postseason berth at 14-16.
Thursday's matchup between the Mustangs and Tritons will feature the same pitchers who faced off in the opening game of their three-game Big West series in April.
Cal Poly junior right-hander Griffin Naess (6-4, 4.68 ERA) squared off against UC San Diego redshirt sophomore righty Steele Murdock (4-2, 5.73 ERA) on April 17 at Triton Ballpark. The Mustangs won the game 11-3 en route to a series win as Naess allowed two runs and four hits over six innings with six strikeouts. Murdock surrendered six runs (three earned) and five hits in 4 1/3 innings, also with six strikeouts.
Murdock has eight no-decisions among his 14 starts this year, did not earn a victory in his last five starts of the regular season and did not complete five innings in seven of his appearances on the mound. Nevertheless, the Herriman (Utah) High School graduate struck out 93 opposing batters, fourth in the Big West, and has exceeded 100 miles per hour with his fastball this season, striking out 17 in eight innings of a 4-3 win at UC Santa Barbara.
Naess fanned 14 Washington State batters over seven frames in a 9-0 Mustang win Feb. 20 and also has earned victories against Hawai'i, Cal State Bakersfield, UC Riverside, UC San Diego and Long Beach State. The three-time All-Big West honorable mention's 20 career wins over three seasons at Cal Poly ties him for ninth place in the Mustang record book with Paul Souza and Shannon Stephens.
Cal Poly leads the Big West in hitting with a .307 team batting average and also is No. 1 in runs scored (368), hits (597), doubles (147), RBIs (326), slugging percentage (.480) and on-base percentage (.383).
Individually, Mustang leaders in the Big West include junior catcher Ryan Tayman in slugging percentage (.673), OPS (on base and slugging percentages) (1.137), RBIs (53), home runs (16), caught steals (16), putouts (465) and total chances (523), Alejandro Garza in hits (83), doubles (21) and at bats (246), Nick Bonn in saves (12), Carson Turnquist in fewest hits allowed (45) and Chris Downs in wild pitches (11).
Nationally, Cal Poly is No. 2 in doubles, No. 10 in hits and tied for 27th in batting average. Individually, Garza is 10th with 21 doubles, 10th in toughest to strike out (once every 16.4 at bats) and tied for 12th with 83 hits, Tayman is tied for 75th with 16 home runs, Casey Murray Jr. is tied for 19th with five triples, Nick Bonn is tied for third with 12 saves and Nate Castellon is tied for fifth in toughest to strike out (once every 17.0 at bats).
Tayman, named Big West Co-Field Player of the Year this week, is Cal Poly's top hitter with a .351 average, one of 10 Mustangs hitting at least .284. Garza is at .337 with 25 multiple-hit games this spring while Castellon sports a .335 mark. Murray, named defensive player of the year in the conference, has a .315 average.
Named Big West Coach of the Year for the second time (sharing the honor with UC Santa Barbara's Andrew Checketts), Lee earned his 1,200th career victory in 40 seasons at Cal Poly and Cuesta College with an 8-6 triumph at UC Irvine on May 3. He is 746-573-2 in 23-plus seasons with the Mustangs and, combined with his 16 seasons at Cuesta College (460-241-3), is 1,206-814-5 overall as a head coach.
Lee 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 earned their second Big West regular season title by sweeping Long Beach State last weekend inside Baggett Stadium. The other was in 2014 when Cal Poly hosted the NCAA San Luis Obispo Regional.
Cal Poly's numbers this season included a 7-3 mark in midweek games, an 8-0 start to Big West play, a 10-game winning streak in the first half of March and 20 come-from-behind wins. The Mustangs won nine of 10 Big West series for the second consecutive year and have claimed 26 of 30 conference series over the last three seasons.
The Mustangs also won 15 of 20 games to close out the regular season, including the last six contests, hit .325 in 30 Big West games, won 30 of 33 games when outhitting the opposition and produced double-digit hits 33 times, including three games with 20 or more hits.
