Mustangs win first home game, get Mathias back

For the Tuesday crowd at Baggett Stadium, it was a sight for sore eyes. Cal Poly has their All-American back, and for maybe the first time this year, their lineup seemed dangerous in a 13-2 home win over Cal State Bakersfield.

A preseason All-American, Mark Mathias is a sight for sore Mustang-fan eyes. By Owen Main

#12 is back

Mathias, the reigning Big West Field Player of the Year, went 2-4 in the game, including an RBI double. His presence at the top of the Cal Poly lineup does a few things for a team that lost their most physical hitter in Brian Mundell last Friday. The first-baseman tweaked a hamstring and will be out for an indeterminate amount of time.

Without Mundell or Mathias in the lineup, Larry Lee was left trying to patch holes at multiple defensive positions and in the batting order. Last weekend against Grand Canyon, the Mustangs scored just nine runs in three games, including just five runs in two games without Mundell.

Mathias’ return doesn’t do anything for Cal Poly’s defense. Yet. Surgery on his torn labrum probably means he won’t play his usual second base until conference play starts at the earliest. Cal Poly has made 19 errors in their first eight games this season and has yet to play an error-less game.

Perhaps the return of Mathias to the lineup will take some pressure off of young or inexperienced fielders as Cal Poly works on consistently putting up more runs.

Andrew Bernstein looked solid in his Baggett Stadium debut. By Owen Main

Bernstein shines in home debut

Freshman Andrew Bernstein looked sharp in his first start at Baggett Stadium on Tuesday night. The right-hander pitched seven innings, giving up just two runs on three hits. He struck out eight Roadrunners and walked only two.

The turning point of Bernstein’s game might have been in the first inning on Tuesday. Freshman second baseman Alec Smith couldn’t come up with lead-off ground ball. After a sacrifice bunt moved the runner into scoring position with just one out, Bernstein struck out Bakersfield’s number-three and number-four hitter to end the inning.

Cal Poly pitchers haven’t been put in great positions this year. Poor fielding has given other teams second chances. But other teams have found ways to take advantage of those mistakes more often than not. Bernstein’s ability to clamp down in the first inning and pick his second baseman up is a good sign.

Back to Texas

Cal Poly will head back to Texas this week. Two weeks ago, they were swept by Baylor in Waco. On Friday, they’ll start a series against TCU in Fort Worth — weather permitting. Right now, there is a 40-plus percent chance of snow or rain on all three days.

The temperature on those days? Well, it’ll be a balmy 33 degrees on Friday, 38 on Saturday, and 56 on Sunday.

Bundle up, guys.

Photos by Owen Main