Baseball rivalry turns green

UC Santa Barbara made a statement on Friday, beating Cal Poly ace, Matt Imhof, and taking a 1-0 lead in the series. By Sunday, Cal Poly had made a statement of their own.

Sophomore Casey Bloomquist was masterful on Sunday afternoon. By Owen Main

Casey Bloomquist and Taylor Chris combined to shut out the Gauchos and Cal Poly won their second straight one-run game, 1-0. With the win, Cal Poly clinched the series and moved to a conference-best 5-1 in Big West play. UCSB, one of the two other Big West teams ranked in the top-25 dropped to 2-4 in conference play. The Mustangs, now 26-5 on the seaon, are tied with UC Irvine atop the Big West Conference standings.

Bloomquist, who is now 7-0 on the season, was brilliant. He pitched 7 2/3 innings, struck out 10 Gaucho batters, and didn’t walk a single hitter. The 23 outs Bloomquist recorder were a combined 13 ground-outs and 10 strike-outs.

Senior third-baseman Jimmy Allen provided the lone RBI of the game with a triple in the fourth inning.

Cal Poly shows its fansmanship

With another ranked team in town, Cal Poly fans showed-up in droves over the weekend. The attendance of 2,489 was the fourth-highest ever at Baggett Stadium. The combined attendance for the series, 6,749, was the second-most ever for a three-game series at Baggett.

A season-high 2,489 in attendance today, 4th best in Baggett history. The 6,749 series total is the second most. #CPBats @calpoly_stangs

— Joshua D. Scroggin (@SLOcollegebeat) April 6, 2014

Regional on the horizon?

It’s still a long way off, but there is a buzz around Baggett about the possibility of hosting a regional in the first round of the playoffs. The reality is that, if Cal Poly stays in the top-10 through the end of the season, they’ll have a decent shot at it. Hosting a baseball regional at Baggett Stadium the same year the basketball team made their first NCAA Tournament would make this quite a year for two of the three main Cal Poly men’s sports.

The great start is also getting Cal Poly more national and regional attention. Writers from ESPN.com and CollegeBaseballDaily.com were in attendance over the weekend. Shotgun Spratling from College Baseball Daily was my podcast guest this week. Look for that podcast on Monday.

Photos by Owen Main