Behind good pitching, solid fielding, and some clutch hitting by a junior draft prospect, Cal Poly baseball swept UCSB in its final home series of the season last weekend. 

Meyer gets hot

For his part, catcher Nick Meyer was red-hot all week. Meyer went 5-6 in Cal Poly’s Tuesday mid-week game and followed it up with a great series against UCSB. On the week, he went 9-17 with three doubles, five runs, and three RBI’s, including a game-winning RBI double on Saturday afternoon on a pitch around his eyeballs. 

Meyer was named the Big West Field Player of the Week on Monday. 

Meyer, who was named to Team USA during the summer of 2017, was already rated as an above-average defensive catcher. He’s been red-hot at the plate over the past month or two as well, probably solidifying a relatively high-round pick in the upcoming Major League Baseball Draft. 

Senior Day

Trent Shelton has been flat-out terrific all season for Cal Poly. Photo by Owen Main

Sunday was senior day and six players were honored. Austin Dondanville, Kyle Smith, Elijah Skipps, Josh George, Colby Barrick, and Trent Shelton all saw their final games at Baggett over the weekend. 

Shelton pitched a great game on Friday night, a healthy Skipps was a key cog in Cal Poly’s offensive output all weekend, and Dondanville and Smith both saw action on the mound as well. George was the senior day darling, going 3-4 with 2 RBIs in Sunday’s victory. 

So long to some juniors?

As happens every year, Cal Poly will have some juniors drafted this year. The question will be which ones leave. 

The two likely candidates are, in likely draft order, are Alex McKenna and Nick Meyer, though Kyle Marinconz is also a candidate to be drafted and turn pro. If you’d asked me before the season, Michael Clark would have also been high on this list. Last season’s closer, Clark’s role changed this season and his workload was less. After pitching 48 innings in 30 games with a 2.58 ERA last season, Clark’s workload has increased to over 65 innings (nine games started) with a 5.79 ERA. Clark’s k/bb percentage also went from 2.12 in 2017 to 1.84 this year. 

That said, Clark pitched a gem on Sunday afternoon, lasting 7 1/3 innings while giving up just a pair of earned runs en route to the win. It was Clark’s longest and probably most productive outing of the season. 

We’ll wait to see where and how these guys get drafted and what decisions they make as far as coming back to school. If it was their last weekend series at Baggett, it was pretty special. 

A great finish

The level of play this weekend could be seen as bittersweet. This team has talent that has been playing much closer to their true talent level over the course of Big West play. 

As they’ve been prone to do over the past few years, Cal Poly is playing its best baseball at the end of the season. As has also happened in recent years, that great baseball doesn’t have any postseason implications. For the third time in four years since the program hosted a regional in 2014, Cal Poly put up a losing non-conference record this season, including losses to Gonzaga, Grand Canyon, New Mexico, a series split to Pacific, a mid-week split with San Jose State, losing two of three at home to San Diego State, losing three of four at Nebraska, and being swept at home by UCLA.  

With the exception of UCLA, Nebraska, and Maybe San Diego State, a regional team doesn’t have that many losses against middling or low level Division I teams on the west coast. The Big West wasn’t really great this season either. Preseason favorites like Long Beach State and UCSB flamed out, but losses in series at CSUN and a sweep in Fullerton took Cal Poly out of the race. The conference will only have a single program — Cal State Fullerton — in this year’s NCAA Tournament. 

Under construction

While the bleachers were ready for the home season in 2018, the second phase of construction – demolition of the current clubhouse — looks like it’s starting soon. On Friday, fans noticed some portable buildings far down the first base line at Baggett. The project had originally been scheduled for groundbreaking right after last season, but I believe that the new clubhouse will still be under construction during the 2019 season and be ready for 2020. 

Photos below from Friday night’s game by Owen Main. Find more photos at photos.fansmanship.com, or you can show love by contributing to the cause via Venmo @Owen-Main or paypal owen@fansmanship.com. 

Between high school, college, and other random happenings I’m at over 100 local sporting events per year. 

Nick Meyer hands the ball back to that amazing kid. By Owen Main

Few moments struck me like the pregame on Saturday afternoon at Baggett Stadium. The person with the honor of throwing out the first pitch was a young boy who had battled cancer. As the announcer’s voice cracked a little when she said he’d been through chemotherapy for two years, the kid stepped-up to the mound. 

