Cal Poly junior Ryan Drobny and Long Beach State freshman Chris Mathewson stepped up to claim this week’s baseball awards.
Drobny Leads Cal Poly To First Series Sweep Of Year
Cal Poly junior Ryan Drobny (Danville, Calif./San Ramon Valley HS) earned Big West Baseball Field Player of the Week honors after helping the Mustangs to a 4-0 record, including their first series sweep of the year.
The first baseman batted .500 (7-for-14) with five runs scored and four RBI as his production keyed a midweek victory over Pepperdine and a three-game sweep of Hawai‘i. Drobny had at least one hit and one run scored in all four games, and also contributed a pair of multi-RBI performances. He doubled three times during the week to finish with a .714 slugging percentage.
On an 0-2 count and Cal Poly leading 3-1 in the fourth inning, Drobny smashed a two-run double down the left-field line on an 0-2 count to break the game open against the Waves.
Drobny delivered a clutch two-run double down the right-field line that tied the game at 5-5 in Friday’s series opener against the Rainbow Warriors. The Mustangs went on to win 7-5. He added two more hits on a single and double in Saturday’s 3-2 triumph, and scored the game-tying run in the seventh inning. Finally, Drobny turned in his third straight two-hit game as Cal Poly polished off the sweep with a 12-5 win on Sunday.
Others nominated: Scott Hurst (Cal State Fullerton); William Colantano (CSUN); Brock Lundquist (Long Beach State); Keston Hiura (UC Irvine); Luke Swenson (UC Santa Barbara), Chayce Ka’aua (Hawai‘i)
Mathewson Throws Gem To Salvage Series
Long Beach State freshman Chris Mathewson (Fontana, Calif./Kaiser HS) halted UC Irvine’s 15-game win streak with eight solid shutout innings in a performance that earned him Big West Baseball Pitcher of the Week honors for the second time this season.
Mathewson prevented the Dirtbags from getting swept as he shut down the Anteater lineup, allowing just two runners to get into scoring position and none beyond second base. He walked two and struck out six in the 5-0 victory.
The right-hander has now thrown 15 consecutive scoreless innings, and he lowered his Big West-leading ERA to 1.49 with the effort. He retired the leadoff hitter in every inning and continued his momentum from the previous week when he tossed his first career complete game in a win versus CSUN.
In addition to this being Mathewson’s second honor, it is the third straight week a Dirtbag pitcher has earned the award, and the fifth time overall this season.
Others nominated: Danny Zandona (Cal Poly); Miles Chambers (Cal State Fullerton); Angel Rodriguez (CSUN); Matt Esparza (UC Irvine); Domenic Mazza (UC Santa Barbara)