Cal Poly baseball splits opening homestand. Here are 4 key takeaways
Cal Poly’s baseball team was looking for a hot start in its opening homestand — but instead came away with mixed reviews.
The Mustangs lost their first two contests of the season against University of Washington (3-1) — falling 6-5 on Friday and 4-3 on Saturday.
But Cal Poly (2-2) bounced back, beating the Huskies 5-1 on Sunday, followed by a 8-4 win over Fresno State (3-1) on Tuesday.
The Mustangs squandered late leads in both of the first two games, including a 3-2 advantage with two outs in the ninth on Saturday, according to a Cal Poly news release.
But Washington designated hitter A.J. Guerrero doubled to the gap in right-center field to score two runs in a heartbreaker.
Here were some of the takeaways from the non-conference start to Cal Poly’s 2022 campaign.
Newcomers show promise at the plate
True freshman catcher Ryan Stafford and right fielder Matthias Haas were bright spots for the Mustangs at the plate.
In the opening series versus Washington, Stafford put up a 5-for-11 performance, including three doubles and an RBI, before cooling off with a 0-for-3 night against the Bulldogs.
Haas, a Bishop O’Dowd High School (Oakland) alum who attended Brown University before transferring to Cal Poly, launched two home runs for the Mustangs while going 5-for 14 (.357) to start the season.
Lee and Doss tally six hits each
Top 5 Major League Baseball draft prospect Brooks Lee, the son of Cal Poly Coach Larry Lee, had just one hit in the first two games.
In Friday’s opener, Brooks Lee came up gimpy after a sliding play on a ground ball and made an awkward throw, then appeared to limp running out a ground ball later in the game.
But he remained in the lineup and mounted a two-hit Sunday performance before going 3-for-4 on Tuesday, with two doubles and three RBI.
As Cal Poly’s sports staff pointed out, Lee wears No. 22 and celebrated “Twos-day” (Feb. 2, 2022) with two doubles.
In the early stages of the season, Doss’ 6-for-14 output (.429) leads the Mustangs.
Lee and Doss share the team lead with four RBI on the season.
Fluky plays in home opener
After the Mustangs posted four runs in the first two innings of the season opener, which drew 1,973 fans, the Mustangs bats went cold for much of the remaining contest.
Cal Poly appeared to be snakebit when standout reliever Dylan Villalobos was removed from the game with an apparent injury and Reagan Doss, Matthias Haas and Brett Borgogno all collided on a shallow fly ball behind second base late in the game, causing a delay to see if anyone was hurt. All stayed in the contest.
Kyle Scott, another relief pitcher, fell down fielding a ground ball on a dribbler to the grass and was unable to get the runner throwing from his backside. Scott’s wild pitch in the seventh proved to be the go-ahead run that decided the game.
Another error in the seventh on a throw to the plate from Haas that first baseman Joe Yorke couldn’t handle also didn’t help the Mustangs’ cause.
Starter Drew Thorpe recorded 11 strikeouts, giving up three earned runs, in 5-1/3 innings in his season debut. He got a no-decision.
Pitching pulls through in wins
Looking to rebound from the opening setbacks, Cal Poly’s Day 3 starter Kaden Sheedy (1-0) struck out five, giving up one run in five innings against Washington. Scott then shut down the Huskies with four scoreless innings of relief work, collecting six punchouts and the save.
Then on Tuesday, Steven Brooks and Jason Franks (1-0) combined for seven innings giving up one earned run to keep the Bulldogs’ bats relatively quiet.
Franks is yet to allow a run in five innings of relief over two games, and Scott allowed just one earned run over five innings in his two outings.
Larry Lee, in his 20th year as Cal Poly’s coach, said before the season he’ll be looking to the bullpen to step up as he tries to find reliable arms to close out games.
Travis Weston, Cal Poly’s Day 2 starter, threw six innings giving up two runs, but got a no decision in the late-game comeback as Derek True, who appeared in each of the last three innings, suffered the loss.
This story was originally published February 23, 2022 at 1:42 PM with the headline "Cal Poly baseball splits opening homestand. Here are 4 key takeaways."
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