The recipe for Cal Poly baseball: just keep winning

After a rough start to the season, Cal Poly baseball has played their most consistent ball as Big West play has started. Over the past three weeks, the Mustangs have started 6-3 in conference play, placing them squarely in third place in the conference, two games back of first-place Cal State Fullerton and a game back of Long Beach State. 

Alex McKenna has been swinging a hot bat lately. By Owen Main

Two big reasons have been the hitting of third baseman Michael Sanderson and center fielder Alex McKenna. They have raised their averages to .361 and .360, respectively, and McKenna’s team-leading two home runs have both come recently. 

Erich Uelmen and Spencer Howard continue to pitch well at the top of Cal Poly’s rotation, despite their combined 4-6 record. The Mustangs have given up a combined 13 unearned runs with their two best pitchers on the hill. Michael Clark has shined out of the bullpen, posting a 4-0 record, five saves, and a team-leading ERA of 1.53. Cal Poly has won 15 games and Clark has won or saved nine of them. 

Big West or Bust

Unfortunately for Cal Poly, third place in the Big West won’t get them a regional bid. The Mustangs still have both the Titans and Dirtbags ahead on their schedule. 

Spencer Howard is drawing lots of attention with his 1.79 ERA. He’ll face a stiff test this weekend.

It starts this weekend at Baggett against Cal State Fullerton. 

So far, Cal Poly has gone 2-1 on every conference weekend. That will remain a good recipe when they host the Titans Friday through Sunday. 

Clean it up

Cal Poly is still making errors. If they keep it up, it will cost them a series at some point. They’ve made eight errors in their past six Big West games including at least one in each game. 

Michael Clark has been really good for Cal Poly out of the bullpen this season. By Owen Main

Teeth of the schedule upcoming

Cal Poly hosts Cal State Fullerton this weekend, visits UCLA the following weekend for a non-conference series, and then goes to Long Beach State and Blair Field in three weeks. The series against the Titans and Dirtbags are the two toughest they’ll face in the Big West and UCLA is a perennial College World Series contender. If the Mustangs get hot for three weeks, they could legitimately put themselves in contention for a Big West title and an automatic playoff bid. If the next three weeks go poorly, they could find themselves without postseason aspirations as the season winds down. 

This week’s Schedule

Cal Poly hits the road to Bakersfield for a 6pm mid-week game against CSU Bakersfield Tuesday night, before coming home to face conference power Cal State Fullerton. The games against the Titans at Baggett start at 6pm on Friday, 6pm on Saturday, and 1pm on Sunday.