No. 1 Seed UC Santa Barbara (37-16, 22-8 Big West)
- Andrew Checketts (Oregon State '98) is in his 15th season as head coach at UC Santa Barbara and has compiled a 528-280-5 record thus far. He spent three seasons as the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator under George Horton at Oregon before coming to UC Santa Barbara. Checketts was on the UC Riverside staff for seven years and began his coaching career at Riverside Community College, where he served as pitching coach and helped the team to their second consecutive California state championship in 2001. Checketts played one season at Florida and three at Oregon State.
- After losing series at home against Cal State Fullerton, the Gauchos won their last nine Big West games versus Cal State Bakersfield, CSUN and UC Riverside to catch Cal Poly atop the conference standings. The Gauchos won 10 of their last 11 games overall and 17 of 23.
- The Gauchos are 20-4 versus UC San Diego, 136-117 against Cal Poly, 52-113 versus Cal State Fullerton and 29-29 against Hawai'i.
- Top Gaucho hitter is Rowan Kelly with a .348 average (14 doubles, 41 RBIs, 12 of 16 steals). He has 15 hits and seven RBIs in his last eight games. Topping the pitching staff is junior right-hander Jackson Flora (10-0, 1.03 ERA) with 115 strikeouts over 87 1/3 innings. Flora is expected to be among the first five players and the first pitcher drafted in July, following No. 2 pick (and first pitcher) Tyler Bremner a year ago. Flora leads the Big West with his 115 strikeouts and is second in the conference and 45th in the nation with 11.85 strikeouts per nine innings.
- UC Santa Barbara claimed Big West titles in 1972, 1986, 2019, 2022, 2024 and 2026 (regular season) and has qualified for the NCAA Division I regionals 14 times, including seven in the last 13 years (2013, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2024). The Gauchos own a 17-32 win-loss record in Division I postseason competition, including 6-2 in 2016 en route to regional and super regional triumphs and a berth in the College World Series. UC Santa Barbara leaves the Big West for the West Coast Conference on July 1, 2027.
- The Gauchos are fourth in NCAA in team ERA, seventh in hits per nine innings and No. 7 in WHiP. Individually, Flora is first in ERA (1.03), second in hits allowed per nine innings (5.15), third in WHiP (0.89), fourth in wins (10) and seventh in strikeouts (115).. Flora is the first Gaucho pitcher since 2014 to throw two shutouts in the same season (Cal Poly and UC Riverside). He has three career shutouts, blanking Cal Poly in 2025 as well. He threw 38 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings from March 6 through April 10.
- It's been closer by committee at UCSB with Chase Hoover, Cole Tryba and AJ Krodel notching four saves each and Josh Jannicelli three.
- The Gauchos play a lot of situational baseball, recording 52 sacrifice bunts this season, No. 1 in the Big West and eighth in the nation. William Vasseur has notched a Big West-leading 10 sacrifice bunts, 17th in the NCAA.
- UCSB doesn't hit a lot of home runs, but catcher Nate Vargas has 10 of the team's 46 long balls, six in the last month. He homered in each game of the UC Riverside series last week.
No. 3 Seed UC San Diego (24-26, 18-12 Big West)
- Head coach Eric Newman (15th season, 471-314, Texas Tech '97) took over the Triton baseball program when Dan O'Brien, head coach at UC San Diego for 14 seasons from 1998-2011, became head coach at Santa Clara in 2012. Newman is a three-time ABCA/Diamond West Region Coach of the Year, twice earned CCAA Coach of the Year honors and added his first Big West Coach of the Year award in 2023 to his resumé. Newman has compiled 40-win seasons three times (2017-19) and each of his first nine campaigns with the Tritons resulted in winning records. Prior to arriving at La Jolla, Newman was the pitching coach at Nebraska (2008-11) and served as associate or head coach at Dallas Baptist (2002-07). A draft selection of the San Diego Padres, he played eight seasons of professional baseball. Newman played two seasons at Fresno State before finishing his collegiate career at Texas Tech.
