Big West Champions Cal Poly baseball are headed to the NCAA Baseball Championship, after a thrilling victory over UC Irvine in the Big West Championship.
It marks the first time since 2014 that Cal Poly will play in the NCAA tournament, when they hosted their own regional.
This time Cal Poly heads to the Cascades, at the University of Oregon in Eugene. Joining the Mustangs and the Ducks are the Arizona Wildcats and Utah Valley Wolverines.
The regional is set up as a double elimination bracket, similar to the Big West tournament without the play-in game.
No. 1 seed and hosts Oregon (42-14) won the Big Ten regular season title, but was bounced in pool play of the conference tournament. Cal Poly is 2-2 all time against the Ducks, with their last matchup in 1974.
No. 2 seed Arizona (39-18) collected the Big 12 tournament championship in extra innings over TCU. It is their straight appearance in the NCAA tournament. Cal Poly went 0-2 in the only time the two teams met up in 1969.
No. 4 seed Utah Valley (32-27) went a perfect 4-0 in the WAC tournament, including tossing a combined no hitter against Sacramento State.
The Wolverines are the only team that the Mustangs have played this decade, with a three game sweep of Utah Valley in 2021 being part of a perfect 4-0 record.
The winner of the Eugene regional will face the winner of the Chapel Hill regional, hosted by the University of North Carolina.
Cal Poly starts their NCAA tournament journey with a game against Arizona Friday, May 30 at 4 p.m. at PK Park in Eugene.