Thoughts and Reactions from the Super Regional Bound Stangs
6/1/2026 1:15:00 PM | Baseball
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — As the Cal Poly baseball team headed back to campus Monday morning, the players are still basking in the glow of the program's first NCAA regional championship.
Coach Larry Lee's Mustangs outscored their three opponents 25-5 and hit .310 en route to one victory over Virginia Tech and a pair of wins against Saint Mary's over the weekend at UCLA's Jackie Robinson Stadium.
Cal Poly never had to face the host Bruins, the No. 1 national seed with a gaudy 51-6 record during the regular season, as they were eliminated from the four-team event with a pair of one-run losses to Saint Mary's.
The Friday through Sunday double-elimination tournament featured many incredible moments, including UCLA's three-run ninth-inning rally to edge Virginia Tech 6-5 and the Gaels' pair of upsets over the Bruins.
Cal Poly produced a few memorable moments as well, such as strong pitching performances by each of its three starters on the mound -- Griffin Naess, Carson Turnquist and Josh Volmerding -- along with a pair of home runs each by Ryan Tayman and Cam Hoiland and Gavin Spiridonoff's dramatic three-run blast that snapped a 2-2 tie in the sixth inning versus Saint Mary's on Sunday.
UCLA was the first national top-seeded team since expansion of the NCAA tournament to 64 teams in 1999 to lose its first-round game in a regional when the Bruins fell to Saint Mary's 3-2 on a ninth-inning home run Friday and the second team in the same period to fail to reach its regional final following their 10-inning 6-5 loss to the Gaels on Sunday. Top-seeded Vanderbilt did not make it to its regional final in 2025.
UCLA also is the fifth national top seed to fail to advance beyond regional play and had won 78 consecutive games when leading after eight innings before Saint Mary's erased a 5-4 deficit with runs in the ninth and 10th frames Sunday.
Not only are the No. 1 Bruins out, but so are No. 9 Southern Miss and No. 13 Nebraska. Six other top-16 seeds have been extended to "extra" games Monday. They are No. 2 Georgia Tech, No. 4 Auburn, No. 8 Florida, No. 10 Florida State, No. 12 Texas A&M and No. 16 West Virginia.
Cal Poly committed just one error in its three games and the Mustang pitching staff combined for a stingy 1.33 ERA. Nick Bonn notched a pair of saves, raising his season total to a nation-leading and school-record 17, while Tayman and Alejandro Garza joined Bonn atop the Cal Poly record book -- Tayman with his 18th home run of the year, tying Monty Waltz's 1985 mark, and 536 putouts, and Garza with 253 career hits.
Cal Poly earned just three Quad 1 wins this season -- two against Campbell and one versus UC Santa Barbara. The Mustangs doubled that total this weekend in Los Angeles.
Only three of last year's College World Series participants made the regional field this year, and that trio -- UCLA, Arkansas and Oregon State -- was eliminated from the postseason this weekend, the first time the entire CWS field from the previous year didn't make it past the regional.
UCLA was ranked No. 1 in some preseason polls and maintained that ranking throughout the regular season in the Baseball America and National College Baseball Writers Association polls, becoming the first team to accomplish that feat.
Since and including 2000, only one team seeded No. 1 nationally went on to win the national title. That was Tennessee just two years ago.
Cal Poly takes its 39-22 overall mark and first regional title in five tries into its initial foray into the Super Regionals this weekend against either West Virginia or Kentucky. The Mountaineers and Wildcats play a one-game winner-take-all affair Monday night in Morgantown, Va. West Virginia will host the Super Regional with a win. If Kentucky wins, the NCAA will decide on the host Tuesday morning.
So, what did the Mustang players choose as their highlight so far this season? They were asked to state their top memory or their favorite moment or their No. 1 takeaway, either for the season or the regional championship.
Second baseman Jake Downing: My favorite memory from this weekend is winning the regional. First time in program history, and there couldn't have been a better group of guys to share an experience like this with.
Shortstop Nate Castellon: I think my best memory has got to be winning the Big West Championship so far. Three exciting games. We weren't the one seed and we were able to come out of the tournament with the championship. All three of those games were really one- or two-run ballgames. So, yeah, got to be the Big West Championship. That's right. We had to win the Big West in order to get here, the regional.
Designated hitter/outfielder Cam Hoiland: My favorite memory from this weekend was just being able to dogpile once again with my teammates and having my baseball career extended for one more week.
Catcher Ryan Tayman: I'd say my favorite moment from this weekend was Gavin's three-run bomb. That was huge for us to put us up to the front and yeah, I mean the whole dugout exploded. Really happy for him and the team and yeah, that was my best moment so far this weekend.
Pitcher Griffin Naess: My favorite memory was last night, just seeing everybody succeed and seeing the way we pitched and how we played as a team. We're going to the Supers.
Third baseman Alejandro Garza: My favorite moment this weekend was definitely getting that final out last night and being the first ever Cal Poly Mustangs baseball team to ever make it to a Super Regional. Glad to play for Coach Lee and all these coaches.
Pitcher Carson Turnquist: My top moment was definitely, shoot, there are a lot of good ones. Probably winning the regional and going to the Super Regional because that's pretty dang cool. No Mustang team's ever done that before.
Right fielder Dylan Kordic: Getting into a Regional and so on and so forth. After winning the last game, seeing all the families and all the fans up above the dugout, standing and watching us. That was pretty sweet. And then getting to see them all back at the hotel after the game. It was awesome.
Center fielder Casey Murray Jr.: Yesterday, just seeing all the fans and the city of San Luis Obispo. Having been there all along and what it means to them, They show us so much support and love. So this feels good.
First baseman Gavin Spiridonoff: My favorite moment from this weekend was just getting in that dogpile with all my friends and brothers for life. It was just an amazing experience.
Pitcher Josh Volmerding: My favorite moment of this tournament was seeing that Gavin Spiridonoff homer go over the fence. I was down in the bullpen when it happened and warming up for my sixth inning and I just turned around, seeing everybody going crazy and then watched that ball fly over the fence. I knew then that I was going to go back out there for one more inning with the lead and a chance to help my team go to a Super Regional. That was awesome.
Left fielder Dante Vachini: My favorite memory of the season so far is Nick Bonn coming in the game in the eighth inning with runners on first and second, no outs and getting out with no runs scored. My biggest takeaway this year is just the next-man-up mentality with our pitching staff and all our hitters that we've had coming off the bench the whole year.
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