Cal Poly center fielder Alex McKenna was named Big West Field Player of the Year on Wednesday, according to the Big West’s twitter account. 

#BWCHonors Field Player of the Year – Alex McKenna (@CalPolyStangs):

-1st Mustang since 2014 (Mark Mathias) & 5th overall so named.
-Led BWC in hits (81) & runs (41).
-2nd in BWC TB (121), 3rd in OBP (.424), 5th in BA/SLG (.339/.506).#RideHigh #BWCBaseball #PlayBig ⚾️ pic.twitter.com/fdrZEcQfdB

— Big West Baseball (@BigWestBaseball) May 30, 2018

McKenna is the fifth Mustang to win the award. Mark Mathias won the award in 2014 and Mitch Haniger — currently a member of the Seattle Mariners — also won the award in 2012 while manning centerfield at Baggett. 

In 2018, McKenna led the conference with 81 hits and 51 runs while committing just one error all season. On the year, McKenna hit .339 with 15 doubles, 5 triples, and 5 home runs. In three seasons in San Luis Obispo, McKenna hit .323 with 16 home runs, 32 doubles, 9 triples, and 89 RBIs in 158 games. His career OPS was .874 for the Mustangs. A junior this past season, McKenna figures to be selected in the first 3-5 rounds of the draft next week. 

Another junior, catcher Nick Meyer, earned the Defensive Player of the Year award for the conference.

#BWCHonors Defensive POY – Nick Meyer (@CalPolyStangs):

– 3rd Mustang in 5 years to earn honor (Peter Van Gansen, 2015; Chris Hoo, 2014)
– .984 fielding (395 putouts, 44 assists, 7 errors in 446 chances).
– Earned 2016 BWC Freshman Field POY.#RideHigh #BWCBaseball #PlayBig pic.twitter.com/PYt50PuoVS

— Big West Baseball (@BigWestBaseball) May 30, 2018

Following in the catching footsteps of Chris Hoo, Meyer is Cal Poly’s third ever defensive player of the year. Meyer started behind the plate from day one at Cal Poly, earning the conference’s freshman of the year award two seasons ago. Meyer played his usual stellar defense while taking a step forward at the plate this season. In 2018, Mayer hit .344 with 14 doubles and two triples. His OPS was .836 and, at times during his career, Meyer’s mustache was one of the best in the game. Meyer figures to be the second Mustang selected in the upcoming amateur draft.

Junior Kyle Marinconz — who has played shortstop for most of his time at Cal Poly — and senior Trent Shelton — who emerged as Cal Poly’s Friday night ace in 2018 — were named to the All-Conference second team. 

Freshman infielder Tate Samuelson and freshman pitcher Taylor Dollard earned honorable mention honors along with senior pitcher Austin Dondanville.

#BWCHonors All-Conference from @CalPolyStangs:

Alex McKenna, Nick Meyer (1st Team)
Kyle Marinconz, Trent Shelton (2nd)
Taylor Dollard, Austin Dondanville, Tate Samuelson (HM)#RideHigh #BWCBaseball #PlayBig ⚾️

— Big West Baseball (@BigWestBaseball) May 30, 2018

Big West Release

Cal Poly Release

Behind good pitching, solid fielding, and some clutch hitting by a junior draft prospect, Cal Poly baseball swept UCSB in its final home series of the season last weekend. 

Meyer gets hot

For his part, catcher Nick Meyer was red-hot all week. Meyer went 5-6 in Cal Poly’s Tuesday mid-week game and followed it up with a great series against UCSB. On the week, he went 9-17 with three doubles, five runs, and three RBI’s, including a game-winning RBI double on Saturday afternoon on a pitch around his eyeballs. 

Meyer was named the Big West Field Player of the Week on Monday. 

Meyer, who was named to Team USA during the summer of 2017, was already rated as an above-average defensive catcher. He’s been red-hot at the plate over the past month or two as well, probably solidifying a relatively high-round pick in the upcoming Major League Baseball Draft. 