He threw a strike and shook hands with Cal Poly catcher Nick Meyer. The coolest part of the whole game came next. As he walked by the dugout, the Cal Poly players all leaned out for high-fives. 

It was a cool moment, and one that’s happened for other kids and honorees of the first pitch throughout the season. The looks on the players’ faces this time were not just happy, but in awe. Like they were meeting Clayton Kershaw or Mike Trout. 

The looks on the faces tell it all. By Owen Main

The whole thing was made better by the genuine excitement of the 19-23 year-olds. 

Sometimes when I take photos, I don’t notice certain things until hours or days later when I’m editing photos. In a way, photographers watch games and events in a totally different way through the lens. Sometimes, I don’t experience a moment when it happens. It’s only as I’m staring at a computer screen later that I understand the gravity of something like Saturday’s first pitch, well after it happens. 

The game

Cal Poly lost Saturday’s game. It was the first senior day loss Cal Poly has had in eight years. They still won the series — something they did in seven of their eight Big West weekend series. The one series they lost was against the champions — Long Beach State. Cal Poly finished the conference schedule with a 16-8 record. It was good enough for second place, but Long Beach State went 20-4 en route to being selected as one of the three regional hosts west of Texas. 

Because of their poor non-conference play (12-20 in preseason and mid-week games), the Mustangs didn’t give themselves a chance to make a regional without winning the conference. With their great conference play, the Mustangs made it so that another 3-5 non-conference wins would have given them a chance to be considered for the postseason. Instead, they’ll lose around 5-8 guys who contributed and the rest of the team will be looking toward summer ball and next season. 

Photos by Owen Main

The start to 2017 has been rocky for the Cal Poly baseball team. Over the weekend, Larry Lee’s team used great pitching from Erich Uelmen and Spencer Howard to win the three-game series from Wichita State two games to one. Cal Poly’s record is now 7-12 overall, with four home games against Nebraska and a one-day trip to Fresno standing between the Mustangs and the start of their Big West schedule. 

Starting pitchers Uelmen and Howard struck-out 21 total batters between them en route to back-to-back wins against the Shockers on Friday and Saturday. On Sunday, Wichita State scored first and held Cal Poly hitters to 

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Cal Poly’s Nick Meyer doubled with one out, but Wichita State pitcher Zach Lewis struck out two straight Mustangs. Cal Poly never really threatened after that. 

Cameron Schneider, pitching for the injured Bobby Ay, showed-out well for Cal Poly, going six strong innings, giving up just one earned run and striking out five. But the Mustang bats couldn’t respond in-kind. It was the sixth time Cal Poly has been shut-out this season. 

Michael Clark has been really good so far for Larry Lee’s Mustangs. By Owen Main

Michael Clark pitched in all three games in the Wichita State series. The sophomore right hander has been something of a revelation out of the pen for Cal Poly, becoming their most reliable right handed pitcher. As the season goes on, it seems that Clark and Trent Shelton are going to be the guys Larry Lee probably trusts the most to back-up the starting pitchers. 

The two wins against the Shockers put a Cal Poly win streak at four games, the longest of the young season for the Mustangs, before it was snapped Sunday aternoon.

Cal Poly continues to struggle fielding the ball. Though they were error-free on Saturday, they committed three errors in Friday night’s win and after the weekend have now racked-up 32 errors in just 19 games. Defense matters a little less when pitchers get more of their outs via strikeout. 

After losing to Wichita State on Sunday, the Mustangs will look to bounce back against Darrin Erstad’s Nebraska Cornhuskers. The four-game series against Nebraska includes one game each on Thursday and Friday nights and a doubleheader on Saturday, weather permitting. 

The Nebraska series comes in the midst of Finals Week at Cal Poly, with spring break following. Don’t be surprised if Lee’s team uses spring break to sharpen-up and looks a little better to start Big West play. 

Don’t look now, but the Cal Poly baseball team is looking like Big West contenders. After the weekend they had at Baggett Stadium, the UCSB Gauchos wouldn’t argue.

After sweeping UCSB in convincing fashion, Larry Lee’s Mustangs are now 7-2 in the Big West Conference and tied for first place with Cal State Fullerton, who they’ve already taken two out of three from this season.