- UC San Diego opened its Big West schedule with 11 wins in 13 games before losing eight of its next 11, falling from first place into third; the Tritons won their last two series versus Cal State Bakersfield and Cal State Fullerton, two games to one.
- The Tritons are 14-5 all-time versus Cal State Fullerton, 10-9 against Cal Poly, 4-20 versus UC Santa Barbara and 7-12 against Hawai'i.
- UC San Diego clinched its first Division I postseason playoff berth May 10 against Cal State Bakersfield by a 15-2 score.
- First baseman Gabe Camacho is the Tritons' top offensive performer with 16 home runs (tied for No. 1 with Cal Poly's Ryan Tayman in the Big West), 51 RBIs (second in the Big West, two behind Tayman) and 46 runs scored (fourth in the Big West). The junior also leads the Big West as he has been hit by a pitch 26 times, one more than Cal State Bakersfield's Evan Cloyd.
- Redshirt sophomore right-hander Steele Murdock leads the Big West in strikeouts per nine innings (12.68), which ranks 18th in the country, and he ranks fourth in the conference (44th nationally) in total strikeouts (93). Murdock struck out 17 UC Santa Barbara batters over eight innings in a 4-3 win on April 10 in Goleta.
- The Tritons recorded their first Division I no-hitter and second in program history with a seven-inning 10-0 win over Loyola Marymount on April 28. Connor Etnire (three innings), Nathan Ries (three innings) and Cal Elvis (one inning) combined on the pitching gem.
- UC San Diego played a challenging non-conference schedule with weekend series against UCLA (No. 1 RPI), Oregon (16) and Cincinnati (22) plus a Big West series versus UC Santa Barbara (35). The Tritons are 3-12 in Quad 1 games.
- UC San Diego, which elevated its athletics program to NCAA Division I on July 1, 2020, has a long history of success in the lower divisions. As a Division III independent from 1980 through 2000, the Tritons earned five NCAA regional playoff berths, including trips to the College World Series in 1987 and 1994. As a Division II member of the California Collegiate Athletic Association from 2001-19, UC San Diego made five College World Series appearances, including runner-up finishes in 2010 and 2017, and earned regional playoff berths 13 times. The Tritons were CCAA tournament champions six times and claimed the CCAA regular season title four times. UC San Diego leaves the Big West for the West Coast Conference on July 1, 2027.
No. 4 Seed Hawai'i (27-22, 16-14 Big West)
- Fifth-year head coach Rich Hill (Cal Lutheran '84) is in his 39th season as a collegiate head coach, previously serving 23 years at University of San Diego (1999-2021), five seasons at U. San Francisco (1994-98) and six years at Cal Lutheran (1988-93). He is 1,235-841-4 overall as a head coach, including 156-103 at Hawai'i with five straight winning campaigns (the Rainbow Warriors had not finished over .500 in league play in nine Big West seasons prior to Hill's arrival), and is third in career wins among active Division I head coaches. Hill played baseball at Cal Lutheran and San Diego State along with one season in the St. Louis Cardinals' minor league system. Under Hill, Hawai'i is 41-21 in the month of May, including a 35-11 mark in Big West games.
- Top hitter Tate Shimao has fully recovered from a slow start. Hitting .161 (5-for-31) 11 games into the season, the third baseman (who played two seasons at Cal Poly before transferring to Hawai'i) has elevated his average to .308 by going 43-for-125 (.344) over his last 31 contests with a quartet of three-hit games and has driven in 26 runs with 13 doubles and a pair of home runs overall.
- Pitchers Isaiah Magdaleno (7-4, 2.33 ERA) and Hekili Robello (9-4, 3.06 ERA), both right-handers, have made 14 starts each this year -- Magdaleno racking up 112 strikeouts (second in the Big West). Magdaleno has won his last three starts with two complete games, both shutouts, and one run allowed over 26 innings for a 0.36 ERA. He struck out 16 against UC Riverside and 14 more versus CSUN in the shutouts and nine over eight innings versus UC Davis, issuing just two walks in the three games combined. As a result, Magdaleno has won three straight Big West Pitcher of the Week awards and ranks third nationally in hits allowed per nine innings and fourth in WHiP.
