Bryan Granger and the Cal Poly bullpen could be called-on to pitch some big innings in this weekend’s regional. By Owen Main

Matt Imhof. Reed Reilly. Mark Mathias. Casey Bloomquist. Nick Torres, Brian Mundell, Zack Zehner, Nick Torres, and Jimmy Allen. There are lots of names that people are talking about going into Cal Poly’s 2014 regional, but names that people aren’t mentioning may make a really big difference.

If Cal Poly is to move on in the San Luis Obispo regional, which starts today, they’ll almost certainly need some contribution from players outside of the names everyone knows.

If Larry Lee has his way, Cal Poly will use Matt Imhof and Casey Bloomquist for 7-plus innings in wins Friday and Saturday, setting up a Sunday game where the Mustangs would have Taylor Chris, Reed Reilly, or both relatively fresh for Sunday to back-up presumed starter Justin Calomeni.

But an NCAA Regional is a fickle proposition. Decisions that need to be made, in the moment, to win today’s game, may test pitching depth later in the weekend. This is where I believe someone less heralded will have to step out of the Cal Poly bullpen and make a statement.

Maybe it will be Bryan Granger. The right-handed junior from Hollister, CA was a starter last season before being moved to a middle relief role this year. Granger, who sports a 3.04 ERA, has recorded some big outs, especially in games started by neither Imhof nor Bloomquist. His delivery comes just enough from the side to throw hitters off for at least one time through the rotation. If things get tough for the Mustangs, they may need him to go through an opposing order more than once at some point this weekend.

Beyond Reilly, Chris, and potential game-four starter, Danny Zandona, the bullpen might start to get a little thin. Slater Lee was the Saturday starter for most of the non-conference slate, pitching a complete-game shutout at UCLA. During conference, though, Lee’s ERA ballooned to 6.20 as he lost his role in the starting rotation. Michael Dingilian, Jearl Jesson, and Nick Suniga are the only other Mustangs to take the hill this season. All of their ERA’s are over 5.00 and, as a group, they only pitched 26 1/3 innings.

A regional tournament tests a team’s fortitude, character, and, sometimes, pitching depth. Starting tonight, we’ll see if any of these less-used Mustangs are thrust into the spotlight at some point this weekend with the task of getting big outs with Cal Poly’s season on the line.

For the first time ever, Cal Poly is hosting a baseball regional. On Monday morning on ESPN U, the teams who are coming to SLO were announced.

Pepperdine, Arizona State, and Sacramento State will battle the Mustangs for a chance to go to a super-regional and eventually the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.

Cal Poly baseball players sit at Charlie’s Place and await word about who they’ll face in the San Luis Obispo regional. By Owen Main

Familiarity

Two of these schools are familiar foes for fans of Cal Poly athletics. Sacramento State plays baseball in the Western Athletic Conference, but battles Cal Poly in football each year since the Mustangs football team moved into the Big Sky Conference. Sac State is also a member of the Big West in soccer. Between 1950 and 2009, Cal Poly baseball has played Sacramento State 58 times and has dominated the series, going 43-15. The two teams last played in 2009.

Cal Poly faced Pepperdine on back-to-back Tuesdays just a few weeks ago. In Malibu, Pepperdine threw ace Aaron Brown in the mid-week game to take a shot at the highly-ranked Mustangs. It worked, as Pepperdine handed Cal Poly one of its 10 losses with an 11-4 thrashing. One week later, Cal Poly returned the favor in San Luis Obispo, beating Pepperdine 5-1 at Baggett Stadium. With the split against the Waves this season, Cal Poly is 24-32 all-time against them.

Arizona State

The Sun Devils are the wild card. Cal Poly is no stranger to the Pac 12. They’ve played UCLA, USC, and Cal this season and are slated to play a weekend series at Oregon State next year. But for fans on the central coast, Arizona State is a little under the radar this season. Like Cal Poly, Arizona State has won nine of its last ten games and they are poised to flex their BCS-conference muscle.

The only thing you need to know about ASU is that they beat Oregon State in two of three games in a series in Corvallis early in the season. On Monday, Oregon State was awarded the top overall seed in this year’s tournament.

If you’re looking for a Cal Poly connection, Pat Tillman’s brother, Kevin, transferred to Cal Poly from Arizona State and played second base for the Mustangs before enlisting with his brother.

Cal Poly is 1-3 all-time against Arizona State. The last time they played was 2010 and Cal Poly lost to them then at the “Coca Cola Classic” in Surprise, AZ. The Mustangs went 23-32 that season — the worst year Cal Poly has had under head coach, Larry Lee. Since then, Cal Poly has had a winning record each year and has had 36 or more wins in each of the past three years, including their sparkling 45-10 record this season.

Tickets should go fast…

People, if the games aren’t sold-out already, they probably will be sometime soon. Hosting a regional is a historic event not just for Cal Poly, but for San Luis Obispo. Baseball is probably the most mainstream sport that Cal Poly could ever host NCAA Tournament games for. If you’re a baseball fan and you don’t go when this game is in your back yard, then it’s time to question your fansmanship.