Senior Day

Trent Shelton has been flat-out terrific all season for Cal Poly. Photo by Owen Main

Sunday was senior day and six players were honored. Austin Dondanville, Kyle Smith, Elijah Skipps, Josh George, Colby Barrick, and Trent Shelton all saw their final games at Baggett over the weekend. 

Shelton pitched a great game on Friday night, a healthy Skipps was a key cog in Cal Poly’s offensive output all weekend, and Dondanville and Smith both saw action on the mound as well. George was the senior day darling, going 3-4 with 2 RBIs in Sunday’s victory. 

So long to some juniors?

As happens every year, Cal Poly will have some juniors drafted this year. The question will be which ones leave. 

The two likely candidates are, in likely draft order, are Alex McKenna and Nick Meyer, though Kyle Marinconz is also a candidate to be drafted and turn pro. If you’d asked me before the season, Michael Clark would have also been high on this list. Last season’s closer, Clark’s role changed this season and his workload was less. After pitching 48 innings in 30 games with a 2.58 ERA last season, Clark’s workload has increased to over 65 innings (nine games started) with a 5.79 ERA. Clark’s k/bb percentage also went from 2.12 in 2017 to 1.84 this year. 

That said, Clark pitched a gem on Sunday afternoon, lasting 7 1/3 innings while giving up just a pair of earned runs en route to the win. It was Clark’s longest and probably most productive outing of the season. 

We’ll wait to see where and how these guys get drafted and what decisions they make as far as coming back to school. If it was their last weekend series at Baggett, it was pretty special. 

A great finish

The level of play this weekend could be seen as bittersweet. This team has talent that has been playing much closer to their true talent level over the course of Big West play. 

As they’ve been prone to do over the past few years, Cal Poly is playing its best baseball at the end of the season. As has also happened in recent years, that great baseball doesn’t have any postseason implications. For the third time in four years since the program hosted a regional in 2014, Cal Poly put up a losing non-conference record this season, including losses to Gonzaga, Grand Canyon, New Mexico, a series split to Pacific, a mid-week split with San Jose State, losing two of three at home to San Diego State, losing three of four at Nebraska, and being swept at home by UCLA.  

With the exception of UCLA, Nebraska, and Maybe San Diego State, a regional team doesn’t have that many losses against middling or low level Division I teams on the west coast. The Big West wasn’t really great this season either. Preseason favorites like Long Beach State and UCSB flamed out, but losses in series at CSUN and a sweep in Fullerton took Cal Poly out of the race. The conference will only have a single program — Cal State Fullerton — in this year’s NCAA Tournament. 

Under construction

While the bleachers were ready for the home season in 2018, the second phase of construction – demolition of the current clubhouse — looks like it’s starting soon. On Friday, fans noticed some portable buildings far down the first base line at Baggett. The project had originally been scheduled for groundbreaking right after last season, but I believe that the new clubhouse will still be under construction during the 2019 season and be ready for 2020. 

Photos below from Friday night’s game by Owen Main. Find more photos at photos.fansmanship.com, or you can show love by contributing to the cause via Venmo @Owen-Main or paypal owen@fansmanship.com. 

Coming into this past weekend’s Big West Conference baseball series, there was still an outside shot for both Cal Poly and UC Irvine. After the Anteaters won the series two games to one, both teams fell in the standings and, barring a complete collapse, the split series secured Cal State Fullerton’s spot as the frontrunner in this season’s Big West title chase.

The Mustangs dropped the opener on Friday night, scoring just a single run and failing to back-up a solid pitching performance from lefty Trent Shelton. On Saturday evening, Cal Poly got on the board early with the help of a fly ball that was lost in the lights in the first inning and went on to win 4-3. On Sunday, the Mustangs lost the rubber game, scoring just a single run again in a 4-1 loss. 