- The Rainbow Warriors are 12-7 versus UC San Diego, 25-28 against Cal State Fullerton, 18-36 versus Cal Poly and 29-29 against UC Santa Barbara.
- Hawai'i won four of its last five Big West series and leads the conference and is third nationally with its 3.44 ERA. The Rainbow Warriors are second in the nation with seven shutouts, the most for a Hawai'i team since 1992. Hawai'i is 43-34 in conference tournaments, qualifying for last year's Big West event and 20 WAC tournaments from 1980-2012. The Rainbow Warriors are 24-0 when leading after seven innings. Hawai'i is sixth among 47 Division I teams in the West with a .602 winning percentage (Cal Poly is seventh with a .589 percentage).
- Hawai'i played its first Big West season in baseball in 2013 after 33 years in the Western Athletic Conference, claiming titles in 1991, 1992 and 2011 and the tournament crown in 2010. Cal Poly also played in the WAC in 1995 and 1996 before joining the Big West. The Rainbow Warriors reached the College World Series in 1980, finishing second, and have made 13 NCAA regional appearances, the last in 2010. Hawai'i leaves the Big West for the Mountain West Conference on July 1.
No. 5 Seed Cal State Fullerton (23-30, 15-15 Big West)
- Fifth-year head coach Jason Dietrich (122-152, Cal State Fullerton '99), the sixth head coach in the Titans' Division I history, was pitching coach at East Carolina for two seasons before he was named Titans head coach on June 30, 2021. He was pitching coach at Cal State Fullerton from 2013-16 and also coached at UC Irvine (2008-12) and Oregon (2017-19). Dietrich has worked under Mike Gillespie, George Horton and Rick Vanderhook, who was the Titans' head coach for 10 seasons before stepping down following the 2021 campaign. Prior to coaching, Dietrich played one year with the New Jersey Jackals of the Northeast Baseball League (1998) and four in the Colorado Rockies organization (1994-98) after being selected in the 19th round of the 1994 MLB Draft out of Pepperdine, where he earned All-West Coast Conference Honorable Mention accolades.
- Top Titan hitter is right fielder Paul Contreras with a .364 average, including 14 home runs (fifth in the Big West) and 42 RBIs. He went 5-for-5 with two home runs, a double and three RBIs in last Saturday's 10-5 win at UC San Diego, clinching the fifth and final berth in the Big West Tournament. Contreras' 14 homers are the most for a Titan since Christian Colon hit 17 in 2010 and he hit .436 in Big West games. Second baseman Nick Miller has a .321 average with 10 doubles and 25 RBIs. Top moundsman is senior southpaw Mikiah Negrete (8-4, 2.87 ERA), who pitched a two-hit shutout at Hawai'i on March 27 (11 strikeouts) and a three-hitter (one unearned run, six strikeouts) at No. 6 Oregon State on April 17. Negrete also struck out 10 over six innings in a no-decision against UC Davis on May 1.
- The Titans are 75-60 versus Cal Poly, 28-25 against Hawai'i, 113-52 versus UC Santa Barbara and 5-14 against UC San Diego.
- Thirteen former Titans have been drafted in the first round of the Major League Draft, including Tim Wallach (1979), Phil Nevin (first overall pick in 1992), Mark Kotsay (ninth overall pick in 1996) and Christian Colon (fourth overall pick in 2010). A total of 72 former Titans have played in the Major Leagues.
- Cal State Fullerton has won 30 conference titles in 51 Division I seasons, has appeared in 41 regionals (the last in 2023), including the stretch of 27 consecutive seasons from 1992 through 2018, along with 14 Super Regionals and 18 College World Series, capturing national championships in 1979, 1984, 1995 and 2004. The Titans are 703-317 since late 1992 at Goodwin Field and never had a losing season in 47 Division I campaigns (excluding the pandemic-shortened 2020 season) until 2021.
