2023 Big West Baseball Schedule | Standings | Stats | Week 14 Notes (.pdf)
What 2 Watch 4
A single game separates the top three teams in The Big West standings heading into the final two weeks of the 2023 regular season, as Cal State Fullerton (17-7) clings to a narrow lead over UC Santa Barbara (16-8) and head coach Eric Newman’s upstart UC San Diego (18-9) outfit. All 18 games between Thursday and Sunday are available on ESPN+. The 11 Big West squads have completed their non-conference slates, so there are no more midweek matchups to come after this weekend’s action.
Fullerton welcomes Long Beach State in to Goodwin Field for three big contests. The Titans have dropped a season-high six in a row, while the Dirtbags are coming off of a home series victory over UCSB. LBSU took the first two games of last year’s set at Blair Field.
Defending Big West champion UC Santa Barbara awaits its Blue-Green rivalry series with Cal Poly at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium. The Gauchos swept last year’s set in San Luis Obispo and are victors of seven straight meetings overall, including two non-conference affairs also hosted by the Mustangs earlier this season on March 12.
UC San Diego rounds out its third campaign in Division I and as a member of The Big West on the road at UC Riverside. The Tritons are winners of their last four, and are still very much in the thick of a title chase, though they are not eligible for The Big West’s automatic berth into the NCAA Championship while they continue their four-year reclassification up from Division II. UC San Diego swept UCR in La Jolla last season by an aggregate score of 33-7.
Fourth-place CSUN and fifth-place Hawai’i face off at Matador Field, both off of home series triumphs. The Rainbow Warriors rallied to take last year’s series on O’ahu. UC Irvine is up north at UC Davis. The ‘Eaters swept the Aggies in Irvine in 2022, and have won 10 consecutive meetings going back to May 26, 2018. CSU Bakersfield is in Waco, Texas, for a three-gamer at Baylor of the Big 12 starting Thursday.
Check listings to see details for upcoming games airing on ESPN+.
Last Week, Today
The big shocker of last weekend was UC San Diego pinning not just a first Big West series loss of 2023 on first-place Cal State Fullerton, but in fact becoming the first team this season to sweep a set of three games or more over the Titans. Hawai’i was a second sweeper, at home over UC Davis. Sunday rubber games went to Long Beach State and CSUN at home over UC Santa Barbara and UC Irvine, respectively, as well as Cal Poly on the road at non-conference Pac-12 foe Utah. CSU Bakersfield clinched its series with visiting UC Riverside on Saturday.
Friday night’s pitcher’s duel in Long Beach went to second-time Big West Pitcher of the Week Nico Zeglin, who twirled a three-hit 1-0 shutout and retired the final 20 Gauchos in a row. Both Zeglin (104) and counterpart Matt Ager (7.1 IP, 105) fanned 10 to eclipse the 100-strikeout mark on the season. Connor Burns’ RBI double accounted for the lone run in the fourth. On ESPNU on Saturday night, Mike Gutierrez (4.0 IP, 4 K) and Hudson Barrett (8 K) combined on a three-hit shutout while the Gauchos matched their season high of five home runs in a comprehensive 8-0 victory. It was Gutierrez’s first appearance since April 16. UCSB got back-to-back long balls to lead off the second from Ivan Brethowr and John Newman, Jr. An infield error preceded three straight bunts that resulted in two more tallies. Brethowr later added a second homer. In Sunday’s rubber affair, the Dirtbags scored seven straight after a two-run UCSB first en route to a 7-3 victory. Burns had a career day with a go-ahead, two-out, three-run home run in the third, and a two-run shot in the seventh, both on two-strike counts.
UC San Diego trailed at the end of only one of the 27 innings it played at Goodwin Field, and has now won its series with Fullerton in each of its first three years as a league member. On Friday night, Matt Halbach had an RBI double in the third and a two-run double in the sixth in a 7-4 decision. Senior Michael Fuhrman fell a double shy of a cycle. The Tritons then hit a Division I-era single-game record five home runs in Saturday’s 11-2 romp, with a six-run fourth putting that result out of doubt. True freshman Ryson Ujimori’s first two college home runs, both solo, were wrapped around a Halbach grand slam in that fourth. Nic Gregson (6.2 IP, 0 R, 6 K) made a three-run first hold up on Sunday, 4-1.
CSUN outlasted UCI 15-10 in a Friday thriller, getting two home runs from Kevin Fitzer. Dub Gleed had a three-run blast and four hits and four RBI total for the ‘Eaters. Second-time Big West Field Player of the Week Anthony Martinez and Gleed both went yard again with the latter knocking in a career-high five in Saturday’s 10-2 romp that evened the set. The hosts pulled out a clinching 9-7 success in Sunday’s decider, however, as Mason Le scored three.
