Cal Poly baseball stays in the hunt

Cal Poly baseball came into last weekend’s series against eighth-ranked Cal State Fullerton needing a series win to stay in the conference race. After losing Friday night’s game, the Mustangs (8-4 in Big West play) battled back to win on Saturday and Sunday, moving into a virtual tie with Cal State Fullerton. After sweeping UC Irvine, Long Beach State remains in first place in the Big West, two games ahead of the Mustangs at 10-2. 

Alex McKenna is so hot right now. By Owen Main

Stay hot kids

Cal Poly has won each of its first four Big West series by a count of two games to one. A big reason for this weekend’s win was continued hot hitting throughout the Mustang lineup. 

After going 0-5 on Friday at the plate, center fielder Alex McKenna went a combined 7-11 on Saturday and Sunday. After three hits on Saturday including a triple and a pair of runs, McKenna led off Sunday’s game with a home run and added a double and a pair of singles en route to the Big West Field Player of the Week. With his big week, McKenna raised his slash line to .357/.438/.481 on the season.

To go with McKenna’s hot bat, three other Mustangs are hitting over .300. Michael Sanderson leads the team’s regulars with a .358 average and Bradlee Beasley, who leads the team with 11 doubles, raised his average to .333. Colby Barrick, who has made the most of his starts in right field, is swinging a hot bat, hitting .397 in more limited at-bats (17 games started).

Freshman Bradlee Beesley has swung a hot bat and seems to have found a home at third base for now. By Owen Main

Field the ball

After making three errors in Friday night’s loss leading to three unearned runs in a 7-4 game, Cal Poly didn’t make an error Saturday or Sunday. It was just the third time this season the Mustangs have gone two straight games without an error. They haven’t had three straight errorless games eyt this season. 

To have a chance to overtake Long Beach State and Cal State Fullerton in this conference, defense will have to continue to improve. For what it’s worth, Bradlee Beasley at third base and Scott Ogrin at second look pretty comfortable. Michael Sanderson also make a few athletic plays at first base in the final two games. 

Brooms could be needed

Cal Poly has been consistent in conference play, but they aren’t going to make a regional unless they win the conference title. Two games behind Long Beach State, the Mustangs may have to sweep one or two of their four remaining series to overtake the Dirtbags. The Mustangs have yet to play at Long Beach State, CSUN, at UCSB, and a final home series against UC Riverside. The path is probably there for Cal Poly if they keep playing like they did on Saturday and Sunday. Opportunities continue to abound. 

Can they stay hot?

Cal Poly starts a stretch of five non-conference games tomorrow night at home against Fresno State (6pm). After visiting UCLA this weekend, the Mustangs come home to play Pepperdine before resuming Big West play at Blair Field in Long Beach a week from Friday. 

For standings, none of these games really matter, but Cal Poly will try to find a way to stay hot and gain confidence going into the Long Beach State series.

Friday Photos

Saturday Photos

Sunday Photos