Cal Poly announced on May 4 that its baseball team will continue an eight-game late-season road trip with a non-conference matchup at Santa Clara on Tuesday. The Mustangs, who have won nine of their last twelve games and are currently eight games above .500, aim to sweep the season series against the Broncos.
The upcoming game follows Cal Poly’s recent Big West series win at UC Irvine, where the Mustangs secured victories in two out of three games. The team currently holds first place in the Big West Conference with a 27-19 overall record and a 17-7 mark in conference play. Their opponent, Santa Clara, comes into the contest with an 18-28 overall record and sits ninth in the West Coast Conference standings.
Last week, Cal Poly defeated Santa Clara 7-0 at Baggett Stadium behind strong pitching from Sean McGrath and contributions from several hitters including Nate Castellon. McGrath is set to start again for Cal Poly, while Santa Clara will send freshman right-hander Jackson Cook to the mound. “Sean McGrath pitched five scoreless innings and matched his season high with six strikeouts while Chris Downs, Arlo Pendleton and Luke Kalfsbeek finished the shutout,” according to Cal Poly’s announcement.
Key players for Cal Poly include Castellon, who leads the team with a .357 batting average; Alejandro Garza with a .346 average; Ryan Tayman leading in home runs (14) and RBIs (45); and Dylan Kordic whose performance has improved significantly over recent games. For Santa Clara, Ben Cleary (.340) and Max Ross (.307) are among their top hitters.
The historical series between these teams dates back to 1956, with Santa Clara holding a slight edge overall but Cal Poly having success recently under head coach Larry Lee. Lee has achieved over 1,200 wins across his career as head coach at both Cuesta College and Cal Poly.
Looking ahead, Cal Poly will travel next weekend for another conference series at Cal State Fullerton before concluding its regular season schedule later this month.