Hawai’i rallied from 3-0 down to win 5-3 on Thursday night at Les Murakami Stadium, as Kyson Donahue had a solo homer and Dallas Duarte a two-run double to bookend the scoring in a four-run sixth. The Warriors rolled 11-3 on Friday before posting another four-run frame in the first inning Sunday, starting with a Donahue RBI double and continuing with a two-run Jacob Igawa single, en route to a 7-2 win.
In Saturday’s series clincher in Bakersfield, the Roadrunners sent 12 to the plate in exploding for eight in the fourth and cruised, 10-3. Cody Hendriks and Matt Kurata each provided two-run singles in the frame. Jayden Lopez belted a two-run shot in the seventh as UCR salvaged the Sunday finale, 8-6, despite surrendering a six-run third.
In non-conference action, Cal Poly fell at Utah on Friday before taking the series. The Mustangs trailed 6-2 after a six-run Ute fourth on Saturday before tallying a pair in the fifth and erupting for five in the sixth, including Tate Shimao’s first collegiate home run to close to within one at 7-6 in the 9-8 decision. Aaron Casillas had two doubles among four hits and drove in three in Sunday’s 6-4 victory.
On Monday night, Corey Nunez walked off California Baptist in Santa Barbara, 7-6, with a two-out 10th-inning single that brought home Newman, Jr. The Gauchos had trailed 3-0 through a three-run blast in the second, before Jared Sundstrom’s grand slam in the fifth made it 6-3. UCI got a three-run shot from Caden Kendle to overturn a 1-0 deficit in the fifth at home over Arizona, only for the Wildcats to rally back for a 4-3 decision that gave the ‘Eaters their lone Pac-12 blemish at 8-1.
UC San Diego won its Trolley Series with crosstown rival San Diego State, three games to one for the second year in a row, rallying past the Aztecs 5-3 in 10 innings at Tony Gwynn Stadium on Tuesday night. The Tritons trailed 2-0 after the first, but tied it by the fourth on two Nick Costello sacrifice flies. They then notched three runs in the 10th with Crew Robinson belting a two-run double before scoring on Noah Sudyka’s triple. Also that night, Cal Poly wrapped up its three-game season sweep of Fresno State with an 11-6 home decision. The Mustangs trotted out to a 7-0 lead through four, thanks in large part to a five-run third. Ryan Stafford went 2-for-4 with a walk, double, two runs and three RBI. Earlier, UC Davis was upended at San Francisco, 5-3.
Poll Chatter
First-place Cal State Fullerton fell out of Monday morning’s latest Collegiate Baseball poll, with UC Santa Barbara dropping from No. 20 to No. 27. UCSB and UC Irvine are both still receiving votes outside of the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) top 30. The latest RPI rankings have UCSB at 42, UCI at 45 and Fullerton at 57.
Dirtbag Zeglin Named D1Baseball Pitcher of the Week
Long Beach State newcomer Nico Zeglin fired just the second nine-inning shutout around The Big West in 2023, under Friday night lights at Blair Field against reigning league champion UC Santa Barbara’s high-powered offense on May 12 in a 1-0 triumph. The graduate transfer’s performance earned a D1Baseball National Pitcher of the Week nod. Zeglin scattered three hits and two walks, needing just 99 pitches to strike out 10 and retire the last 20 Gauchos in order. Ironically, the league’s only other nine-inning shutout, by Hawai’i newcomer Randy Abshier, came against Zeglin on O’ahu back on April 22.
Surveying Some Stats
UC Santa Barbara paces the league and is sixth in the country with a team ERA of 3.83. CSUN tops The Big West with a .310 batting average, good for 19th nationally, with UC Irvine the best fielding club at .977. UC San Diego is second in both pitching (4.47) and fielding (.975). The Gauchos lead The Big West in home runs (79) and steals (65) for the fourth full season in a row (COVID-shortened 2020 season not included). The Anteaters are No. 1 in Division I in sacrifice flies (40), fourth in hit-by-pitches (111), and 15th in sacrifice bunts (39).
Anthony Martinez of UCI is the individual batting leader at .407 (19th in Division I). The true freshman first baseman also tops The Big West in on-base percentage (.480), OPS (1.137), hits (83) and RBI (54). Fellow rookie Hudson Barrett of UCSB is No. 4 in the country in ERA (1.65) and 15th in hits allowed per nine innings (5.76). The southpaw is No. 1 in The Big West in opposing batting average (.186). Teammate Matt Ager is first in innings (84.0), WHIP (0.99) and strikeouts (105), followed in all three categories by Long Beach State newcomer Nico Zeglin (81.1 IP, 1.00 WHIP and 104 K). Zeglin is second behind Barrett in ERA (2.21). Ager and Zeglin are fourth and sixth nationally in strikeouts, and 11th and 13th in WHIP. Cal State Fullerton’s Fynn Chester has the second-best walks allowed per nine mark in the country of 0.79, having issued five free passes over 56.2 frames. The senior righty is seventh in strikeout-to-walk ratio (8.00). Gaucho newcomer Jared Sundstrom has a league-best 15 home runs, and is also No. 1 in slugging (.715). Caden Kendle (58) is 10 runs ahead of teammate Martinez, with two more ‘Eaters, Chase Call and Will Bermudez, first in walks (41) and HBP (18). Alex Gouveia of UC Davis and Matt Halbach of UC San Diego lead in doubles (20) and triples (five), respectively.
