Cal Poly teammates Mark Mathias and Reed Reilly impacted their team’s 4-0 performance to earn Big West Baseball Field Player and Pitcher of the Week honors, respectively.
Mathias Helps Cal Poly Post 4-0 Record
Sophomore Mark Mathias (Fremont, Calif./Irvington HS) hit .412 from his leadoff spot to help Cal Poly put together a 4-0 week and earn its fifth series sweep of the year, earning Big West Baseball Field Player of the Week.
The second baseman posted three multi-hit games and three of his seven hits went for doubles as Cal Poly defeated Saint Mary’s in a non-conference game and swept Hawai‘i on the road.
Mathias, who had a 17-game hitting streak snapped two weeks ago, has a hit in 24 of his last 25 games. His batting average has soared over 200 points since the hitting streak began, and he is now hitting .379 on the season.
Mathias went 2-for-5 with a double, a pair of runs scored and a stolen base in the 6-2 victory over Saint Mary’s.
In Saturday’s 4-3 win versus the Rainbow Warriors, Mathias doubled to open the game and later scored to give the Mustangs an early lead. He delivered another double later in the game as well as his second stolen base of the week, finishing 2-for-3 with a walk. Mathias went 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI in the series finale, an 8-3 victory.
For the week, Mathias had a .500 on-base percentage and .588 slugging percentage.
Others nominated: Jared Deacon (Cal State Fullerton); Nick Lynch (UC Davis); Jerry McClanahan (UC Irvine); Drake Zarate (UC Riverside); Robby Nesovic (UC Santa Barbara)
Reilly Earns Two Saves Against Hawai‘i
Cal Poly junior closer Reed Reilly (Dana Point, Calif./JSerra Catholic HS) notched a save in a pair of one-run victories at Hawai‘i to capture Big West Baseball Pitcher of the Week honors.
The 6-4 right-hander posted a three-inning save, his sixth of the year, Friday in a 3-2 series-opening victory. He retired all nine Hawai‘i batters, including four by strikeout.
Reilly picked up his seventh save in Saturday’s 4-3 triumph over the Rainbow Warriors. Reilly entered the game with runners at the corners in the bottom of the ninth, and battled Juliene Jones for nine pitches before striking out the UH third baseman for his second save of the series.
Reilly also threw one scoreless inning with a pair of strikeouts in a non-conference win against Saint Mary’s on Tuesday.
In 4 1/3 innings spanning three appearances, Reilly faced one batter over the minimum and recorded seven strikeouts.
Others nominated: J.D. Davis (Cal State Fullerton); Orlando Razo (UC Davis); Elliot Surrey (UC Irvine)