Six Sigma

Cal Poly’s defense has been much better lately. After four straight errorless games, Cal Poly limited the damage from a few errors on Sunday. They’re still averaging more than an error per game, but the trend is going in the right direction

Friday first

On Friday, starting pitcher Kyle Smith and reliever Justin Bruihl put together a two-hit shutout to help Cal Poly start the series. The two combined for 12 strikeouts in the 7-0 Cal Poly win.

In the first two Big West series of the year (vs. Cal State Fullerton and Hawai’i), Cal Poly has had to battle back and win on Saturday and Sunday after losing on Friday night. On Friday, Kyle Smith got his first Big West win of the year.

Third baseman Michael Sanderson had a nice weekend at the plate. By Owen Main

Uelmen bears down on Saturday

Saturday was the only game I got to in-person this weekend, but Erich Uelmen showed that he’s got a little grit and the ability to make a few adjustments beyond his fastball in the 90’s.

The sophomore right hander gave up four runs in the first two innings, but settled down to hold UCSB long enough for Cal Poly’s offense to do some damage.

Uelmen hasn’t lost a conference game and Cal Poly hasn’t lost in three Saturday games in Big West play.

GodZILLa

On Sunday, sophomore right-hander Jarred Zill went 6 1/3 innings and allowed just one earned run. Cal Poly’s defense committed two errors to allow a pair of unearned runs too, but Zill was able to get into the seventh inning and Justin Calomeni shut the door on UCSB to earn Cal Poly their first sweep over the Gauchos since 2012.

Brett Binning, who has been a key part of Cal Poly’s defensive improvement at second base, doubled in a run and scored on a wild pitch. Binning is only hitting .163 on the season, but has an on-base percentage above .300, can move guys over on the bases, and plays a solid second base. He has an infectious on-field positivity and wins in the body language department. The double on Sunday was the first extra-base hit of the season for the former Auburn Tiger.

Here’s the clinching Justin Calomeni strikeout from Krukow’s.

Mustangs sweep ucsb. Final out courtesy of @slocitycoed @BigWestBaseball pic.twitter.com/F4fTT2SeI6

— fansmanship (@fansmanship) April 24, 2016

To top off the great weekend, Cal Poly moved up 32 spots in the RPI (to number 62) and swept the Big West Athlete of the Week Awards for baseball. Kyle Smith earned the Pitcher of the Week and John Schuknecht was the field player of the week.

A pair of @calpoly_stangs earn #BWCAOTW after a big series sweep. https://t.co/uKIH20YP6b #CalPolyProud #BWCBaseball pic.twitter.com/ol6lKjYBfI

— Big West Baseball (@BigWestBaseball) April 25, 2016

In the end, a weekend like this past one basically gives Cal Poly a shot in conference. They’ve played three series in the Big West and have five remaining. Their toughest remaining conference test may be this upcoming weekend at Blair Field when they face Long Beach State on the road.

Before they do that, Larry Lee’s team will visit Cal on Tuesday evening.

Photos from Saturday by Owen Main To see them all, click here.

Cal Poly baseball wasn’t looking good. After Friday night’s loss, they were 0-1 in Big West play and it was kind of tough to see a way back. Of the 10 games that finished Friday, only one was errorless. The Mustangs had made 21 errors in that stretch. Then they won in extra innings on Saturday and controlled Sunday’s game and all of a sudden they are 2-1 having taken a series against a perennial top-25 team to start conference play. The conference win puts them at 19-11 through their first 30 games.

Erich Uelmen has been consistent in a weekend starter role for Cal Poly this season. By Owen Main

Uelman moved to Saturday

The first big decision Larry Lee made was to start Erich Uelmen on Saturday instead of his customary Sunday game. Saturday’s game was an afternoon one due to rain, so Uelmen got to pitch in a day game and he was spectacular, giving up just two hits and no runs in 7 1/3 innings. Along with Justin Calomeni, Uelmen combined for a 10-inning shutout and gave Cal Poly exacty what they needed in a 1-0 victory.

Errorless

On Friday night, an unearned run was the difference. It wasn’t a unique story. Cal Poly’s defense has been struggling to find an identity all season. The Mustangs have gone through at least four shortstops and about the same number of second baseman as unearned runs have piled-up.

