Cal Poly ends the 2021 season this weekend by hosting Hawai’i

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif .– After his second series win in as many weeks – a sweep from Cal State Fullerton at home and a three-game-one advantage at UC Davis – Cal Poly (27-25 overall, 17 – 19 Big West) wraps up the 2021 baseball season this weekend, welcoming Hawai’i (24-22 overall, 16-20 Big West) for a four-game game inside Baggett Stadium (cap: 3138 ).

Coach Larry leeHead coach Mike Trapasso, year 20, Mustangs and Rainbow Warriors meet Friday at 5 p.m., followed by a brace at 1 p.m. Saturday and the final Sunday at 1 p.m.

All four games in the series will be broadcast on ESPN Radio (1280 AM and 101.7 FM) with Chris Sylvester providing play-by-play. Links for live stats and audio and video feeds are available on the baseball schedule page at www.GoPoly.com.

After a 1-3 start, Cal Poly won 10 of 13 games, including series wins over USC and then No. 6 UCLA. The Mustangs also opened the game in Big West from March 20-22, winning three of four games at CSUN, improving to 11-6 overall. Over the next seven weeks, however, Cal Poly lost 18 of 27 contests, losing a series of lectures to UC San Diego, UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara and CSU Bakersfield and dividing the series by four. games against Long Beach State and UC Riverside.

The Mustangs ended the slide by beating 30-time conference champion Cal State Fullerton for the second time in 48 years, beating .425 for the series, then winning three of four competitions at UC Davis on the weekend. last, rebounding from Friday’s 5-2. defeat with 5-1, 3-2 and 6-2 wins.

Andrew Alvarez kicked off his first full career game with four batters and six strikeouts in Saturday’s opener of the doubles as Kaden Sheedy, making his third collegiate start, pitched a three hitter in the series final on Sunday, also striking out a six. Short stop Brooks lee, receiver Myles Emmerson and second baseman Nick marinconz all have six hits in the series, with Lee leading by four points and the third baseman Tate Samuelson added five hits and five RBIs.

After an 11-6 performance in the shortened 2020 COVID-19 campaign, Hawai’i returned 26 of 36 winning letters, including eight starters and nine pitchers. The best returnees are shortstop Kole Kaler (.407, 17 RBIs, four steals in 2020), outfielder Scotty Scott (.321, seven RBIs, four interceptions) and right fielder Tyler Best (.289, four RBIs). The pitching staff is punctuated by right-handed Aaron Davenport (4-0, 2.15 ERA in 2020) and Logan Pouelsen (0-2, 6.48 ERA) as well as left-hander Brandon Ross (1-0, 1.35 ERA).

Hawai’i opened its 2021 season by winning 11 of its first 13 games, winning one of three games at Arizona State followed by sweeps from Hawai’i Pacific and Hawai’i Hilo. The Rainbow Warriors also won their first three of a four-game Big West series against Long Beach State before dropping 8-5 in the final. Since and including that setback, Hawai’i has lost 20 of 33 contests, losing the Big West Series to UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, CSU Bakersfield, CSUN and UC San Diego, and will bring an overall score of 24-22 and 16 -20 Big West’s record in this weekend’s series against Cal Poly. The Rainbow Warriors swept away UC Davis and won three of four games against UC Riverside and Cal State Fullerton.

Over half of his 56-game schedule this season, Cal Poly has fallen below the .500 mark in Big West games by dropping three of four games at UC Irvine six weeks ago, dividing four games with UC Riverside, a 3-1 series loss. at UC Santa Barbara and a sweep by CSU Bakersfield three weeks ago. Prior to the sweep over Cal State Fullerton, the Mustangs’ only victory in the Big West Series was at CSUN during the opening weekend of the conference.

Hawai’i’s top hitters 46 games into the season are Kaler (.335, 12 doubles, 21 RBIs, 15 of 20 steals), center back Adam Fogel (.319, 16 doubles, 31 RBIs) and Scott (.308, eight doubles), 13 RBIs). The pitching staff was punctuated by Davenport (3-5, 3.33 ERA), Cade Halemanu (5-2, 3.57 ERA) and Austin Teixeira (3-1, 3.43 ERA), all right-handed and left-handed Pouelsen (4-2, 3.68 ERA). Seven different pitchers have saves, led by right-hander Tyler Dyball with four saves to go with a 2-2 mark and 5.09 ERA.

Coached by Trapasso (20th season, 536-527, Oklahoma State ’87), Hawai’i has a batting average of 0.282 per team. The Rainbow Warriors have stolen 33 of 49 bases, sport a 3.83 staff ERA at the top of Big West with opponents hitting .278 and compiled a .965 field percentage with 61 errors in 46 games.

Hawai’i is ranked No.6 nationally in walks allowed for nine innings (2.56), 24th in strikeout ratio (2.96) and 27th for ERA (3.83). Scott is ranked 15th nationally for sacrificed bunts (9) and 32nd after being hit by throws 15 times while Davenport is No.57 with his 93 strikeouts.

Hawai’i played his first Big West season in baseball in 2013 after 33 years in the Western Athletic Conference, winning titles in 1991, 1992, and 2011 and tournament crown in 2010. Cal Poly also played in the WAC in 1995 and 1996 before joining the Big West. The Rainbow Warriors reached the College World Series in 1980, finishing second and making 13 regional appearances in the NCAA, the last in 2010.

