Big West Baseball: Composite Schedule || Standings || Stats 

Friday, May 6
UC Davis at CSUN, 3 p.m. E+
UC Riverside at Long Beach State, 6 p.m.
CSU Bakersfield at Cal Poly, 6 p.m.
Hawai’i at UNLV, 6:05 p.m.
Cal State Fullerton at UC San Diego, 6:30 p.m. E+
No. 25 UC Santa Barbara at UC Irvine, 7:30 p.m. ON ESPNU

Saturday, May 7
Hawai’i at UNLV, 1:05 p.m.
UC Davis at CSUN, 2 p.m.
Cal State Fullerton at UC San Diego, 2 p.m. E+
UC Riverside at Long Beach State, 3 p.m.
CSU Bakersfield at Cal Poly, 4 p.m. E+
No. 25 UC Santa Barbara at UC Irvine, 6 p.m. E+

Sunday, May 8
Hawai’i at UNLV, 12:05 p.m.
UC Davis at CSUN, 1 p.m. E+
No. 25 UC Santa Barbara at UC Irvine, 1 p.m. E+
UC Riverside at Long Beach State, 1 p.m. E+
Cal State Fullerton at UC San Diego, 1 p.m. E+
CSU Bakersfield at Cal Poly, 1 p.m. E+

Tuesday, May 10
Saint Mary’s at No. 25 UC Santa Barbara, 5:30 p.m. E+
UC San Diego at Oregon, 6 p.m.
No. 8 UCLA at Cal State Fullerton, 6 p.m. E+
UC Irvine at Loyola Marymount, 6 p.m.
Pepperdine at Cal Poly, 6 p.m.

Wednesday, May 11
UC San Diego at Oregon, 4 p.m.
Washington State at UC Riverside, 6 p.m. E+
USC at Long Beach State, 6 p.m. E+

All times Pacific, and subject to change; 
Streamed on ESPN PLUS - E+

Friday, April 29
CSU Bakersfield 4, at CSUN 5
UC Irvine 2, at Long Beach State 6
UC Santa Barbara 10, at Cal Poly 7 (11 inn.)
UC Riverside 1, at UC San Diego 7
Cal State Fullerton 7, at Hawai’i 0

Saturday, April 30
UC Riverside 6, at UC San Diego 12
CSU Bakersfield 8, at CSUN 7
UC Irvine 0, at Long Beach State 4
UC Santa Barbara 8, at Cal Poly 3
Cal State Fullerton 4, at Hawai’i 5

Sunday, May 1
UC Irvine 2, at Long Beach State 1
UC Santa Barbara 7, at Cal Poly 3
UC Riverside 0, at UC San Diego 14
CSU Bakersfield 2, at CSUN 3
Cal State Fullerton 3, at Hawai’i 17

Tuesday, May 3
Pepperdine 4, at No. 25 UC Santa Barbara 7
No. 8 UCLA 3, at Long Beach State 4 (12 inn.)
CSUN 0, at USC 6
UC San Diego 9, at San Diego State 6
BYU 10, at Cal State Fullerton 5
San Diego 1, at UC Irvine 6
UC Davis 6, at No. 11 Stanford 16
Cal Poly 3, at Fresno State 5

Wednesday, May 4
CSUN 9, at San Diego State 2

Big West wins in BOLD

What 2 Watch 4
- Four weeks remain in The Big West regular season, and UC Santa Barbara holds a commanding six-game lead atop the standings. The Gauchos are winners of 13 of their last 15 overall, and have yet to lose a series of three games or more, with four straight league sweeps.

- UCSB is at reigning Big West champion UC Irvine this weekend, beginning with a nationally-televised primetime affair on ESPNU Friday night at 7:30 p.m. The ‘Eaters are tied for fourth. Cal State Fullerton, which also holds a share of fourth, heads south to La Jolla to meet an in-form UC San Diego squad that has taken a season-high six in a row for the longest current win streak in The Big West. Third-place Cal Poly entertains CSU Bakersfield, with sixth-place CSUN hosting UC Davis, and Long Beach State welcoming UC Riverside to Blair Field.