Coming into Saturday, they’d made 11 errors in their past five games and hadn’t strung together two errorless games in a row all season. With a single error Friday and two on Sunday, that streak is still alive. Averaging less than an error per game in conference play is probably what the Mustangs need to do moving forward to continue to be competitive in the Big West.

Cal Poly and second baseman Dylan Doherty turned three double plays on Saturday afternoon. By Owen Main

Going into Saturday’s game, they’d allowed 36 unearned runs via 45 errors in just 28 games. To close the weekend, they’ve now committed 47 errors in 30 games, but didn’t give up any unearned runs in the final two games of the series against Cal State Fullerton.

Zill takes advantage

Jarred Zill took advantage of another opportunity to prove he could be the third weekend starter Larry Lee is looking for. The sophomore righty from Laguna Niguel brought his flowing blonde locks to the mound and looked sharp, going 7 1/3 innings. He gave up three hits and just two runs.

In all, Cal Poly pitchers allowed five runs in three games with the deciding run on Friday an unearned one. Each of the three starters gave Cal Poly a good chance to win on the day they pitched.

Morgan solidifying DH

Kevin Morgan seems like he’s solidifying the designated hitter role. The junior left-handed hitter has always been someone with good bat control and he’s putting it to good use.

On the weekend, Morgan went 6-9 at the plate with a walk, two RBIs, and two runs. Cal Poly scored eight runs this weekend against the best pitching staff in the Big West, and Morgan was directly involved with four of them.

If Cal Poly was looking for a full-time designated hitter, they may now have found one in Morgan.

Eager coming back to town

Former pitching coach Thomas Eager will be returning to San Luis Obispo with his new team on Tuesday night as California comes to Baggett Stadium. Game time is 5:00pm.

Photos by Owen Main

For Saturday’s gallery, Click Here 

For Sunday’s gallery, click here.

Kyle Smith has been a steadying influence for Cal Poly as the Friday night starter. By Owen Main

Before the season started, Larry Lee wasn’t totally sure about 2016. Where was his pitching? How had guys really developed over the offseason? Would the freshmen and inexperienced sophomores play like underclassmen?

Twelve games into the young college baseball season, Mustang fans have to feel good about the early returns. Cal Poly is 10-2 and have split four games vs. top-25 opponents (1-2 vs. UCLA, 1-0 vs. Michigan). They even got some votes in at least one top-25 poll this past week.

There’s a flip-side too. Pacific is probably not a very good team. USF is in their league both figuratively and literally. All of Cal Poly’s games have been played at home. UCLA out-scored the Mustangs 28-13 in three games, including a 19-0 Saturday night whitewashing. So what should we really think of this squad? For now, the early returns are good.

Pitching

Having junior Justin Calomeni available to come out of the bullpen has been a good plan for the Mustangs so far this year. By Owen Main

Sophomore Kyle Smith looks like he’ll be keeping the Mustangs in games. Smith doesn’t have dominating stuff, but has kept the Mustangs in both of his starts. Freshman Cam Schneider and sophomore Erich Uelman have both looked borderline dominant at times. Justin Calomeni seems to have assumed the Reed Reilly all-purpose role for now. Lots of guys have been able to throw and you kind of get the feeling that Lee has been able to get a decent idea of who he can trust while winning games at the same time. It’s not an easy feat.

Going on the road for a few weeks, Cal Poly now at least has some idea about where they stand and must have at least some confidence in a few guys. I think that’s more than Lee could say before the season started.

Hitting

Cal Poly’s consistent lineup has probably been the most stable thing. It seems like they’ll be able to score some runs, one way or anohter. Seniors John Schuknecht (2 home runs) and Brett Barbier (.432 average) spent the summer in SLO and have been big contributors. Along with them, five underclassmen — Alex McKenna, Josh George, Kyle Marinconz, Josh George and Michael Sanderson — are hitting over .300. Schuknecht has 18 RBIs. Sanderson has had a solid start and plays an athletic third base. Kevin Morgan was the hero on Tuesday night when he singled home the winning run and Cal Poly is taking advantage of other teams’ mistakes while trying to minimize their own.

If they continue to average almost seven runs per game, this team will be feeling pretty good.