The series loss to UC Irvine evened Cal Poly’s Big West record at 9-9 with six conference games (two weeks) to play. It also dropped them from a second place tie to a fourth place tie in conference play. UC Irvine moved to 10-8, four games behind Cal State Fullerton in the loss column (3 games overall).

Giving up 10 runs in three games is often enough in college baseball, but UC Irvine pitchers shut the Mustangs down to the tune of just six runs of their own in the three games.

Anteaters pound the zone

UC Irvine pitchers did a nice job throwing strikes when they had to. Anteater pitchers walked just six Mustangs all weekend and there were many fairly short at-bats in the innings I saw in-person. Kyle Marinconz didn’t seem to mind, going 7-11 in the series. 

No fun league

One thing Cal Poly players credited their mid-season turnaround to was having more fun. Players (mostly relief pitchers) have been dancing in the dugout and bullpen for nearly two months during rallies. Their coordination has been top-notch and added a really fun element to the game. 

On Friday night, Big West home plate umpire Scott Letendre put an end to all that. Letendre’s attention was on everything from shutting down the dancing multiple times to talking to Mustang starter Trent Shelton about where he needed to put the rosin bag on the mound. Did it make a difference as to who won the game? Almost definitely not. But nobody — opposing players or any of the umpires — has had a problem with it for weeks and it comes off looking like baseball is not a place to have fun. Not a great look for that ump. 

Seven more games

Cal Poly (23-27 overall) has seven games remaining this season, including four at home this week. On Tuesday, they’ll play their final mid-week game at home against Pepperdine. This weekend, they’ll finish their home schedule against rival UCSB, including the senior day game on Sunday afternoon. Seniors on this year’s roster include Josh George, Colby Barrick, Trent Shelton, Elijah Skipps, and Kyle Smith. Other Mustangs who you might have your last chance to see in a Cal Poly uniform include juniors Alex McKenna, Nick Meyer, Kyle Marinconz, and Michael Clark. Juniors are eligible for the Major League Baseball draft, which will take place June 4-6.

The Mustangs will finish their season next weekend (May 24-26) at UC Riverside. 

Photos by Owen Main

For more photos click here. If you just want to contribute to the cause, Venmo @Owen-Main or paypal owen@fansmanship.com. 

After starting the season 11-12, the Cal Poly baseball team’s regional goals aren’t totally lost. But they’ll have to probably do even better than their 16-8 Big West conference season a year ago to make the postseason. 

Larry Lee’s team will start Big West play Thursday afternoon in Northridge (3:00pm). CSUN doesn’t have lights, so all baseball games there are day games.

Jarred Zill has come back this season to be the team’s ace. He’ll take the hill Thursday night in Northridge. Photo by Owen Main

The Mustangs have scuffled this season, playing well in some individual games, but lacking the consistency to grind-out wins on a daily basis as of yet. They beat Arkansas and Michigan in individual games, but split a four-game series with Paicfic (RPI of 187 of 297 Division I teams), and lost games to Grand Canyon (237) and San Jose State (209). At Nebraska, a top-100 team right now, the Mustangs won the first game of a four game series before losing the final two games during a Sunday doubleheader by a combined score of 35-5. 

Their only series win of the year so far came last weekend at home against Dartmouth (whose current RPI is 279). 

RPI is a measure that traditionally doesn’t favor west coast teams, but the Big West conference, a league that usually sends multiple teams to the NCAA Tournament, hasn’t helped itself this season. Only three teams (Hawaii (88), Cal State Fullerton (91) UC Irvine (95)) sit in the top-100 in the RPI and conference favorite Long Beach State is at 108. None are sniffing the top-25 at the moment. The other five teams sit between 150 and 218, with the Mustangs at 192, second from the bottom in front of cellar dwellers UCSB. Hawai’i and UCI are the only two schools in the conference with a winning record at the moment. The conference could get multiple teams into the tournament this year, but there is a real possibility that only one team could find their way into the postseason. 