[See image gallery at www.fansmanship.com]

Nick Torres (10) anchors the Cal Poly lineup looking for redemption at the site of last year’s regional. By Owen Main

In a season where they’ll play 50-plus games, the Cal Poly baseball team has played only played four so far. After last year’s regional, the three-game series against defending national champion UCLA that starts tonight.

The game is getting lots of national attention from college baseball writers.

Aaron Fitt of Baseball America is “bullish on the Mustangs” and talked extensively about their upside in last week’s Baseball America podcast. Baseball America pushed Cal Poly to number 22 in their poll this week as well.

Kendall Rodgers of Perfect Game USA also like what the Mustangs have done so far.

PG TOP 25: Latest rankings out: @UVABaseball remains atop, @calpoly_stangs @UKBaseball enter: http://t.co/B8YQVmUo1g #CollegeBaseball

— Kendall Rogers (@KendallRogersPG) February 17, 2014

Shotgun Spratling of CollegeBaseballDaily.com had a nice preview this morning of this weekend’s series.

Was #CalPoly better than #UCLA last year? The Mustangs think so. — SoCal #CollegeBaseball Weekend Preview: http://t.co/GECLYUFSWA

— Shotgun Spratling (@SoCal_CBDaily) February 21, 2014

Rightfully so, Spratling points to the play and comments of Nick Torres and Matt Imhof as a rich backdrop to the three games in Jackie Robinson Stadium — the site of the ball Torres lost in the lights last year.

Prior to LAST season, Larry Lee talked to me about how difficult it was to schedule games or even get call-backs from teams on the East Coast, making any series against a Pac-12 Conference school an important one in terms of national profile and even (possibly) future scheduling.

With the Regional appearance last year, the Mustangs are more on the national radar. But Cal Poly definitely still has something to prove. Writers have been building them up and making them a worthwhile topic. Winning two or three games in Westwood would allow the writers to continue the narrative of Cal Poly as a team on the rise. Losing two or three games wouldn’t kill that narrative completely, but it definitely would quiet it for a while.

Like I said, we are only four games into the season, but I think it’s fair to say a lot is riding on the series for the Mustangs. What are your predictions for tonight’s game and for the series?

Joey Wagman takes the mound Friday in Cal Poly’s first NCAA Tournament in four years. By Owen Main

Larry Lee and the Cal Poly Mustangs baseball team is heading to UCLA today to play San Diego in the Regional round of the NCAA baseball tournament. Four teams will show up in Westwood and only one will leave Sunday or Monday with a victory and a trip to a Super Regional.

The baseball team is the second major Cal Poly team to head to the NCAA Tournament this year — the women’s basketball team went in March. But unlike in basketball, a baseball team like Cal Poly’s has a real shot to go deep into the tournament. Here’s why.

The Regional Tournament Structure

Instead of winning six straight games (as is necessary in the NCAA Basketball Tournament), Cal Poly just needs to win three double-elimination tournaments to win the whole thing. Victory in even the first weekend’s Regional would put Cal Poly in baseball’s “Sweet 16.” Baseball is a funny sport — the most talented team doesn’t always win. With a few hot pitchers, solid defense, and timely hitting, a team can grit its way to success in a tournament like this.

Pitching

The adage is that in a baseball postseason, it all comes down to pitching. This is true, to an extent. A great pitcher or a pitcher who is hot can make a huge difference. Like a goalie in hockey or a great quarterback, a hot pitcher can steal a team a game. That being said, pitchers can generally only start once on a regional weekend. This means that pitching depth also comes into play. With games on possibly four consecutive days, pitching depth is a huge deal. Pitchers who maybe got small amounts of mid-week innings during the season could be called upon in a potential elimination game on Sunday or Monday, when the pressure is on.

Cal Poly’s top two starters –Joey Wagman and Matt Imhoff — have shown they have what it takes to get hot and dominate single games. If those two can get hot and win, finishing a potential series weekend might be a little more challenging. With Sunday and Wednesday pitchers going late in a regional weekend, anything can happen.

Non-Conference

Cal Poly’s top-25 RPI is due to very good non-conference series’ against Kansas State, Washington, and San Francisco. The Mustangs have played in unfamiliar confines, which should help them as they head to Jackie Robinson Stadium, the home of UCLA.

The Big West

Last season, the second-place Mustangs — and by proxy the Big West — was snubbed as only one team made the NCAA Tournament from the conference. This season, three teams got bids from the Big West. This means that Big West teams like Cal Poly has also been tested throughout the season in-conference.

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So, how would I actually rate Cal Poly’s chances in this tournament? Because it’s baseball, it’s really hard to say. Here’s what I am confident in: though they have not played well on the road in-conference this year, I think they have as good a chance as UCLA to get out of the regional. They’ve played tough teams all year and some of their players still haven’t hit their stride offensively. If guys like David Armendariz and Jimmy Allen can match the punch that Nick Torres, Brian Mundell, Denver Chavez, and Elliot Stewart have been providing, the Mustangs could be looking at a Super Regional. If the pitching holds up. Darn it, it always comes down to pitching, doesn’t it?…