After a relatively disappointing 2023 season where the team finished 21-35, Cal Poly Baseball roared back with a 35-22 showing in 2024, exceeding expectations.
The team was predicted to finish seventh in the Big West Preseason Poll a season ago and finished in a tie for third.
Despite two series wins against ranked conference opponents UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara, Cal Poly finished tied for third and missed out on the postseason.
“We don’t have the luxury of starting out slow the first two or three weeks like we did last season,” Head Coach Larry Lee said. “We start 2 and 7 and then go 33 and [15] to finish as one of the better teams on the west coast. But the way it works you’re not in the conversation because of the RPI.”
RPI (Rating Percentage Index) is a formula the NCAA uses to determine who makes it to the postseason. It considers the strength of the team’s and opponents’ schedules and the number of home and road victories and defeats.
Much like last year, Cal Poly has scheduled a grueling non-conference slate, and the team needs to get off to a better start than last year to be favored by the formula.
This season, Cal Poly is predicted to finish in that same third-place spot and will look to meet and even exceed those expectations in their opening series against UCLA.
Revamped pitching staff
Former Mustangs Jakob Wright and Steven Brooks anchored the rotation last season, pitching 170 innings mainly on Fridays and Saturdays.
Slotting in on Friday nights is sophomore right-handed pitcher Griffin Naess, who takes over as the presumptive staff ace after winning Big West Freshman Pitcher of the Year after going 7-0 with a 3.56 earned run average (ERA).
“Naess having the majority of the starting experience as a Sunday starter, hopefully he can make the jump to being a Friday guy,” Lee said.
The plan behind Naess on the weekends is for fellow sophomores Josh Volderding to be on Saturday and Ethan Marmie to be on Sunday. Both saw mostly work out of the pen with a handful of starts mixed in.
Two returners will anchor the bullpen: redshirt senior left-handed reliever Jake Torres and redshirt junior righty Tanner Sagouspe. Sagouspe had nine saves last season, just one behind the leaders in the Big West.
“There’s not one dude that would go out there and I wouldn’t have trust in him,” Naess said. “I think we have a really good staff this year”
New and old faces on offense
The lineup lost a trio of players up the middle, with centerfielder Jake Steels and catcher Ryan Stafford being drafted while shortstop Aaron Castillas graduated. Joe Yorke, a mainstay in the middle of the lineup, also graduated, leaves a lot of production to be filled at first base.
Freshman Nate Castellon was praised by coach Lee for his high defensive ability and will likely see time at shortstop this season. Castellon hit .500 in his senior season at Calabasas High School.
Sophomore Braxton Thomas is a possible replacement for Yorke at first, he is recovering from knee surgery after a freshman season where he hit five home runs in 17 games.
Senior Dylan Kordic is the only returning starter in the outfield for the Mustangs. That has created an open competition for the other two outfield spots.
“There are a number of guys right on the cusp, we just have to figure out how to get everybody enough playing time,” Lee said. “You’re hoping that those outfielders make it difficult for other guys to get playing time.”
Notable returners include Big West Freshman Field Player of the Year and Big West first-team sophomore Alejandro Garza, who returns to man the hot corner at third base after posting a stellar .346 batting average.
At the same time, redshirt senior Ryan Fenn remains at second base after a great season, slugging .461, third highest on the team.
New Big West Tournament
New for this season is a conference postseason tournament, similar to Big West basketball or soccer. A double-elimination five-team bracket will decide who the automatic qualifier from the Big West is.
Previously, the regular season winner would automatically make the NCAA regionals.
Despite that, the mindset isn’t changing within the team.
“You could take a different mindset like ‘oh we only need to get to the top six to make the tournament then win out’,” Fenn said. “I think if we keep the same mindset as previous years, I think it will guarantee that you are in.”
Cal Poly Baseball opens up its grueling non-conference slate with a three-game series against UCLA from Friday, Feb. 14 to Sunday, Feb. 16 at Jackie Robinson Stadium.