The RPI can be useful, but it’s not everything. No Big West team has played a conference game yet, and Cal Poly can be optimistic. Last season, they won all but one of their conference series en route to a 2nd place finish in the Big West and a 16-8 conference record. The Mustangs will likely have to do better than that this year, win most of their mid-week games, and win an important home series against UCLA at the end of April. The best way for the team to keep a regional in its sights would be to win the conference outright. 

 Who to watch for

Alex McKenna and Nick Meyer are the names people heard a lot about in preseason. They are, predictably, the team’s two leading hitters. Tate Samuelson, a freshman from San Diego, has found comfort in the middle of the lineup. Samuelson, who played for the SLO Blues this summer, is second on the team with six doubles and a pair of home runs. Dylan Doherty has shown some offensive consistency and bat to ball skills. Bradlee Beasley and Kyle Marinconz are reliable batsmen who can be very dangerous. Cal Poly’s offense has averaged 5.3 runs per game. 

For up-to-date Cal Poly stats, click here. 

On the mound

Cal Poly’s rotation has been a little fluid. Jarred Zill returned to the mound and will be the presumed ace going into Big West play. Trent Shelton has looked good, but had appendicitis and his early-conference availability is in question. Michael Clark started as the Friday starter, but hasn’t started for a few weeks and looks like he may be in the new in-vogue multi-inning relief role. Thomas Triantos looked really sharp against Dartmouth and freshman Darren Nelson, who has been a two-way player, has looked good as a Sunday starter. Cal Poly’s relief squad is young — maybe a good reason to keep Clark in the bullpen — and their collective ability to get out of tough high-leverage situations could be a big key to the Mustangs making some noise in conference play.

For Cal Poly baseball photos, click here

Make them EARN it

There are lots of reasons a team can win or lose a baseball game, but the week-to-week stat that I’ve been looking at is errors and unearned runs. The Mustangs have played 23 games so far and have made 37 errors (11 more than their opponents) and have given up 27 unearned runs. If they keep giving up more than a single unearned run per game, they will stay a talented team with middling results. If Cal Poly can manage their defensive play and continue to improve on defense, they can once again compete for a Big West title. 

Today we focus on the two hitters with the highest batting average for the 2017 Mustangs — a sophomore and senior.

Alex McKenna (Sophomore, Outfielder)

Alex McKenna was unquestionably the team’s offensive leader in 2017 and figures to be in that role once again as a junior in 2018. By Owen Main

McKenna was Cal Poly’s offensive leader in every way. The sophomore showcased his talent early in his freshman year, but injuries derailed him down the stretch. In his sophomore campaign, McKenna led the team by a wide margin in average, hits, runs, home runs, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and stolen bases — all while not making a single error in center field, while starting all 56 games.

The Cape Crusader

McKenna spent his 2017 summer in Massachusetts, in the Cape Cod league. With the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox, he hit .298 with 37 hits in 31 games. He was also named to the league’s All-Star Team.  

When you’re on The Cape, you get to have spray charts like this easily accessible for people like you and me. It also means that lots of scouts get to see you play on a daily basis. If his past success in San Luis Obispo is any indication about his future, McKenna is likely to be drafted highly after his junior year, which would likely mean 2018 would be his last in a Cal Poly uniform. 

One thing I really liked about McKenna’s play in 2017 was his consistent approach. While he did lead the Mustangs in strikeouts, he definitely improved from his freshman year in terms of recognizing breaking balls and not swinging at bad pitches — especially with two strikes. He could still improve some there, but he took a huge step forward in his 2017 collegiate season. 

Michael Sanderson (Senior, Infielder)

Michael Sanderson had his finest season at Cal Poly as a senior. By Owen Main

Going out with a bang

Sometimes, guys go out on their shield. Sanderson, who was a junior college transfer at Cal Poly, finished his two year career at Baggett Stadium by going out on his shield. In the first inning of his final game, the first baseman made a diving catch in foul territory, breaking a bone and finishing his season. For a team that was unlikely to make the postseason at that point, it was kind of a legendary way to go out. 

