After a commanding performance on the mound that led to a Cal Poly 11-0 win against UC Davis, sophomore pitcher Josh Volmerding was awarded the title of the Big West Pitcher of the Week.
This is Volmerding’s first career weekly award from the Big West.
The left-handed pitcher is the second Mustang hurler to win the award this season after redshirt junior reliever Tanner Sagouspe earned the title in late February following three scoreless relief appearances.
It was one in which Sagouspe did not allow a run nor a hit while aiding the Mustangs in an upset win over then-No. 1 ranked Texas A&M.
Volmerding pitched his best baseball of the season and reached several new personal bests in his team-leading eighth start against the Aggies.
The sophomore pitcher was perfect through the first four innings and ultimately compiled a career-high of eight complete scoreless innings against the Aggies, taking a no-hitter into the bottom of the ninth inning.
The no-hitter was broken up by a single from Aggies pinch hitter Matteo Blandino in the first at-bat of the ninth, the only hit allowed by Volmerding, a season-high.
In the eight innings thrown, Volmerding tossed a total of 110 pitches and struck out nine of the Aggies’ batters, marking a new career high for strikeouts for the lefty and increasing his season strikeout count to 35, a category in which he leads the Mustangs in.
En route to the nine strikeouts, the southpaw retired the side in order four different times throughout the game and, during a stretch that began from the fourth inning to the end of the eighth, faced and set 14 consecutive UC Davis batters down.
Volmerding’s performance led the Mustangs to the team’s third straight win of the season en route to an ongoing five-game win streak.
The current-reigning Big West Pitcher of the Week will look to follow the prior dominating start with another on Saturday, April 5th, when Cal Poly clashes with UC San Diego in the second game of the series at 3 p.m. at Baggett Stadium.