- Hawai’i, which sits alone in second after being picked sixth in the preseason poll, is out-of-conference this week, back on the mainland at Mountain West leader UNLV (31-16, 17-7 MW). The three-game set will take place at Las Vegas Ballpark, home of the Oakland Athletics’ Triple-A affiliate Las Vegas Aviators, rather than at the Rebels’ Earl E. Wilson Stadium. UNLV is 1-0 this season at Las Vegas Ballpark, with an 11-10 win over Arizona State there on March 29. The Rebels are 1-0 on the year against UH, through a 9-3 victory in San Diego on Feb. 26.

- Ten of the 15 Big West matchups are scheduled to air on ESPN+, with the exceptions being Friday’s ESPNU tilt in Irvine, Friday’s opener in San Luis Obispo, Saturday’s middle game in Northridge, and the first two contests in Long Beach. The entire Hawai’i series in Las Vegas is on the Mountain West Network.

- Midweek activity features eight games, with five of them against Pac-12 foes. The Tritons travel to Eugene, Ore., for a pair of meetings with the Oregon Ducks on Tuesday and Wednesday, May 10-11. Cal State Fullerton hosts No. 8 UCLA on Tuesday, with USC at Long Beach State and Washington State at UC Riverside on Wednesday night. The action in Santa Barbara, Fullerton, Riverside and Long Beach is slated to be on ESPN+.

Poll Chatter
Following a fourth straight Big West series sweep, UC Santa Barbara made its season debut Monday morning in the D1Baseball poll, at No. 25. Likewise, the Gauchos are into the Baseball America listing for the first time in 2022, also at No. 25. They moved up three more rungs to a new season high of No. 10 in the Collegiate Baseball poll. The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) advanced UCSB four spots to No. 25, with Cal Poly still receiving votes outside their top 30. The Gauchos are getting 40 votes beyond USA Today’s top 25.

Second ESPNU Showcase on Tap Friday Night
On Wednesday, Feb. 16, The Big West announced two baseball telecasts on ESPNU for this spring which feature the top three teams in the preseason coaches’ poll. Defending conference champion UC Irvine edged preseason favorite Long Beach State, 2-1, at Blair Field on May 1. This Friday night, May 6, the fourth-place ‘Eaters host 25th-ranked league leader UC Santa Barbara in a primetime showdown at 7:30 p.m. PT at Cicerone Field. UCI and UCSB represented The Big West in the NCAA postseason in 2021. Games aired on ESPN networks are available on the ESPN App, accessible on computers, smartphones, tablets and connected devices to fans who receive their video subscription through an authenticated provider.

Statistical Superlatives
Through games played on May 4, Cal State Fullerton tops The Big West in batting (.284), UC Santa Barbara in pitching (3.87), and Long Beach State in fielding (.974). The Gauchos’ team ERA is 19th nationally, and they also comfortably pace the league by 11 with 55 home runs.

Cal Poly shortstop Brooks Lee leads The Big West in batting (.364), on-base percentage (.472), slugging (.642), OPS (1.114), hits (63), RBI (40), doubles (19), total bases (111) and walks (38). A school-record 17 of those bases on balls are of the intentional variety. He is tied for eighth in the country in doubles. Bubba Filia of UC San Diego, Gabe Gonzalez of CSUN and Gaucho Broc Mortensen have each slammed 10 home runs, with Lee tied with CSU Bakersfield’s AJ Miller at nine blasts in his Triple Crown pursuit. Other offensive category leaders include CSUN’s Kai Moody and Andrew Sojka in runs (36), Cal Poly’s Ryan Stafford in at-bats (186), UCI’s Taishi Nakawake in sacrifice bunts (13), Stafford and Cole Cabrera of Hawai’i in sacrifice flies (five), and UCSB’s Jordan Sprinkle in steals (18). Seven players have three triples.

UC Irvine reliever Gordon Ingrebitson is tops among qualifiers in ERA (1.81), strikeout-to-walk ratio (9.50) and walks allowed per nine innings (0.72), second in WHIP (0.85), and third in opposing batting average (.209). Nationally, he is third in walks allowed per nine innings, seventh in strikeout-to-walk ratio, and 12th in ERA and WHIP. Cal Poly’s Drew Thorpe paces The Big West by 25 with his 105 strikeouts, which is fifth in the nation. The right-hander is first in the conference in WHIP (0.84), opposing batting average (.173), innings (77.0) and hits allowed per nine innings (5.49), and second in ERA (2.57), strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.83) and strikeouts per nine innings (12.27). Thorpe is 10th in Division I in WHIP and hits allowed per nine innings, 36th in strikeout-to-walk ratio and 37th in strikeouts per nine innings. He has six wins, as does Mustang teammate Zach Button and the UCSB trio of Mike Gutierrez, Cory Lewis and Michael Rice. Lewis is also second in opposing batting average (.174) and strikeouts (80). Gaucho closer Ryan Harvey has 10 saves, which is tied for eighth in the country.
 

