Cal Poly Baseball was the victim of a three-game sweep in their first road series of the 2024 season at the hands of the No. 16 University of Texas Longhorns this past weekend.
The Mustang (2-5) offense only recorded one hit in 22 at-bats with runners in scoring position against the Top 25 ranked opponent, while the Longhorns (6-1) capitalized off of many Cal Poly mistakes.
Wright impresses despite loss
Cal Poly baseball kicked off its 2024 road slate with one of the program’s most-anticipated matchups in years, dropping the first game of their weekend series with the No. 16 Texas Longhorns by a 2-0 final at a sold-out UFCU Disch–Falk Field in Austin.
The game was an incredibly tight one, as the starting pitchers for both squads treated the fans to a pitcher’s duel that featured a combined total of eight hits.
In just the second Friday start of his collegiate career, Cal Poly redshirt sophomore Jakob Wright proved to be more than up to the task, opening the game with a pair of three-up, three-down innings each helped by a leadoff strikeout.
The Longhorns’ plate discipline began to show in the home half of the third. After getting the first batter of the inning to strike out, Wright allowed back-to-back walks. It was only thanks to Wright and senior shortstop Aaron Casillas foiling a double steal attempt, and Wright struck out Texas leadoff man Jared Thomas for the second time to end the inning. As the game progressed, the Longhorns began to be more patient in their at-bats against the Mustang lefty.
The strategy would eventually pay off in the fifth inning. After getting the first batter to fly out, a four-pitch walk from Wright led to back-to-back mistakes from the starter in the form of a balk and a wild pitch, allowing Texas to get a man to third with two outs. Thomas would capitalize for Texas, legging out a 2-2 grounder to third for an infield single, giving the Longhorns the 1-0 lead.
The Green and Gold soon had a chance to tie the game, however, after junior catcher Ryan Stafford roped a single to left with one out in the sixth. Stafford advanced on a balk, but the opportunity to start a comeback was wasted when he was caught trying to steal third. While the Mustang offense was unsuccessful the rest of the way, Texas tacked on one more run in the bottom of the eighth, giving them the 2-0 lead and three outs later, the win.
On the scorecard, Wright was once again exceptional, surrendering one run and just three hits with seven strikeouts and four walks, throwing 95 pitches over 5 1/3 innings pitched. It was the second straight excellent outing for Wright and served only to show that head coach Larry Lee’s choice for the team’s Friday starter was well-made.
The Mustangs struggled with situational hitting as they were hitless with two outs (0-for-8), runners on base (0-for-11), and runners in scoring position (0-for-7). And while Texas wasn’t much better, they still managed to tally at least two hits in all three categories, going 2-for-10, 3-for-12 and 2-for-10 respectively.
Though the Mustangs came away with one fewer runner left on base, they gave up three extra-base hits while totaling none, allowed the game’s only two-out RBI and drew just two walks while giving up four.
Cal Poly bats go cold
After being shut out 2-0 in their previous matchup, Cal Poly baseball was shut out yet again by the No. 16 Texas Longhorns, 6-0 on Saturday, Feb. 24.
Junior righthander Steven Brooks got the start in Austin for the Mustangs, coming off an outing against Missouri where he struck out 12 batters in seven innings of work. Brooks had his secondary pitches working early, using his changeup and slider to induce soft contact.
On the offensive end, the Mustangs were putting up quality at-bats early against Longhorns starter Charlie Hurley, but with nothing to show for it. The first hit for either club came in the top of the third inning, a two-out double into the left-center field gap by redshirt junior infielder Ryan Fenn. Fenn was left stranded at second following a groundout Stafford.
Texas got the scoring going in the bottom of the third by way of a groundout to second base after a pair of weakly-hit ground ball singles. Brooks limited the damage, stranding a runner at third with his second strikeout of the afternoon.
After a scoreless top half of the fourth from the Mustangs, the Longhorns added some insurance in the bottom of the inning. Brooks quickly got the first two outs but a line drive single followed by an opposite-field two-run homer quickly changed the fate of the inning.
Situational hitting was not quite the Mustangs’ strong suit in this one as a Joe Yorke groundout in the top of the fifth deserted another man in scoring position, the team’s sixth to that point.
A one-out single in the bottom of the sixth knocked Brooks out of the game at 98 pitches. His final line was 5 1/3 innings, three earned runs, five hits allowed and five strikeouts. Freshman lefthander Josh Volmerding came in for relief swiftly ending the inning before Texas pounced in the seventh after an infield single set the stage for yet another opposite-field two-run blast that extended Texas’ lead to 5-0.
Cal Poly had a chance to cut into the deficit in the eighth when designated hitter Evan Cloyd was hit-by-pitch for the second time in the game, raising his season total to five in just eight games. Transfer junior Cam Hoiland pinch-hit and drew a walk, putting two men on, but the opportunity was squandered after Casillas struck out to end the inning.
Texas put the game away in the bottom of the eighth, scoring their sixth run on a wild pitch. The defensive highlight of the game ended the inning, with a strikeout and caught stealing double play.
The Mustangs ended the game fittingly, with a strikeout to increase the total to 0-10 with runners in scoring position. The Mustangs couldn’t capitalize on the rare scoring opportunities they had, which is important when matched up against one of the nation’s premier teams.
The squad will be looking to avoid the series sweep on Sunday, Feb. 25, once again at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.
Offensive opportunities continue to slip away
Cal Poly Baseball’s offensive woes continued despite a nine-hit effort in their third straight shutout loss to Texas.
Much like Saturday’s game, the Mustangs had runners on base against the No. 16 Longhorns but failed to create runs out of any of their opportunities throughout the game.
Senior center fielder Jake Steels continued his hot start to the season, going 3-4 with three singles and extending his current hitting streak to five games.
The Longhorns’ defense cut down Steels’ aggressive attempts to create runs on the bases. He was caught stealing in the third inning, and thrown out at third and home going for the extra base after hits delivered by Fenn and Stafford.
Redshirt senior pitcher Ryan Baum made his second start of the year, going for 3 2/3 innings with four hits and one earned run allowed. Six different Mustangs relievers were used the rest of the way by head coach Larry Lee.
The Mustangs lost control of the game following Baum’s departure and allowed six runs across the sixth through eighth innings, sealing their fifth loss of the year.
The offense was shut out for a third straight time against the high-powered Longhorns, despite tallying similar numbers of hits as the Texas squad in each game of the series.
The Mustangs will look to get back on the scoreboard as they head back to Baggett Stadium for a 15-game homestand, starting with the first matchup of a three-game series against the University of Utah on March 1.