Trapasso has led the Rainbow Warriors to winning records in 12 of his 19 seasons at the helm and 30 or more wins on eight occasions, the most recent in 2012. He has been named WAC Coach of the Year three times.

Trapasso was an assistant coach at Georgia Tech for seven years and at Missouri and South Florida for three seasons each. He pitched at Oklahoma State from 1984-86 and, drafted four times, pitched briefly for two years in the minor leagues.

Cal Poly has a 23-11 advantage over Hawai’i in the 1995 series, beating the Rainbow Warriors in Manoa in 2014 as well as in 2015 at Baggett Stadium. In 2019, the last time the two teams met, Cal Poly won two of three games inside Baggett Stadium, winning the first two contests 12-4 and 3-2 before dropping in the final 4-. 1. In 2018, the Mustangs won the first two games at Manoa, 16-0 and 10-9, before dropping the final 6-2. Larry lee is 16-5 against Hawai’i while Trapasso is 5-16 against Cal Poly.

Before the 2020 season was cut short on March 11 due to COVID-19, Cal Poly won two of three games at the MLB4 tournament in Scottsdale, Ariz., Rallying for two races on sacrificed flights at the bottom of the ninth inning. for a 9-8 walk-off triumph over reigning National Champion Vanderbilt and also excluding Connecticut 5-0 behind the combined two-stroke throw. Taylor dollard and Dylan Villalobos.

The Mustangs, however, have won just three of their next 13 games to finish 5-11. One of those wins was a 10-innings 5-4 decision over Michigan’s No.5 inside Baggett Stadium. Taison Corio singled out with one and the bases loaded.

Lee welcomed 20 scholars from last year’s team, including seven starters. The 2021 Mustang roster has also been bolstered with the addition of three transfers from Boise State, which abandoned its baseball program last summer, and one from Washington State, first baseman / designated hitter. . Matt Lopez.

Catch Myles Emmerson led the team a year ago with an average of .317, but no other Mustang starter has finished above .280. Emmerson is the only one of five seniors on last year’s squad to return this season under NCAA rule allowing every spring 2020 sports athlete another year of eligibility due to COVID-19.

Leading the 52-game team hitters in the current season is Brooks lee at 0.341 with 23 doubles (two short of the school record), three triples, nine homers and 50 RBIs. Lee won back-to-back Big West Player of the Week awards after going 7-for-12 against Utah Valley and 7-for-14 against UCLA, leading 14 innings in both series, and winning his third after Cal State. Fullerton series two weeks ago. He had a nine-game streak interrupted by CSUN and a 12-game streak interrupted by UC Irvine and currently has another nine-game streak. Lopez also hits .341 with eight doubles and 26 RBIs, but is sidelined for the remainder of the 2021 season with a knee injury. Emmerson is .313 with 13 doubles, one triple and 21 RBIs as a second baseman Nick marinconz raised his average to .277 with a 21-for-57 (.368) record in his last 16 games.

Drew thorpe (5-6, 3.78 ERA), Travis Weston (5-6, 3.28 ERA) and Andrew Alvarez (7-3, 4.05 ERA) remain anchored in the starting rotation while Bryan woo (over the rest of the year due to an elbow injury), Bryce warrecker and Kyle scott (six saves) have worked the most innings out of the bullpen so far. Warrecker pitched 4 2/3 scoreless innings in relief for a victory at UC Davis last weekend.

For the second time in the past five years, Cal Poly is playing all of their games in the Golden State. The 2017 team also played all 56 games in California, going 28-28. The Mustangs will also play 33 of their 56 games inside Baggett Stadium, opening the season with 25 of their first 36 games at home.

Cal Poly won the Big West title in 2014 and placed second six times (including three in a row from 2017-19), third four times and fourth six times since 2000, posting a combined record of 310-258 during from his first 23 years as a member of the Big West. Cal Poly has only had three losing seasons since 2000 and has hit the 30-game mark 12 times this century. The Mustangs have won 204 of their last 299 home games for a 68.2 winning percentage.

Lee (573-455-2) passed Bob Bennett of Fresno State for the Big West record for aggregate wins with the series opener 2-1 win at USC in late February. During the UC Davis Series in 2019, Lee eclipsed Dave Snow, former Cal Poly head coach and former Long Beach State head coach, with his 219th conference victory. Snow guided the Dirtbags to 218 Big West victories from 1989-2001.

Lee hit the 500-win milestone on April 20, 2018, with a 5-4 triumph over Long Beach State. He had 460 victories in 16 seasons at Cuesta College and notched his 460th Mustang victory on March 13, 2017 against Gonzaga and his 1,000th career victory with a 3-0 triumph at UC Santa Barbara on May 23, 2019. He did so. currently has 1033. -696-5 record in over 34 seasons as head coach and coach in his 1,000th game as head coach of Cal Poly on April 1, a 10-1 victory over the UC San Diego.

Four Mustang players will be honored on the senior day around 12:40 p.m. Sunday. They are fourth year juniors Cole cabrera, Connor gurnik and Nick DiCarlo and senior fifth year receiver Myles Emmerson.

Regional NCAA hosts will be announced on Sunday, with pairs posted Monday at 9 a.m. on ESPNU.

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