Sanderson’s right arm had already betrayed him earlier in the season, forcing the move from third base to first. But he continued to mash. Sanderson finished second in batting average, third in hits, and had the second highest slugging percentage on the roster. 

His three home runs on the season, the only three of his Mustang career, were all hit in the final month of the 2017 season.

A Chico native, whose grandfather was the Cal Poly football coach in the early 1980’s, Sanderson finished his two-year Cal Poly career with a .309 average in 108 games — mostly at third base. 

On Wednesday, eight Cal Poly baseball players earned All-Big West honors for the 2017 season. 

Sophomores Alex McKenna (outfielder), Spencer Howard (pitcher), and Kyle Marinconz (second baseman) were all named to the conference’s first team. 

Spencer Howard was one of eight Cal Poly Mustangs who made the all-Big West team in 2017. By Owen Main

Mustangs named to the second team were first baseman Michael Sanderson, catcher Nick Meyer, infielder Bradlee Beesley, pitcher Erich Uelmen, and pitcher Michael Clark. 

The Mustangs finished the season in sole possession of second place in the Big West Conference, but failed to make a regional due to subpar non-conference play.

Howard, Uelmen, and Marinconz are all draft-eligible underclassmen and Sanderson, who was injured making a diving catch in the first inning of his final game completed his senior season.

Long Beach State dominated conference play and the individual non-conference postseason awards. The Dirtbags will host the toughest regional in the NCAA tournament starting this weekend. 

Cal Poly baseball came into last weekend’s series against eighth-ranked Cal State Fullerton needing a series win to stay in the conference race. After losing Friday night’s game, the Mustangs (8-4 in Big West play) battled back to win on Saturday and Sunday, moving into a virtual tie with Cal State Fullerton. After sweeping UC Irvine, Long Beach State remains in first place in the Big West, two games ahead of the Mustangs at 10-2. 

Alex McKenna is so hot right now. By Owen Main

Stay hot kids

Cal Poly has won each of its first four Big West series by a count of two games to one. A big reason for this weekend’s win was continued hot hitting throughout the Mustang lineup. 

After going 0-5 on Friday at the plate, center fielder Alex McKenna went a combined 7-11 on Saturday and Sunday. After three hits on Saturday including a triple and a pair of runs, McKenna led off Sunday’s game with a home run and added a double and a pair of singles en route to the Big West Field Player of the Week. With his big week, McKenna raised his slash line to .357/.438/.481 on the season.

To go with McKenna’s hot bat, three other Mustangs are hitting over .300. Michael Sanderson leads the team’s regulars with a .358 average and Bradlee Beasley, who leads the team with 11 doubles, raised his average to .333. Colby Barrick, who has made the most of his starts in right field, is swinging a hot bat, hitting .397 in more limited at-bats (17 games started).

Freshman Bradlee Beesley has swung a hot bat and seems to have found a home at third base for now. By Owen Main

Field the ball

After making three errors in Friday night’s loss leading to three unearned runs in a 7-4 game, Cal Poly didn’t make an error Saturday or Sunday. It was just the third time this season the Mustangs have gone two straight games without an error. They haven’t had three straight errorless games eyt this season. 

To have a chance to overtake Long Beach State and Cal State Fullerton in this conference, defense will have to continue to improve. For what it’s worth, Bradlee Beasley at third base and Scott Ogrin at second look pretty comfortable. Michael Sanderson also make a few athletic plays at first base in the final two games. 