Gaucho Closer Harvey on Stopper List
Ryan Harvey of UC Santa Barbara was among 62 bullpen standouts named on Wednesday, April 27, to the 2022 NCBWA Stopper of the Year Midseason Watch List. The Gaucho closer’s 10 saves lead The Big West and are tied with seven others for eighth nationally. Fellow third-year sophomore right-handers Devereaux Harrison of Long Beach State and Jacob King of UC Irvine were on the 66-player preseason list back on Feb. 17.

Three Big West Backstops on Buster Posey Watch List
Three Big West underclassmen were among 87 named on Monday, April 18, to the 2022 watch list for the Buster Posey Award, given annually by the Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission to the top Division I collegiate catcher. They were sophomores Connor Burns of Long Beach State and Thomas McCaffrey of UC Irvine, and freshman Ryan Stafford of Cal Poly.

Beachy Day for Dirtbags in SLO
Long Beach State put together a historic team effort in San Luis Obispo on Saturday, April 9, as the Dirtbags defeated Cal Poly 28-2 behind a program-record 32 hits. Both the 28 runs and 32 hits were by far the most in a single game around The Big West in 2022, topping the 22 runs on 21 hits that UC San Diego produced at home against Seattle U on Feb. 19. Nationally, the 32 hits are the most in a Division I game this season, and the 28 runs are tied with five others for the eighth-best output. The hit tally fell one shy of matching the all-time Big West mark, as then-member Nevada had 33 against New Mexico State on April 18, 1999. Only eight of the hits went for extra bases with five of them home runs, including two by Charlie Loust, the first to lead off the contest just three pitches in. LBSU scored in each of the first eight innings, with a high of eight in the third. The result broke the Dirtbag standard for biggest scoring margin.

National Recognition for Cal Poly Pair
Two Cal Poly Mustangs have recently picked up national distinction for standout performances, with redshirt sophomore right-hander Drew Thorpe (3/28) and junior Collin Villegas (4/4) named among Collegiate Baseball National Players of the Week. Thorpe, also selected by the NCBWA as the Dick Howser Trophy National Pitcher of the Week (March 29), was honored for his 15-strikeout effort at UC San Diego (3/25). He scattered three hits over seven innings while combining on a 7-0 shutout. The strikeout total was a new career high, matched the program’s Division I-era standard, and is tied with seven others for the sixth-best single-game output around the country this season. Villegas, meanwhile, batted .529 (9-for-17) with five doubles, a triple, six runs, 10 RBI and five walks during Cal Poly’s first 5-0 week in eight years.

Rare Feat by CSU Bakersfield’s Allanson
Andrew Allanson belted two grand slams, one from each side of the plate with the latter sailing over the scoreboard in left field in the ninth, in CSU Bakersfield’s narrow 10-9 home loss to Pepperdine on Tuesday night, March 22. The redshirt freshman designated hitter became the first Roadrunner to ever hit two grand slams in a contest, with his eight RBI breaking the single-game program record and serving as the most in The Big West this season.

 Last Week, Today
- UC Santa Barbara swept the weekend’s marquee series, in San Luis Obispo at Cal Poly, as the Gauchos dropped the Mustangs from second to third place and expanded their cushion at the top of the standings to 6.0 games. UC San Diego grabbed all three at home against UC Riverside for its first Big West sweep in its second season in the conference. Long Beach State took the Black and Blue Rivalry Series over UC Irvine at home, 2-1. Hawai’i rallied to a series win on O’ahu against Cal State Fullerton, and CSUN topped CSU Bakersfield in Northridge.

