Cal Poly Baseball kicked off the 2024 season this past weekend in a slate filled with rescheduled games against the University of Missouri.
All games were rescheduled to earlier dates and times to avoid inclimate weather with the original a four-game set cut down to three games.
The Mustangs (1-2) took game one of the series behind great pitching performances before dropping the next two against the Tigers (2-1).
Starting off Wright
As Missouri’s ninth inning leadoff hitter anchored down at second base following a double, redshirt sophomore reliever Tanner Sagouspe switched his focus to the next batter.
Sagouspe was in his second inning of work and couldn’t afford to make a mistake only up one run in the top of the ninth.
The former outfielder, and briefly a catcher in the offseason, would go on to strike out the next two batters he faced, forcing fly out to right to secure the 3-2 win.
“I just had to trust the defense behind me and could definitely feel all the energy in the dugout,” Sagouspe said.
The Mustangs opened their season with an impressive win in game one of their doubleheader against the Missouri Tigers on Friday, Feb. 16.
Sagouspe finished the day with three strikeouts over 2 1/3 innings pitched allowing one run on two hits and a walk.
With injuries to two transfer starters this offseason, redshirt sophomore southpaw Jakob Wright was thrust into the Friday role, and he excelled in his first Friday start of his career.
Wright finished the day with 6 2/3 innings pitched allowing two runs on six hits and two walks, while striking out five.
“Jakob set the tone,” Sagouspe said. “It was a great first game of the season and nice to get that under the belt for right now, but we [have] a lot to work on.”
The Mustangs struck first in their half of the first after sophomore infielder Tate Shimao smacked a leadoff triple into the right-center gap before junior transfer outfielder Dylan Kordic floated an RBI double down the left field line to take an early 1-0 lead.
After the Tigers brought a run across in the third inning, Cal Poly responded with RBIs from Kordic and senior center fielder Jake Steels in the fourth and fifth innings, respectively.
None of the core three players of senior first baseman Joe Yorke, junior catcher Ryan Stafford and senior shortstop Aaron Casillas would get on base in game one as the Mustangs looked for the doubleheader sweep in game two.
Brooks sets a new career high
Early in game two of Friday’s doubleheader, junior right-handed pitcher Steven Brooks was in a jam with a runner on third and one out. Attacking the zone early and often, Brooks struck out the next two batters he faced screaming with excitement after escaping the jam.
Brooks would go on to set a career high in strikeouts with 12 across seven innings pitched in the Mustangs’ 3-1 loss against the Tigers.
“I know I put in all the work necessary to come out and perform well,” Brooks said.
The first few innings remained scoreless in this pitchers duel until Missouri’s Thomas Curry blasted a 410 foot home run over the left-center wall to take a 2-0 lead in the top of the fifth.
While pitching was a bright spot for the Mustangs, Cal Poly’s offense remained dormant in this game only producing one hit and one run via a sacrifice-fly from true freshman second baseman Alejandro Garza in the seventh inning.
Missouri added on an insurance run in the top of the ninth off of junior transfer lefty Jacob Torres. Torres finished with three strikeouts across two innings pitched allowing one run, two hits and a walk.
“We put in all the work last season, [and it] left a bad taste in our mouth,” Brooks said. “So we’ve spent this whole offseason grinding, working hard and looking to bounce back this year.”
The core three of Yorke, Stafford and Casillas are still searching for their first hits of this young season and will look to do so in an early 9 a.m. start on Saturday.
High scoring affair to close it out
Joe Yorke moved into the top 10 in program history for career RBIs with his 130th in Cal Poly’s 12-8 loss on Saturday, February 17.
Cal Poly combined for 16 hits, with seven players recording multiple hits and three knocking in multiple RBIs. Yorke, Garza and sophomore designated hitter Evan Cloyd all drove in two RBIs, with Stafford adding one of his own.
Redshirt senior right-hander Ryan Baum started the game for the Mustangs, throwing 3 2/3 innings with four strikeouts while giving up four earned runs. Head coach Larry Lee used five different relievers to complete the game.
After two low-scoring affairs, the Mustang offense started the game hot, scoring two in the bottom of the first on a two-out rally. Capitalizing on errors, Cloyd singled in Yorke and advanced to second on a wild throw. Kordic then reached on an error by the Tigers’ third baseman, scoring Cloyd to give Cal Poly a 2-0 lead.
Missouri rallied back to take the lead in the visitor’s half of the third, which was quickly answered by a five-hit, two-run inning by the Mustangs. Steels and Stafford singled to begin the inning to put runners on the corners. A Yorke sac fly to center field to tie the game followed, then a Cloyd single through the six hole of the infield brought home Stafford and put the Mustangs in front 4-3.
However, the Tigers broke the game open in the fourth with a six-run inning off of freshmen Ethan Marmie and Caden Pearlman.
The Mustangs put a two-out rally together in the bottom of the fourth inning with Stafford doubling into left center to drive in Steels, followed by a Yorke single to right to score Stafford and cut into the Missouri lead 9-6.
The Tigers extended their lead in the sixth, making it 11-6 after Mustang junior reliever Cam Hoiland was called for a balk.
With bases loaded in the seventh Garza, came through with a bullet into the gap to score two runs and cut the lead to 11-8. However, the Mustangs could not string any more runs together in the inning, and an additional run by the Tigers in the eighth sealed the game 12-8.
With Sunday’s game canceled due to rain, the Mustangs started their season out 1-2 against the Southeastern Conference opponent.
Cal Poly will be back in action against North Dakota State University on Wednesday, Feb. 21, at Baggett Stadium, with the first pitch scheduled at 5 p.m.