FULLERTON, Calif. – For the first time since the 1998 season, the Big West conference has a postseason tournament champion.
The Cal Poly Mustangs are the 2025 Big West Baseball champions after defeating No. 1 seed UC Irvine both Saturday and Sunday.
This marks the first time in program history that Cal Poly has won the Big West tournament.
The Mustangs have now clinched an NCAA playoff appearance for the first time since 2014, when they hosted a regional at Baggett Stadium. 2014 is also the last time that Cal Poly won the conference.
The regional locations for this year were announced as the championship game was still going on. Some potential West Coast locations that the Mustangs could be sent to include UCLA, Oregon State, the University of Oregon, and the University of Texas. The NCAA released the full list of sixteen hosts on their social media platforms.
After getting mercy ruled by UC Irvine on Friday, the Mustangs’ backs were against the wall, one loss away from elimination.
The University of Hawai’i was the first roadblock. In the loser’s bracket, the two teams faced off for the right to face Irvine in the championship.
After squeezing out a 2-1 win in a pitchers’ duel against the Rainbow Warriors, Cal Poly faced the inevitable.
Despite going 0-4 against Irvine this season, the Mustangs had to win back-to-back games against the regular-season Big West champs.
Shortly after ending Hawai’i’s season, Cal Poly returned to the field around an hour later to take on the well-rested Anteaters.
An offensive explosion ensued as the Mustangs mercy ruled the Anteaters right back, setting up the second leg of the tournament final.
Cal Poly couldn’t rely on another offensive outburst against the elite pitching that UC Irvine wields. Instead, they needed to just find a way to win, something that coach Larry Lee preaches.
The team did just that. Jumping out to an early 2-0 lead in the second inning, highlighted by a Casey Murray Jr. triple, shot a jolt of confidence throughout the Cal Poly dugout, but the Anteaters were going to strike soon; they had to.
Murray Jr. came up big again in the sixth inning, hitting a two-run shot to double the Mustangs’ lead.
The sleeping giants woke up in the bottom of the sixth. Taking advantage of mistakes made by the usually sure-handed Mustangs’ defense, the Anteaters struck for four runs in the frame, tying the game.
Faced with adversity, the Mustangs’ offense had to respond promptly before the momentum swung too far the other way.
Against Big West Pitcher of the Year Ricky Ojeda, Cal Poly etched a run across in the top of the seventh by way of a Jack Collins RBI single.
With Tanner Sagoupse locking down the Anteaters’ prolific offense, that one run would prove to be enough. The Mustangs tacked on an extra run in the top of the ninth inning via a sacrifice fly from Dante Vachini.
Three outs later, players streamed from the dugout to form a dogpile on the field. Forty-one wins later, Cal Poly is the Big West champion.
It took all five possible tournament games to do it, but none of that mattered to the players as they shared embraces with teammates and family members.
Redshirt senior second baseman Ryan Fenn was announced as the tournament MVP while Griffin Naess, Chris Downs, and Zach Daudet made the All-Tournament Team.
The region that Cal Poly travels to will be announced Monday at 9 a.m. on ESPN2.