Fans get to see Cal Poly baseball this week. Here are 3 takeaways from the season so far
Cal Poly’s baseball season so far has been a testament to resiliency as the Mustangs prepare to open their stadium to a limited number of fans this week for this first time this season.
Cal Poly hosts San Jose State for a three-game, non-conference series Thursday through Saturday. Game times are 6 p.m. both Thursday and Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday. About 600 fans will be permitted to attend each game.
In an up-and-down season thus far amid COVID-19, the Mustangs started out with a rough opening series at home in February — losing three of four to University of Nevada.
But then the Mustangs bounced back, winning the majority of their games in each of the next four series. Cal Poly topped two traditional NCAA baseball powerhouses, USC and UCLA, by winning two of three games in each of those two sets.
“We played extremely well in a lot of different facets this weekend against a very talented UCLA team,” said 19th-year Mustang head coach Larry Lee, after the UCLA series win, in a news release. “We just battled each and every inning throughout the weekend.”
Now at the front end of Big West Conference play, the Mustangs (12-9, 4-4 Big West) are once again trying to right the ship, after losing three of four to underdog UC San Diego (6-10, 3-1 Big West) at home last week after the Mustangs won three of four against Cal State Northridge the week prior.
The series dropped them into sixth place in the 11-team Big West.
“We just got to hang around,” Lee told The Tribune on Saturday. “It’s a 40-game conference schedule (56 total). ... What we’ve done lately is just not very good.”
Lee said that while the lack of fans hasn’t affected player preparation and in-game mentality, the team will enjoy the return of the spectators.
“Our players want fans there, and they want their parents to actually see them play,” Lee said.
Tough series against UC San Diego
After a third straight loss to the Tritons on Saturday evening, Lee pondered the team’s season so far.
“We’ve been outplayed in all facets of the game and outcoached the first three games of this series,” Lee said after consecutive losses. “So, all the momentum we’ve built up from the past is out the window. It’s just the nature of the game.”
But on Sunday, the Mustangs found a way to notch a “W” after getting down 2-0 on three hits and an error in the top of the first before shutting down the UC San Diego offense the rest of the way for a 6-2 win.
Early in the game, Lee visited the mound to talk to 6-foot-8 freshman Bryce Warrecker, Cal Poly officials said in a news release with post-game reaction.
“There were a few choice words,” said Lee. “But I also stressed the importance of maintaining the mechanics that he prepared for in his bullpen session and not be concerned with their running game. I told him his mechanics were much more important to focus on — the quality of his pitches and his mechanics. The bottom line is to compete and execute his pitches.”
While the Mustangs were on their heels throughout the weekend against UCSD, they punched back Sunday with three runs of their own in the first and added three more in the third — standout shortstop Brooks Lee doubled; third baseman Tate Samuelson notched a RBI single and second baseman Taison Corio has a run-scoring triple down the right-field line, followed by Nick DiCarlo’s RBI single.
Relievers Carlo Lopiccolo and Bryan Woo combined for four scoreless innings, with Woo striking out two.
Lee credited UC San Diego for swinging the bat extremely well, citing four no-doubt home runs in Saturday’s opener of the doubleheader.
Mustangs have a few hot bats
More than 20 games into the season, three Mustang hitters in particular have displayed some impressive hitting.
Designated hitter Matt Lopez is the 18th best hitter for average in the nation with a blistering .451 mark, including one home run and 18 RBI, according to statistics posted on ncaa.com. Lopez, who has 71 at-bats, is 14th in the nation among hitters with 25 plate appearances or more.
“It’s the same stuff (pitching) I’ve faced since I was younger, maybe a little harder cut, a litter firmer,” said Lopez, a redshirt junior from Auburn who previously attended Sierra College and and played a COVID-shortened season at Washington State, where he posted only two at-bats.
Lee said that Lopez has “remained hot” after some other hitters who were performing well earlier cooled off.
“(Lopez is) a tough out,” Lee said. “He has good bat-to-ball skills and has ability to hit in the clutch.”
Other hot hitters are senior catcher Myles Emmerson at .367 and shortstop Brooks Lee, who has tallied a .376 average, while leading the squad with six home runs, 30 RBI and a .741 slugging percentage.
Lee said his son, one of the top prospects in next year’s Major League Baseball draft, has had a “good season” with some struggles against UC San Diego.
“Overall, he’s had some real good series and some very good games,” Larry Lee said. “He’s learning just like everybody else.”
The Mustangs, who hit just .231, a school Division I record, a year ago, were hitting .300 as a team through 13 games this spring, Cal Poly officials noted. Currently, they’re at .291.
Samuelson’s bat has slowed down after a hot start, and he’s hitting .284 with three homers and 19 RBI for the season. Corio is batting .271.
Pitching and defense need to lead, coach says
While Cal Poly has seen some strong pitching performances from its core staff — including starters Travis Weston (2-2, 3.26 ERA), Drew Thorpe (2-2, 4.26 ERA) and reliever Dylan Villalobos (1-0, 1.69 ERA) — the Mustangs have six pitchers with ERAs over 5 runs per game and have struggled at times.
“Your hitting is going to be up and down during the course of the year, but if you don’t have the ability to pitch and play defense, you’re going to go through some type of prolonged struggles,” Larry Lee said. “It all fits together. When we were swinging well for the majority of our series before this one, it gives your pitchers and defense confidence. Once facet of the game has a big effect on the other facets.”
Lee said a recent team talking point was trying to push through and win games when key hitters aren’t performing.
“Just because some of your better hitters don’t produce in a particular game, there are others ways to win that ball game,” Lee said. “That’s what good teams do. You have to find ways to win the 9-8 game as well as the 2-1 game.”
Lopez said he had adjusted well to “a great group of guys” at Cal Poly and overall the season has been “pretty good.”
“We’ll learn from our mistakes early so we don’t pay for it later,” Lopez said. “It’s hard in this type of series (against UCSD), but we just have to take the positives from what’s happening and scratch this one.”
Lopez added: “Everybody has to be bought in as a team and playing for each other versus their own stats and personally I feel we do a good job of that as a team.”
This story was originally published March 31, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Fans get to see Cal Poly baseball this week. Here are 3 takeaways from the season so far."
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