Cal Poly baseball to host Pac-12 champion UCLA, No. 19 Michigan this weekend
Following its four-game sweep of Pacific to open the 2016 college baseball season, Cal Poly returns to action against a pair of nationally ranked opponents this weekend.
The Mustangs (4-0) will host defending Pac-12 Conference champion and No. 14-ranked UCLA for a three-game series beginning at 6 p.m. Friday. Cal Poly will play a doubleheader Saturday against No. 19 Michigan (noon) and the Bruins (6 p.m.), before wrapping up the series with UCLA at 1 p.m. Sunday.
“We’re definitely looking forward to that series,” said junior Brett Barbier, who batted a team-high .571 last weekend. “I feel like if we just play our game we can really hang with anybody. As long as no one tries to be more than who they really are, we’ll be fine.”
Barbier helped spearhead a Mustangs offense that scored at least six runs in each of the four games against the Tigers. He and sophomore Josh George each tallied eight hits in the series, and combined to drive in 10 runs.
True freshman Alex McKenna was superb during his first weekend in the college ranks. He hit .500 with two home runs, five RBI and scored nine times from the leadoff spot, earning Big West Conference Player of the Week honors.
Fellow true freshmen Kyle Marinconz (second base) and Nick Meyer (catcher) also proved to be valuable additions to the Cal Poly lineup.
The first hit of Meyer’s career was a walk-off single in the 10th inning that gave the Mustangs a 7-6 victory in the second game of the series. He also made a couple impressive defensive plays behind the plate and drew high praise from head coach Larry Lee.
“Those two guys are really going to be two of the better players in the near future,” Lee said of McKenna and Meyer.
On the mound, sophomore left-hander Kyle Smith will likely make his second start against the Bruins on Friday night.
Smith pitched a complete game with a career-high nine strikeouts during the season opener. He figures to have his hands full against a UCLA lineup that brings back 24 players from last year’s team that earned the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Junior right-hander Grant Dyer is the projected Friday night starter for a Bruins team looking to bounce back from a rough opening weekend.
North Carolina won two of three games in the season-opening series in Los Angeles, and Big West Conference opponent Long Beach State cruised to a 10-1 victory Tuesday night.
Saturday’s pitching matchup will likely be between UCLA’s Griffin Canning and Cal Poly’s Slater Lee. In the series finale, Mustangs sophomore Erich Uelmen will be in line to make his second start, while the Bruins will likely counter with freshman Kyle Molnar.
“I’m excited just to get that opportunity,” Uelmen said. “But we also know that we’re a good team, so we’re not intimated going into it.
“We’re playing well and we’re confident in our preparation.”
This story was originally published February 25, 2016 at 12:58 PM with the headline "Cal Poly baseball to host Pac-12 champion UCLA, No. 19 Michigan this weekend."