For the first time in over 20 years UC Santa Barbara was picked as the favorite to win the conference championship in the Big West Baseball Preseason Poll, as voted on by the 11 baseball coaches. The Gauchos, who won the 2019 league title, earned 10 first-place votes en route to a 119 point total. Only three points separated the second through fourth place teams as Long Beach State collected 96 points and was followed by UC Irvine (95) and Cal Poly (94). Cal State Fullerton found itself in fifth place with 78 points and CSUN, who received one first-place vote, collected 64 total points to rank sixth. Hawai’i sits seventh with 61 points and UC Davis earned the eighth spot with 39 points. New Big West member UC San Diego (33) is ninth and followed by UC Riverside and new member CSU Bakersfield, who nabbed 29 and 18 points.
UC Santa Barbara
• 2020 Record: 13-2
• Enters the 2021 season ranked as high as eighth (Collegiate Baseball) in the national preseason polls.
• UCSB, who swept nationally-ranked Oregon State and defeated No. 1 UCLA before the season was cut short, returns virtually its entire roster from 2020.
• Has three Preseason All-American pitchers on its roster - Rodney Boone (2-1, 2.53 ERA, 31 K in 21.1 IP), Michael McGreevy (2-0, 0.99 ERA, 26 K, 27.1 IP), Zach Torra (3-0, 0.36 ERA, 39 K, 25.1 IP),
• The 2020 Gauchos pitching staff paced the conference and tied for first in the nation with a 1.84 team ERA.
• Offensively, UCSB’s top returnee is Marcos Castanon, who slashed .288/.354/.525 in 2020.
• Due to the shortened 2020 season UCSB is the reigning Big West Champion, having claimed the 2019 title.
• Made four postseason appearances in 10 years, including a trip to the College World Series in 2016.
Long Beach State
• 2020 Record: 10-5
• Started the 2020 season with four straight series wins, including wins over No. 6 Mississippi State and No. 17 Wake Forest.
• Was ranked No. 12 in the nation prior to the suspension of the 2020 season.
• Top returners include Luis Ramirez, Connor Kokx, and Chase Luttrell.
• Kokx lead the Dirtbags offense in 2020, while tying for third in the league with a .400 batting average.
• LBSU will not participate in nonconference play and now starts the 2021 campaign against Hawai’i on March 19.
UC Irvine
• 2020 Record: 8-7
• Anteaters return Preseason All-America Trenton Denholm, who tossed 23.2 innings pitched, walked 10 with 25 strikeouts registering an ERA of 2.28 and was on the Golden Spikes Award Watch List in 2020.
• Returns four players from the 2019 All-Big West Teams, which includes 2019 Big West Pitcher of the Year (Denholm).
• Outfielder Jake Palmer led the team in 2020 with a .368 average, 21 hits, five doubles, 14 runs scored, 10 walks, and added eight RBI.
• Begins the 2021 season ranked 42nd in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Preseason Poll.
Cal Poly
• 2020 Record: 5-11
• Cal Poly has earned second-place finishes in each of the last three full conference seasons.
• Return a pair of preseason All-Americans in catcher Myles Emmerson and shortstop Brooks Lee. Emmerson led the squad a year ago with his .317 average.
• Tentative starting rotation is Drew Thorpe (1-1, 3.21 ERA, 31 K in 28.0 IP), Boise State transfer Travis Weston (0-0, 1.76 ERA, 14 K in 15 IP) and Andrew Alvarez (0-1, 3.63 ERA, 23 K in 22.1 IP).
• The 2021 Mustang roster has been bolstered by the addition of three transfers from Boise State which figure to play prominent roles - Travis Weston, Joe Yorke and Reagan Doss.
Cal State Fullerton
• 2020 Record: 4-12
• Isaiah Garcia is the lone returnee from the 2019 All-Big West Teams.
• Pitcher Tanner Bibee, 2021 Collegiate Baseball Preseason All-American, returns in 2021 after leading the team last season with a 2.73 ERA in 29.2 innings pitched while averaging 10.01 strikeouts per nine innings.
• Titans have won the conference title seven of the last 10 seasons, with the most recent coming in 2018.
CSUN
• 2020 Record: 10-5
• In its first season under the helm of Head Coach Dave Serrano, CSUN opened the 2020 season with a seven-game win streak to mark the program’s best start in 27 seasons.
• Junior outfielder Denzel Clarke has been named one of the Top 100 draft prospects in the nation, according to DI Baseball. In 2020 he competed in all 15 games, making 12 starts in center field while he led the Matadors in batting average (.400), runs scored (12), home runs (3), slugging percentage (.775), on-base percentage (.529) and stolen bases (5) to go with 16 hits and nine RBI. Clarke finished first in the league in on-base percentage and slugging and second in stolen bases and home runs.
• Matadors return two players from the 2019 All-Big West Teams - catcher Sean Skelly and pitcher Blake Schriever.
Hawai’i
• 2020 Record: 11-6
• The Rainbow Warriors were receiving votes in the national polls before the season was cut short in 2020.
• In 2020, Hawai’i defeated a top-five team for the first time since 2013 when they upset No. 2 Vanderbilt February 29.
• Finished top 10 in the nation in sacrifice bunts (18) and sacrifice flies (14).
• Hawai’i returns two 2019 All-Big West selections - 2019 Big West Freshman Field Player of the Year Scotty Scott and Alex Baeza.
UC Davis
• 2020 Record: 9-7
• Last season UCD led the Big West in batting average (.289), on-base percentage (.370) and hits (166).
• UCD returns its top hitter Spencer Gedestad (.417 avg., 25 H, 6 2B and 8 RBI), who paced the league in both batting average and hits.
• On the mound, top three starting pitchers are Brett Erwin (2-0, 2.14 ERA), Jake Spillane (2-2, 3.81), and Nolan Meredith (1-1, 2.95), along with top relievers Nick Johnson (6 appearances, 0.73 ERA, 1-0, 2 saves) and Zach Carrell (allowed one earned run over his final eight innings).
• Was on the winning end of a 4-3, 24-inning contest against LMU last season that lasted over six hours and spanned two days (Feb. 28-29). It fell just short of the NCAA record of 25 innings.
UC San Diego
• 2020 Record: 17-4 (DII)
• First season competing in the Big West.
• Top returners for UCSD include Blake Baumgartner and Brandon Weed.
UC Riverside
• 2020 Record: 9-7
• Interim Head Coach Justin Johnson is set to guide the Highlanders in 2021.
• Finished second in the Big West with a .253 team batting average and 140 hits.
CSU Bakersfield
• 2020 Record: 5-9 (competed in the WAC last year)
• First season competing in the Big West.
• Top returners for CSUB are Daniel Carrizosa, Tyler Jorgensen, Jacen Roberson and Ethan Skuija.
2021 Coaches Poll Results
1. UC Santa Barbara – 119 (10)
2. Long Beach State – 96
3. UC Irvine – 95
4. Cal Poly – 94
5. Cal State Fullerton – 78
6. CSUN – 64 (1)
7. Hawai’I – 61
8. UC Davis – 39
9. UC San Diego – 33
10. UC Riverside – 29
11. CSU Bakersfield – 18
( ) First place votes