- UC Santa Barbara clinched its first series win at Cal Poly since 2010 with a come-from-behind 8-3 victory Saturday after the hosts had gone up 3-0 through three frames. The Gauchos had taken a back-and-forth affair Friday night, 10-7 in 11 innings. That game was tied at 3-3, 4-4 and 7-7 after each team struck for three in a wild ninth. UCSB got a leadoff home run from Big West Field Player of the Week Blake Klassen, his second of the game, and a two-run Nick Oakley double, in the 11th. The Gauchos broke a 3-3 tie with a four-run ninth on Sunday, getting back-to-back two-run doubles by Nick Vogt and then Oakley again.

- Long Beach State pulled out a pitchers’ duel on Saturday, 4-0, to clinch the weekend over UC Irvine. The Dirtbags produced all four runs with two gone in the eighth after a leadoff walk, with Eddie Saldivar providing a two-strike, two-run go-ahead single. Big West Pitcher of the Week Marques Johnson (7.0 IP, 6 K) and Devereaux Harrison (3 K) combined on the four-hit shutout, with Harrison, a preseason All-American, getting Justin Torres to swing through a 94-miles-per-hour fastball to register his fifth winning decision. The ‘Eaters salvaged the Sunday finale on ESPNU, 2-1, with Taishi Nakawake driving in the decisive tally via seventh-inning single.

- Tyler Stultz (7.0 IP, 5 K) and Cameron Repetti -(4 K) combined on a 7-0 shutout Friday night in Honolulu. Cal State Fullerton then scored four in the seventh to overturn a 2-0 deficit, only for Hawai’i to tally three in the eighth for a 5-4 triumph. Bronson Rivera came up with the go-ahead two-out, two-run single. Sunday’s rubber match saw the continuation of a rather remarkable stat for the home side, as the Rainbow Warriors rolled 17-3. They have now totaled 54 runs over their last three Big West series finales. This time around, it was Cole Cabrera’s second-inning grand slam on an 0-2 pitch that made it 4-2 and sent UH on its way. The leadoff man reached base all six times, finishing 4-for-4 with two hit-by-pitches, five runs and five RBI.

- CSUN and CSU Bakersfield split a pair of narrow one-run affairs in Northridge on Friday and Saturday. Bart West’s bases-loaded, one-out, two-run single walked it off in the ninth in the opener, 5-4. The Roadrunners survived the next day, 8-7, behind seven combined RBI between James Bell and AJ Miller. The Matadors then walked off again in Sunday’s rubber game, 3-2, on Mason Le’s one-out home run after a Miller shot had tied the score in the top of the ninth.

- UC San Diego got a three-run home run from Jalen Smith and a season-high 7.0 innings from true freshman right-hander Ryan Forcucci in a 7-1 win on Friday night, and rallied from 4-1 down through five frames to clinch the series Saturday through a 12-6 decision. The Tritons hit four more home runs in the latter stages of that one, all with men on base. Senior Michael Fuhrman belted a go-ahead three-run shot to left center and Smith added a two-run blast to bookend the scoring in a six-run seventh The Tritons plated 10 in the fourth via three long balls, a triple, two doubles and no singles to complete their first Big West sweep Sunday, 14-0.

- Tuesday night action featured several stellar results for Big West clubs, namely a walk-off 4-3 triumph for Long Beach State over No. 8 UCLA on Peyton Schulze’s home run to straightaway center field on the first pitch of the home 12th. The Dirtbags had spotted the Bruins the first three scores of the contest before a two-out, two-run Jonathon Long double in the sixth and an RBI single by Connor Burns in the seventh. UC San Diego won a sixth straight, 9-6 at San Diego State, to clinch a 3-1 victory for the inaugural Trolley Series between the city rivals.

- Host UC Irvine knocked off West Coast Conference stalwart San Diego, 6-1. Three hurlers, led by starter David Vizcaino (season-long 7.0 IP), teamed up to two-hit the Toreros. UC Santa Barbara got a three-run Jordan Sprinkle triple in the second and a three-run Broc Mortensen blast in the seventh, his team-best 10th, to down Pepperdine at home, 7-4. Wednesday’s lone game saw CSUN defeat host San Diego State, 9-2, as five Matador arms combined to punch out 15 Aztecs and get Dave Serrano his 500th career win.

Ranked Wins
Here is a look at Big West teams with wins over nationally-ranked non-conference opponents this season, based on the D1Baseball poll.