Defense

Kyle Marinconz seems to be earning the shortstop job. By Owen Main

Fielding the ball is probably Cal Poly’s Achilles heal right now. They made 16 errors in their first 9 games. Shortstop still isn’t completely figured out, but it looks as though Kyle Marinconz is tightening his hold there. On Tuesday, Kyle Marinconz played shortstop with Smith at second. Marinconz and Brett Binning were the double-play combo of choice in the USF series. It’s clear that Lee is still trying to mix and match to find a combo that works. If Cal Poly can get to the point where they average an error or less per game for a long stretch, that would be a huge improvement and help their pitching staff out a lot moving forward.

For context, last season the Mustangs made 63 errors in 54 games. The season before that, when they hosted the regional: 51 errors in 59 games. Through 12 games this year, they’ve committed 19 errors.

Looking ahead

After finishing their 12 game home stand 10-2, Cal Poly hits the road for a season-long 10-game road trip. How they fare against the likes of Grand Canyon, Sacramento State, and Wichita State will go a long way toward knowing how legitimately scary this team can get going into conference play.

One of the wonderful things about college sports is that, at any given time, opportunities for teams abound. Cal Poly has put itself in a position to have a very successful pre-conference season. There are still some questions. At least for now, though, we have a few answers. This team is capable.

Find all the photos from most of the Mustangs’ early games here.

The Cal Poly baseball team had question-marks all over the field this preseason. They emphatically answered some of those questions with a four-game sweep of former Big West opponent University of Pacific.

Kyle Smith was dealing on Friday night. By Owen Main

On Friday, Kyle Smith calmed questions about the pitching staff. The left-handed sophomore struck out six Tigers in the first two innings and nine overall in the complete game 6-2 victory. Smith only walked one batter and threw 108 pitches.

Saturday’s doubleheader started in dramatic fashion. In the first game, with the score tied at 6-6 in the 10th inning, freshman catcher Nick Meyer punched a single into right field to plate Michael Sanderson and put Cal Poly up 2-0 in the series.

The series advantage was pushed to 3-0 in the nightcap behind a strong start from junior pitcher Slater Lee. Lee went seven and a third innings and gave up three runs while scattering ten hits and striking-out eight batters. He walked just two Tigers.

In the final game on Sunday, Cal Poly was able to flex some offensive muscle, jumping out to a 15-0 lead and winning the game 18-2 to get to 4-0.

Great starts

Friday night was one to remember for Kyle Smith. There isn’t any understating a Friday starter who throws a complete game and gets a win to start a weekend. Smith’s velocity has never been super high, but his ability to keep hitters off-balance and think his way through a start is obviously advanced. The fact he’s left-handed doesn’t hurt either. To see him strike out six batters in the first two innings was great.

Catch and throw

To see Cal Poly make no errors behind Smith on Friday had to lower Larry Lee’s blood pressure a little bit. The Mustangs had defensive question-marks coming into this season, but committed just three errors in the four games this weekend. It’s not a number to hang your hat on, but considering the fact that they made seven errors in their first three games last season, we’ll call it a good sign.

Freshman center fielder Alex McKenna belted two home runs in Cal Poly’s 4-game sweep of Pacific. By Owen Main

McKenna flexes

With lack of experience all over the field, it was great to see a freshman step-up. Alex McKenna did just that, belting two home runs over the weekend en route to a Big West Player of the Week award. McKenna went 6-12 with two home runs and a triple on the weekend. He also walked seven times. In the crazy first weekend stats department, McKenna now sports a 1.817 OPS — not bad for a leadoff hitter and center fielder. He’s going to be an exciting player to watch over the next few years.

Barbier’s bat

Brett Barbier also had a very nice weekend. The junior played catcher, first base, and left field on the weekend and leads the team with a .571 batting average out of the three-hole. Barbier’s presence in the lineup provides both versatility and a steadying influence. When he goes well, this lineup looks like it can be dangerous.

Bruin Invasion

Cal Poly will host UCLA for three games and Michigan for one game this weekend as part of a Saturday doubleheader. The Bruins were a top-10 team coming into the year and have fallen off a little after going 1-2 last weekend. Their coach was not happy with his team’s performance, so you know they’re going to come to Baggett looking for blood.

Head coach John Savage said today was the worst #UCLA has looked in 10 years. Said he was embarrassed and disappointed.

— Shotgun Spratling (@ShotgunSprD1) February 22, 2016

The series will be a great test for this young Cal Poly squad. First pitch on Friday night is 6:00pm.