Gaucho Power Hour
UC Santa Barbara comfortably tops The Big West for the third straight year in home runs with a new single-season program record of 79. Long Beach State is closest with 54. The Gauchos eclipsed last year’s prior mark of 78 when Jared Sundstrom connected for a grand slam in a 7-6 victory versus California Baptist on May 15. Eight of their long balls came in a late-April sweep at UC San Diego, including a season-high-tying five in the finale, a mark UCSB has reached five times in 2023 (four since April 2). Among those five was a titanic blast by Sundstrom that smacked off the side of a trolley moving right to left above the left field fence, and was estimated to have traveled 470 feet. The first-pitch solo shot went viral on social media, with nearly 300 thousand views on Twitter alone. Sundstrom is the league’s home run leader with 15. Seniors Christian Kirtley and Broc Mortensen are also in double digits with 13 and 10, respectively. Mortensen needs one more to match Matt Wilkerson’s (2002-05) school standard of 42 career homers.
Success Versus Pac-12
In back-to-back weeks, UC Santa Barbara (Feb. 24-25) and UC Irvine (March 3-5) produced impressive three-game road sweeps of traditional Pac-12 powerhouses in then-25th-ranked Oregon and Arizona State, respectively. The Gauchos outscored the Ducks, 20-3, while the Anteaters held a decisive run advantage of 33-17 over the Sun Devils. The ‘Eaters finished 8-1 (UCLA and USC twice each; Washington State) against the Pac-12 in 2023. They swept a home-and-home series with UCLA for the second year in a row. UCI routed the then-22nd-ranked Bruins on the road on April 18, 12-4, behind an eight-run fifth, and then scored in all eight of its turns at the plate to again cruise 12-3 on May 2 in front of 2,469 fans, the seventh-largest crowd in Anteater Ballpark history (biggest since 2009). Prior to the 4-3 home defeat to Arizona on May 15, the ‘Eaters were winners of 13 straight against Pac-12 foes going back to a 9-5 loss at No. 13 Oregon State on March 5, 2022.
Top Big West Tilt on ESPNU Goes to UCSB
The Big West Baseball’s lone national television telecast for the 2023 regular season went to reigning conference champion and preseason favorite UC Santa Barbara at Long Beach State on ESPNU on Saturday, May 13, by the final score of 8-0. The Gauchos matched their single-game season high of five home runs, with two from cleanup hitter Ivan Brethowr. The contest also featured a return to the mound of UCSB ace Mike Gutierrez (H, BB, 4 K) for the first time since April 16, the junior southpaw tossing four clean frames before rookie Hudson Barrett (2 H, 3 BB, 8 K) took over to complete the combined shutout. The Dirtbags won the other two games to grab the weekend set. One of America’s premier amateur baseball facilities, Blair Field welcomed the addition this offseason of the new Bryson Financial Video Board, a state-of-the-art video display nearly 26.5 feet high and 50 feet wide in right center.
Three Big West Arms on Stopper List
Freshman southpaw Hudson Barrett of UC Santa Barbara (five saves), fourth-year junior right-hander Jacob King of UC Irvine (seven) and junior righty Joshua Romero of CSUN (league-best 10) were among 56 bullpen standouts named on April 26 to the 2023 NCBWA Stopper of the Year Midseason Watch List. The award is given annually to the top relief pitcher in NCAA Division I baseball. King was joined by Gauchos Matt Ager and Carter Benbrook on the 81-member preseason watch list, with Ager now a starter. King also made the 2022 preseason list.
Collegiate Baseball Weekly Awards
Three Big West baseball standouts have been named among Collegiate Baseball National Players of the Week in 2023. Most recently it was UC San Diego’s Brandon Larson (.375, 5 R, 10 RBI, 1.125 slugging) on May 1, after the true freshman hit home runs in all four games during a 3-1 road week, and drove in three runs on each day of a sweep at Cal Poly. UC Santa Barbara redshirt senior Christian Kirtley was selected on April 17, having produced four home runs alongside a double, nine runs and four RBI while batting .389 (7-for-18) over five games. The Gaucho leftfielder had a pair of two-home-run efforts, all solo with a walk-off blast on April 10 versus San José State. Earlier on April 3, Long Beach State’s Jonathon Long was chosen among seven (four field players) CB National Players of the Week. The junior first baseman hit .444 (8-for-18) and slugged 1.167 during a 4-0 home week for the Dirtbags, providing four runs, a double, four home runs and six RBI, with two of those long balls of the walk-off variety, both solo shots in the ninth inning against California Baptist on March 28 and Cal Poly on April 1.
