Cal Poly Baseball takes the hour-and-a-half drive down US 101 to battle with Blue-Green rivals and reigning Big West champions UC Santa Barbara, Thursday, April 17 to Saturday, April 19 at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium.
Since the 2021 season, the Mustangs (26-9, 14-1 Big West) are just 4-11 against the Gauchos (24-11, 10-8 Big West). However, Cal Poly took the series last season at home and has a winning record against the Gauchos since joining Division I.
The Mustangs have recently earned their first national ranking, with Perfect Game ranking them No. 25. Cal Poly has been mentioned in the USA Today Coaches Poll, receiving votes since March 24.
Projected Starters
Thursday: RHP Griffin Naess (3-2, 3.94 ERA) vs RHP Tyler Bremner (3-3, 4.02 ERA)
Friday: LHP Josh Volmerding (4-1, 5.01 ERA) vs RHP Calvin Proskey (4-3, 2.08 ERA)
Saturday: RHP Ethan Marmie (4-2, 4.50 ERA) vs RHP Jackson Flora (3-2, 4.10 ERA)
Thursday night has Griffin Naess looking to get back in the win column against Santa Barbara ace Tyler Bremner. Naess turned in a quality start against Hawai’i going eight innings and leaving the game with the lead, but was unlucky to get the no decision as the Mustangs dropped their first Big West contest.
Tyler Bremner is hitting his stride as the season progresses, striking out 10 batters in each of his last two starts as he climbs the Gauchos’ all-time strikeout leaderboard.
A matchup between Josh Volmerding and Calvin Proskey should be on deck for Friday’s nationally televised game on ESPNU.
Volmerding has a 3.24 ERA in conference play, with his season ERA largely being inflated by his first start of the season against UCLA.
Proskey has the best ERA in the conference and a sub-1.00 WHIP, which means that he averages fewer than a baserunner against him per inning.
Ethan Marmie and Jackson Flora feature on getaway day, Flora has given up just a run in each of his last three starts.
Marmie is coming off a good start against Hawai’i in which he only gave up two runs, and is still the gold standard for working deep into games, leading the Big West in innings pitched.
A look at Santa Barbara
UC Santa Barbara is coming off an offensive rout of UC Riverside. The Gauchos plated 36 runs across the three games before dropping a Monday night contest against Cal Baptist.
The Gauchos can hit up and down their lineup. All six of their qualified hitters have an OPS of .800 or more. LeTrey McCollum leads the way with 50 hits and a .375 batting average.
Jonathan Mendez and Xavier Esquer have serious power strokes. Both have 12 doubles, one behind the lead of junior catcher Jack Collins, and have a combined 13 home runs between the two.
Bouncing Back
Cal Poly faced their first bout of adversity after dropping the series opener on Friday to Hawai’i. It was their first loss in the Big West and their first loss since the series finale against then No. 6 Oregon State.
On Saturday, Cal Poly responded with an evisceration of the Rainbow Warriors’ pitching staff. Against the ERA leader, Liam O’Brien, Cal Poly worked four straight walks to chase him, before scoring all three baserunners to get out to an early lead. No pitcher was safe as every Hawai’i pitcher was charged with at least one run.
Sunday was a more tame showing from the Mustang offense, but still exploded for a three-run fifth inning to take the lead for good.
Cal Poly gets their crack at the reigning Big West champions starting Thursday, April 17 at 4:30 p.m. in Santa Barbara.
