#8 Mustangs move to 12-3 with win over Northern Illinois

Freshman Justin Calomeni has impressed this season, going 4-0 so far as Cal Poly’s mid-week starter. By Owen Main

Freshman Saturday starter, Slater Lee, has been getting a lot of attention this season. On Tuesday Justin Calomeni, Lee’s freshman mid-week counterpart, pitched 6 1/3 innings, struck out nine for the second time this season, and moved his record to 4-0 as the Tuesday starter.

“Whether it’s weekend or mid-week, it doesn’t really matter,” said Calomeni, who pitched as a senior at Bellarmine Prep in San Jose last season. “You’ve just got to go and compete every pitch and give it your all and that’s what I just kind of try to do every time.”

Calomeni’s ERA now stands at 1.61, which is only good enough for third out of four Cal Poly starters. What has allowed him to come out of the gate so quickly?

“Just believing in my stuff and that I’m a good pitcher and that I’ve just got to work with that. There’s still a lot of stuff I need to work on, but it’s a good sign that I can still battle without my best stuff,” said Calomeni.

Cal Poly scored just four times, but Calomeni and Reed Reilly combined to give up just two runs and strike-out 11. Reilly pitched the final 2 2/3 innings for the save, his fourth of the season.

“He’s been real good for us,” said head coach Larry Lee. “He’s been our Tuesday starter all year and it’s very important to have a quality Tuesday guy and not all teams have that luxury. It’s good to feel like you’re the better team on those mid-week games. He did what he normally does and threw some good pitches.”

Lee also agreed that Calomeni wasn’t at his sharpest despite the win.

“The thing he needs to work on is being able to put away hitters when he has the chance instead of allowing the hitter to go deep in the count and then put the ball in-play,” said Lee.

A school on the quarter system, Cal Poly has finals next week, so playing these games allows the Mustangs to schedule the maximum amount of games during the season. It also gives them a chance to test their pitching depth. On Tuesday, they only used two pitchers with Reilly getting the long save.

“That’s how we used Reed all season last year and you want him on the mound when the game’s on the line,” said Lee. “It doesn’t matter if it’s the seventh, eighth, or ninth inning, he’s your best option. If you’re playing six games in six days, you want to keep Taylor Chris from throwing on the same day as read does so you have one of those guys who has been very consistent to be at your disposal.”

The two freshman starters this season have combined to go 6-1 so far this season, striking-out 48 and walking just 15 batters.

“It gives you a little bit of confidence in the future also,” said Lee. “Not only this year, but next year because you end up losing some of your main pitchers each year and it will be no different this year. Just to see what they’ve done through the first five weeks of the season gives you a vision of what the future might hold… . Both Calomeni and Lee are pretty mature mentally for freshmen and we expect them to get better throughout the course of the year.”

The game was the first of an 18-game homestand for the Mustangs and the first of six games in six days.

Photos by Owen Main

Probable starters for the next five games:

Wednesday – Danny Zandona

Thursday – Slater Lee

Friday – Matt Imhof

Saturday – Casey Bloomquist

Sunday – Justin Calomeni