Photos by Owen Main. To view them all, click here.

Things looked a little different in Taylor Chris’ final visit to the Baggett Stadium mound of 2015. By Owen Main

A little less than a year later, Taylor Chris came off the mound once again.

On June 2, 2014, Taylor Chris pitched 6.1 innings in relief and held Pepperdine in-check. His gutsy performance had kept the Mustangs in the game. As he treaded off the mound, head down,

On Sunday afternoon, the crowd cheered just as proudly, though the look on Chris’ face was the opposite. A year ago, Chris pitched in relief of starter Danny Zandona. On this day, Chris came off the mound after an inning and a third, giving way to fellow senior Zandona on senior day. Zandona recorded the final two outs and the Mustangs recorded their 13th conference win and 13th home victory in their final 15 home games.

The final was 11-1.

Jarred Zill started the game and pitched very well for Cal Poly, giving up just one run and four hits in seven innings. Zill has made seven starts this season and is now 4-1 this season. Only Zill and Casey Bloomquist have pitching records above .500 this season. Zill also dropped his ERA to 3.03.

The Mustangs were 10-18 a few weeks before Big West play started and moved one game over .500 for the first time this season. With a series win over UC Davis on the road next weekend, Cal Poly will secure their 10th winning season in Larry Lee’s 13 years at the helm.

While there were lots of popular and talented faces who left Cal Poly after last season, this year’s senior class also played a big role in the team’s first ever hosted regional and the best two-year run in team history.

While the Mustangs don’t have a shot at winning the Big West title or making a regional appearance this season, they were just a few games — and probably really a few innings — away from being in real contention for the conference title. UC Davis, Cal Poly’s opponent next weekend, is 7-14 in Big West play and it’s likely Cal Poly will finish third or fourth in the Big West this season.

This season hasn’t been what some fans expected. If not for the bad start they had, the Mustangs could be in the running for a regional appearance. Cal Poly has four one-run losses in Big West play. As I write this, Cal Poly is 2 1/2 games back in the conference standings. If this is what a “bad” season at Baggett Stadium has become, sign this fan up for the ride.

Photos by Owen Main

Casey Bloomquist finished his 2015 home season on a high note on Friday night. By Owen Main

In what could be his final start at Baggett Stadium, Cal Poly junior Casey Bloomquist matched a career-high with 10 strikeouts and was one out away from a complete game as the Mustangs beat visiting UC Riverside 6-2.

With the win, Cal Poly moved into fourth place in the Big West at 11-8 in conference play and 24-25 overall. After a really sluggish start to the season, Cal Poly is playing a lot better of late. Larry Lee’s squad has gone 14-7 in their last 21 games and is 11-2 in their last 13 home games.

In his final night game at Baggett Stadium, senior third baseman Tommy Pluschkell hit a three-run home run over the left field wall in the second inning. It was the first home run of his Mustang career and came in his 286th career at-bat.

With runners on-base and Bloomquist’s pitch count high, closer Danny Zandona took over for Bloomquist in the ninth inning to get the final out of the game.

The Mustangs capitalized on four UC Riverside errors in the game. After committing lots of errors early in the season, Cal Poly is now in the top half of the conference in fewest errors committed.

Cal Poly plays their final two home games of 2015 Saturday and Sunday at Baggett Stadium. Both games start at 1:00 pm.

Ryan Drobny slides home safely on a Peter Van Gansen sacrifice fly on Tuesday night. By Owen Main

Catcher Brett Barbier hit a double, a triple, and drove in four runs on Tuesday night as Cal Poly raised their winning streak to five games with a come from behind 10-6 win over Fresno State. With the win, Cal Poly sweeps their two mid-week games against the Bulldogs this season.

Barbier, a sophomore from Danville, now has 11 RBIs in the Mustangs’ past two games. Cal Poly has won five straight and has a 4-2 conference record after sweeping Hawai’i last weekend.

Larry Lee’s team will take all the momentum they can get as they head to Isla Vista this weekend to take on UCSB. The Gauchos, who were the preseason Big West favorites, are also 4-2 in conference, while sporting a sparkling 26-8 overall record. That is good for ninth in the D1Baseball Top-25 and 13th in the RPI.

All games at UCSB are day games — their field doesn’t have lights.

Photos by Owen Main