Six Big West Backstops on Buster Posey Watch List
Six Big West catchers were among 74 named on March 31 to the 2023 watch list for the Buster Posey Award, given annually by the Wichita Sports Commission to the top Division I collegiate backstop. They were junior Connor Burns of Long Beach State, senior Dallas Duarte of Hawai’i, sophomore Aaron Parker of UC Santa Barbara, redshirt junior Angel Saldivar of CSU Bakersfield, sophomore Ryan Stafford of Cal Poly, and redshirt sophomore Graysen Tarlow of CSUN. Burns, the 2022 Big West Defensive Player of the Year, along with Stafford and UC Irvine’s Thomas McCaffrey, made the watch list a season ago.
Cal Poly Triple Play
A notable occurrence took place in the fourth inning of Cal Poly’s 7-4 home loss to Santa Clara on April 11, as the Mustangs turned the only triple play around The Big West in 2023, one of just nine nationally in Division I. With Broncos at first and second, Tanner Sagouspe got Efrain Manzo to line out to shortstop Aaron Casillas, who threw to second baseman Tate Shimao for the second out, with the relay to Joe Yorke at first in time to get the runner trying to return there. It was the first triple play by a Big West club since Hawai’i in 2016. CSU Bakersfield produced one while still in the Western Athletic Conference in 2017. It was the first triple play in Cal Poly’s 29-year NCAA Division I history.
Big West Record for Mustang Villegas
Cal Poly utility and cleanup hitter Collin Villegas tied The Big West single-game record of four doubles in a 12-4 victory at CSU Bakersfield on April 14. The senior finished 4-for-5 with a hit-by-pitch, one RBI and a Big West single-game high (tied) for 2023 of five runs. The four doubles are a new program standard. Villegas also incidentally owns The Big West’s top single-game walks mark this season of five in the Mustangs’ opener on Feb. 17 versus Missouri State. Harvey Hill hit four doubles for Fresno State against Saint Mary’s on March 13, 1987, when the Bulldogs were league members, and Ryan Haag produced four two-baggers for CSUN at UC Riverside on April 7, 2002.
Perfect Game Midseason All-Americans
The Big West had three student-athletes recognized when Perfect Game USA unveiled its midseason All-America teams on April 4. UC Santa Barbara ace Mike Gutierrez and Long Beach State newcomer Graham Osman were two of the six starting pitchers on the Midseason All-America Third Team, while Gaucho reliever Hudson Barrett made the Midseason Freshman All-America First Team.
Coaches’ Corner
CSUN features the lone first-year skipper in the conference in Eddie Cornejo, who has taken over for the retired long-time college baseball leader, Dave Serrano. The Matadors’ 20-5 home romp over visiting Stony Brook on Opening Day on Feb. 17 gave Cornejo a first win as a college head coach. On Feb. 13, UC Santa Barbara announced a contract extension that will keep Andrew Checketts, The Big West Coach of the Year for a second time in 2022, with the Gauchos through 2029. UCSB’s 6-5 walk-off victory in 11 innings versus UC Davis on April 28 marked Checketts’ milestone career win No. 400. Larry Lee, the league’s longest-tenured head coach in a 21st season at Cal Poly (633 career wins), was selected by USA Baseball in January to manage the 2023 Collegiate National Team this summer. Second-year Hawai’i head coach Rich Hill has the most wins overall of any of the 11 current Big West managers, now at 1,132 across a 35-plus-season career.
2022 Season Rewind - Gauchos Go the Distance
UC Santa Barbara went 44-14 overall and a dominant 27-3 in The Big West a season ago to cruise to its second conference title in three years by a full five games over runner-up Cal Poly. It was UCSB’s fourth league crown in all. Not only did the Gauchos take all 10 league sets with seven sweeps, they didn’t drop a single non-conference series of more than two games. UCSB went 1-2 at the NCAA Stanford Regional with a 9-4 victory over Binghamton in between defeats to Texas State and the host Cardinal. Andrew Checketts was voted by peers as The Big West Coach of the Year for a second time. Cal Poly’s duo of shortstop Brooks Lee and right-handed ace Drew Thorpe were unanimous choices for Big West Field Player and Pitcher of the Year, respectively, with both then becoming day-one MLB draft choices who signed pro contracts.
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