Cal Poly sweeps opening Big West baseball series. Here are three takeaways
Cal Poly’s baseball team was looking for a hot start in 2022 after finishing the 2021 season winning 11 of 12 games.
The Mustangs didn’t jump out of the gate quite like they wanted to in their pre-conference schedule, posting a 7-9 record.
But Cal Poly swept its opening Big West Conference series versus Cal State Northridge over the weekend — jumpstarted by a comeback 6-4 win on Friday night after a five-run eighth inning at the plate.
The Mustangs (10-9, 3-0 Big West) have been helped by a scorching start from star shortstop Brooks Lee, who’s hitting .438, and the pitching of stalwart junior Drew Thorpe, who’s posting a 2.55 earned run average.
“I feel like it’s more about team morale than anything after getting behind the behind the curve,” said Brooks Lee, son of Mustangs’ Coach Larry Lee, after Friday’s victory. “We bounced back after they put up a four-spot. That’s just the way good teams do it.”
Lee, in his 20th season as the Mustangs coach, said of the series opener versus the Matadors (10-9, 0-3): “Everybody was instrumental tonight. It took a total team effort.”
In the opener, Cal Poly entered the eighth inning down 4-1, but after RBIs from Tate Samuelson, Matthias Haas and John Lagattuta, they got a clutch two-out, two-run double in the eighth from pinch hitter Collin Villegas, who was 0-for-14 in his plate appearances before the sharp liner over the center fielder’s head gave the Mustangs the lead for good.
In game two on Saturday, Cal Poly won 8-4 behind Lagattuta’s home run, single and three runs scored. Cal Poly produced a five-run rally in the fourth as Travis Weston (2-0) struck out six while allowing four runs in 5-2/3 innings. Reliever Kyle Scott tossed 3-1/3 scoreless innings to close out the contest.
In Sunday’s finale, Cal Poly again won 6-4 as catcher Kyle Stafford singled twice and doubled once, lifting his average to .329, second on the team behind Lee. Cal Poly used five pitchers throwing short stints to collectively get the win, with Evan Tomlinson tossing 3-2/3 scoreless frames.
Here are three takeaways as the Mustangs look to continue their momentum in conference with 27 Big West games to go this season.
Brooks Lee off to torrid start
With Brooks Lee projected in the Top 5 of those eligible in the Major League Baseball draft, he hasn’t disappointed so far.
Brooks is even getting some attention about a possible prestigious No. 1 MLB draft selection.
Lee was 4-for 10 in series after posting a 2-for-4 night Friday with two doubles, two runs scored and a RBI, albeit he got some luck to get his first hit of the game when right fielder Andrew Sojka lost a routine fly ball in the lights.
“I’ve gotten some good cheap hits every now and then,” Brooks Lee said, smiling with a newly sported mustache. “But it definitely pays off if you hit a ball hard. That’s just the way the game works. You’re going to get rewarded somehow.”
All in all, Lee is tearing it up, hitting balls hard in many of his at-bats and leading the team in average, RBI (25) and doubles (14), among other hitting categories.
“He had a great season last year, but he’s a better all around hitter and player this year,” Larry Lee said. “Last year, he thought he had to do everything. He has more plate discipline now and he’ll continue to get better. He works extremely hard, like all of our guys.”
Larry Lee said his son, who has three home runs thus far on the season (hitting 10 last year), said his power numbers probably would double in a hitter friendly ballpark — but balls don’t tend to fly out of yards at Baggett Stadium.
“This is wrong ballpark to try to do that,” Larry Lee said. “If we played in a hitter friendly ballpark, it would be different. But this is a huge ballpark with a 12-foot fence, and when you play at night the ball doesn’t really go anywhere. So, if he played in certain other ballparks, he would double his home run total fairly easily.”
Thorpe sets the tone on the mound
Despite his only mistake on Friday — a gopher ball that sailed over the left field wall for a grand slam by CSUN’s Gabe Gonzalez — Thorpe was dominant throughout the contest otherwise, striking out seven and holding the Matadors scoreless in each of the other innings.
Thorpe has shown to be a reliable starter who can give the Mustangs a chance to win each time out, opening the season 2-0 in five appearances (three no decisions).
He typically throws against the opposing teams’ best pitchers and has held his own.
On Friday, he did his job to put the Mustangs in position to win.
“We have 27 innings at home in a three-game weekend series and (Thorpe) gave us seven,” Larry Lee said. “So it’s extremely important for our bullpen. We don’t want to burn our our pen up on a Friday night.”
Larry Lee said Thorpe made one mistake, giving up a grand slam to Gabe Gonzalez, the fifth homer of the year for Northridge’s designated hitter. Thorpe hung a breaking pitch on the home run.
Thorpe said his hitters bailed him out Friday.
“I didn’t have my best stuff today,” Thorpe said. “And that’s just how it’s going to be sometimes, having to work with what I have. I try to give length as much as possible and the guys picked me up tonight.”
In preseason, Thorpe was projected to be the overall No. 71 pick in the MLB draft at the end of the season by Perfect Game.
“I haven’t really been thinking about it as of now,” Thorpe said. “I’m just kind of pushing it to the side and I’ll deal with it when the season is over.”
Mustangs hope to shore up relief pitching, defense
With some shaky defensive efforts earlier in the season, Cal Poly is seeking to be better to limit unearned runs and hold late-game leads.
An error by first baseman Joe Yorke started the rally that contributed to the home run in the fourth. And Mustang errors have hurt them in prior contests.
Coach Lee said the bullpen is getting better.
Jason Franks has been a frequently used arm out of the pen, helping Cal Poly with a scoreless inning Friday with two strikeouts. He’s posting a 4.08 ERA with 22 strikeouts in 10 appearances.
Zach Button, a righty, hasn’t given up an earned run this season in four appearances. On Friday, Button struck out two in one inning pitched.
Dylan Villalobos, with a 1.1.7 ERA, has appeared in six games and struck out nine.
“Winning is very difficult at this level,” Larry Lee said. “And to create a mindset of winning within your team, that’s what you’re always striving for.”
This story was originally published March 18, 2022 at 10:13 PM with the headline "Cal Poly sweeps opening Big West baseball series. Here are three takeaways."
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