Brooms could be needed

Cal Poly has been consistent in conference play, but they aren’t going to make a regional unless they win the conference title. Two games behind Long Beach State, the Mustangs may have to sweep one or two of their four remaining series to overtake the Dirtbags. The Mustangs have yet to play at Long Beach State, CSUN, at UCSB, and a final home series against UC Riverside. The path is probably there for Cal Poly if they keep playing like they did on Saturday and Sunday. Opportunities continue to abound. 

Can they stay hot?

Cal Poly starts a stretch of five non-conference games tomorrow night at home against Fresno State (6pm). After visiting UCLA this weekend, the Mustangs come home to play Pepperdine before resuming Big West play at Blair Field in Long Beach a week from Friday. 

For standings, none of these games really matter, but Cal Poly will try to find a way to stay hot and gain confidence going into the Long Beach State series.

Friday Photos

Saturday Photos

Sunday Photos

The Cal Poly baseball team had question-marks all over the field this preseason. They emphatically answered some of those questions with a four-game sweep of former Big West opponent University of Pacific.

Kyle Smith was dealing on Friday night. By Owen Main

On Friday, Kyle Smith calmed questions about the pitching staff. The left-handed sophomore struck out six Tigers in the first two innings and nine overall in the complete game 6-2 victory. Smith only walked one batter and threw 108 pitches.

Saturday’s doubleheader started in dramatic fashion. In the first game, with the score tied at 6-6 in the 10th inning, freshman catcher Nick Meyer punched a single into right field to plate Michael Sanderson and put Cal Poly up 2-0 in the series.

The series advantage was pushed to 3-0 in the nightcap behind a strong start from junior pitcher Slater Lee. Lee went seven and a third innings and gave up three runs while scattering ten hits and striking-out eight batters. He walked just two Tigers.

In the final game on Sunday, Cal Poly was able to flex some offensive muscle, jumping out to a 15-0 lead and winning the game 18-2 to get to 4-0.

Great starts

Friday night was one to remember for Kyle Smith. There isn’t any understating a Friday starter who throws a complete game and gets a win to start a weekend. Smith’s velocity has never been super high, but his ability to keep hitters off-balance and think his way through a start is obviously advanced. The fact he’s left-handed doesn’t hurt either. To see him strike out six batters in the first two innings was great.

Catch and throw

To see Cal Poly make no errors behind Smith on Friday had to lower Larry Lee’s blood pressure a little bit. The Mustangs had defensive question-marks coming into this season, but committed just three errors in the four games this weekend. It’s not a number to hang your hat on, but considering the fact that they made seven errors in their first three games last season, we’ll call it a good sign.

Freshman center fielder Alex McKenna belted two home runs in Cal Poly’s 4-game sweep of Pacific. By Owen Main

McKenna flexes

With lack of experience all over the field, it was great to see a freshman step-up. Alex McKenna did just that, belting two home runs over the weekend en route to a Big West Player of the Week award. McKenna went 6-12 with two home runs and a triple on the weekend. He also walked seven times. In the crazy first weekend stats department, McKenna now sports a 1.817 OPS — not bad for a leadoff hitter and center fielder. He’s going to be an exciting player to watch over the next few years.

Barbier’s bat

Brett Barbier also had a very nice weekend. The junior played catcher, first base, and left field on the weekend and leads the team with a .571 batting average out of the three-hole. Barbier’s presence in the lineup provides both versatility and a steadying influence. When he goes well, this lineup looks like it can be dangerous.

Bruin Invasion

Cal Poly will host UCLA for three games and Michigan for one game this weekend as part of a Saturday doubleheader. The Bruins were a top-10 team coming into the year and have fallen off a little after going 1-2 last weekend. Their coach was not happy with his team’s performance, so you know they’re going to come to Baggett looking for blood.

Head coach John Savage said today was the worst #UCLA has looked in 10 years. Said he was embarrassed and disappointed.

— Shotgun Spratling (@ShotgunSprD1) February 22, 2016

The series will be a great test for this young Cal Poly squad. First pitch on Friday night is 6:00pm.

Photos by Owen Main. To view them all, click here.