Feb. 18 - 
No. 24 Long Beach State 3, at No. 4 Mississippi State 0

Feb. 19 - 
No. 24 Long Beach State 13, at No. 4 Mississippi State 3
Cal State Fullerton 11, at No. 6 Stanford 0

March 4 -
CSUN 9, at No. 6 Stanford 3

March 6 -
UC Irvine 3, at No. 13 Oregon State 2 (10)

March 12 -
No. 25 Gonzaga 3, at Long Beach State 13

March 13 -
No. 25 Gonzaga 0, at Long Beach State 1

March 21 -
No. 25 Connecticut 7, at UC San Diego 8

April 26 -
UC Irvine 4, at No. 13 UCLA 2

May 3 - 
No. 8 UCLA 3, at Long Beach State 4 (12 inn.)

Big West History
The Big West has sent at least one team to the College World Series in 21 seasons, including a stretch of eight consecutive years from 1988-95 and four in a row from 2014-17. Four current members have represented the Big West at the CWS - Cal State Fullerton (1975, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2015, 2017), Long Beach State (1989, 1991, 1993, 1998), UC Irvine (2007, 2014) and UC Santa Barbara (2016). In 2007, CSF and UCI played in the longest game in CWS history - a five-hour and 40-minute marathon that lasted 13 innings and ended in a 5-4 Anteater victory. The Big West has won two national titles, both by the Titans, in 1995 and 2004.

USA Baseball on Tuesday, April 5, announced its 45-player midseason Golden Spikes Award watch list, continuing the process of identifying the top amateur baseball player in the country for the 2022 season. Three of the 45 standouts came from The Big West, in Cal Poly right-hander Drew Thorpe, Mustang shortstop Brooks Lee and UC Santa Barbara shortstop Jordan Sprinkle. The Big West is one of five collegiate athletic conferences boasting three or more selections. Lee, who was also chosen to the D1Baseball Midseason All-America First Team, is a member of the Golden Spikes midseason watch list for the second year in a row. He, Sprinkle, and Long Beach State right-hander Devereaux Harrison were on the initial 55-player preseason list back on Feb 15. The winner of the 44th Golden Spikes Award will be announced on Friday, June 24, on ESPN.

At least 18 former Big West Baseball student-athletes made 2022 Opening Day rosters around Major League Baseball. That ranked in the top five among all college conferences, behind the likes of the SEC, ACC and Pac-12.

Cal State Fullerton was best-represented with seven alums, including veteran catcher Kurt Suzuki and Michael Lorenzen still in Southern California with the Los Angeles Angels, and Justin Turner likewise with the 2020 World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers. Matt Chapman is in his first season for the Toronto Blue Jays, J.D. Davis is with the New York Mets, Dustin Garneau with the Detroit Tigers, and Noé Ramirez with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Long Beach State had its quartet of Matt Duffy (Angels), Garrett Hampson (Colorado Rockies), Jeff McNeil (Mets) and Bryan Shaw (Cleveland Guardians). Cal Poly’s trio featured Mitch Haniger, who homered in his first at-bat of the season to account for both Seattle Mariner runs during a 2-1 win in Minnesota on April 8 after a career-high 39 long balls a year ago, alongside pitchers Justin Bruihl of the Dodgers and Spencer Howard of the Texas Rangers.

Former UC Santa Barbara ace, 2020 American League Cy Young Award winner and two-time All-Star Shane Bieber earned his third straight Opening Day start for the Cleveland Guardians, while Dillon Tate, a fellow standout member of the Gaucho pitching staff in 2014 and 2015, is with the Baltimore Orioles. Former UC Irvine slugger Keston Hiura remains with the Milwaukee Brewers, while Andre Pallante made his MLB debut for the St. Louis Cardinals by throwing the seventh inning of a home loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday, April 10.

Hawai’i great Kolten Wong is also among the Brewer infielders, with CSU Bakersfield’s Austin Davis on the Boston Red Sox, but both of them wrapped up their college careers while those programs were in the Western Athletic Conference. At least two Big West alums began the new campaign on injured lists, in Dirtbag Evan Longoria and Titan Dylan Floro for the San Francisco Giants and Miami Marlins, respectively.

Long Beach State alum Brandon Hyde is in his fourth year in charge of the Orioles, while Cal State Fullerton legend Mark Kotsay is in his first season as an MLB manager, in charge of the Oakland Athletics. He earned career victory No. 1 in Philadelphia, 4-1, on Sunday, April 10. There are numerous other Big West products on MLB staffs.