2023 Big West Baseball Schedule | Standings | Stats | Week 16 Notes (.pdf)
What 2 Watch 4
The Big West’s automatic qualifier, Cal State Fullerton (31-22), is up north at the Stanford Regional of the 2023 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship. The third-seeded Titans are set to take on second-seeded and 25th-ranked Texas A&M (36-25) this Friday, June 2, on Klein Field at Sunken Diamond on the campus of No. 8 national seed Stanford. The primetime first pitch is slated for 7 p.m. PT on ESPN2 and ESPN+.
Fullerton clinched both a 30-win campaign and a postseason return for the first time since 2018 with 9-4 and 7-4 decisions last week at Cal Poly. The Titans tied for second with CSUN at 20-10 apiece in conference play, but won the head-to-head tiebreaker, rallying after dropping the April 28 series opener to take the road set, two games to one. UC San Diego is the first-time Big West champion, but the Tritons remain ineligible for the postseason while completing their NCAA-mandated four-year reclassification period up from Division II.
Texas A&M is an at-large NCAA qualifier (37th appearance) out of the Southeastern Conference, and is coming off of a run to the SEC Tournament final, where the Aggies fell to Vanderbilt, 10-4. The regional also features Stanford (38-16), and No. 4 seed San José State (31-25), an automatic entrant as the Mountain West Tournament champion and regular-season co-champion. The Spartans are in the field for the first time in over two decades, since 2002. The Cardinal are at-large participants, having won the Pac-12 by five games before bowing out of the conference tournament in the semifinals.
The winner of the Stanford Regional is matched up for a Super Regional with the victor of the Coral Gables Regional in Coral Gables, Fla., which consists of No. 9 national seed Miami, Texas, Louisiana and Maine.
Fullerton won nine consecutive sets of three games or more starting with a home series with Big 12 regular-season tri-champion Texas at the start of March, and ending with a two-games-to-one loss at Big 12 Tournament victor TCU in early May. The Titans came out on top in eight of their 10 Big West weekends, with three sweeps. Second-year head coach Jason Dietrich led a rather remarkable turnaround for a program with tremendous NCAA postseason pedigree, having placed seventh in 2022 with sub-.500 overall and conference marks.
The Titans began 2023 with an 8-1 triumph at Goodwin Field over then-third-ranked 2022 College World Series participant Stanford, but surrendered that set. They won each of their first seven Big West weekends before getting swept at home by the Tritons. Fullerton’s non-conference ledger also included home-and-home splits with local Pac-12 foes UCLA and USC, with the Bruins ranked No. 12 at the time of the Titans’ 15-5 romp on March 28. Fullerton split a two-gamer at No. 17 Arizona State in late April, grabbing an 11-8 decision in 11 innings.
Fullerton has been led on the mound all year by its senior starter tandem of Fynn Chester and southpaw Tyler Stultz. Chester (7-3, 4.21 ERA), who ranks fifth nationally in walks allowed per nine innings (0.94), left a May 20 start in the second and missed the entire Cal Poly series. Stultz turned in another strong effort against the Mustangs in that series opener, fanning nine over 7.2 innings, and is 7-4 on the year with a 4.53 ERA and team highs of 15 starts, 89.1 frames and 90 strikeouts. At the plate, Caden Connor is ninth in the conference with a .333 batting average to go with a team-best 19 doubles, 36 runs, four home runs and 40 RBI. Fifth-year senior Zach Lew (.279) has 13 doubles, seven long balls, and team highs of 43 runs, 43 RBI and 43 walks. All-Big West first-teamer Nate Nankil (.307) is at 37 runs, 18 doubles, five homers and 38 RBI.
Cal State Fullerton is no stranger to the postseason in general, to the Stanford Regional in specific, nor to success at it. In each of the Titans’ last two NCAA berths, in 2017 and 2018, they were sent to Sunken Diamond. They advanced both times, going a perfect 6-0, including 4-0 against Stanford. This is Fullerton’s 41st tourney appearance, with a record of 127-57 (.690), 18 College World Series trips and four national titles in 1979, 1984, 1995 and 2004. The final two of those crowns, 15 CWS advancements and 33 NCAA berths have come as a member of The Big West. The Titans are record 22-time Big West champions.
Roxy Bernstein will handle play-by-play duties throughout the Stanford Regional, with Wes Clements the analyst. 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.
Check listings to see details for upcoming games airing on ESPN+.
Last Week, Today
The final week of the 2023 regular season saw sweeps at home for UC Irvine, Hawai’i and Long Beach State over UC Riverside, UC Santa Barbara and UC Davis, respectively. CSUN took all three contests at CSU Bakersfield. Cal State Fullerton clinched its road set at Cal Poly on Friday night, but was edged 5-4 on Saturday afternoon to narrowly miss out on a share of a record 23rd Big West title. That result gave UC San Diego the title outright, with the Titans still nevertheless the league’s automatic NCAA qualifier as of Friday, with the Tritons still ineligible.
Fullerton posted a five-run first and never looked back in Thursday’s 9-4 decision at Baggett Stadium. Zach Lew led off the contest with a home run, pulling an 0-2 pitch out to left center. The Titans then overturned a 2-0 first-inning deficit by scoring the next five, with Jojo Ingrassia (2.0 IP) shutting the door for a seventh save in a 7-4 victory that punched their ticket to the NCAA Championship. Nate Nankil’s two-out, two-run, first-pitch double tied it 2-2 in the third. Cal Poly salvaged the Senior Day Saturday finale, 5-4. After Fullerton knotted the score at 4-4 through a two-run eighth, Tate Shimao’s two-out, first-pitch RBI single in the home half proved to be the decisive knock.
UCSB entered Thursday No. 5 in the country with a 3.76 ERA, and allowed season highs of 18 hits and 17 runs in a 17-1 setback at Hawai’i that ended its bid for a second successive Big West crown. The Gauchos put up a single tally in the first before the hosts reeled off 17 straight, beginning with a six-run second. Matt Wong belted a pair of solo home runs, including a game-tying shot to spark that big second. Harry Gustin (5.0 IP) and Alex Giroux combined on the mound and each fanned nine, with the latter striking out the first eight batters in a row, the program’s longest such streak since at least 2005. The Rainbow Warriors would go on to outscore the Gauchos, 38-17, en route to the sweep and a first series win over UCSB since 2017, also on O’ahu. Big West Field Player of the Week Stone Miyao put the finishing touches with a walk-off two-run blast in the ninth on Saturday (13-11) after UCSB had rallied from a 9-2 deficit. UH finished 19-7 at home with nine consecutive wins.
Lucas Braun (8.0 IP, 8 K) and closer Joshua Romero were solid on the mound in CSUN’s 6-3 victory in Bakersfield on Thursday night, as the Matadors broke a 3-3 tie late. The visitors then got out to a 5-0 advantage Friday behind two-run home runs from Jakob Simons and Joey Kramer, and held on, 5-4, with Romero notching a single-season school-record 13th save. With Saturday’s finale tied 5-5, a wild ninth saw the Matadors erupt for six and the Roadrunners able to answer with a three-run AJ Miller blast. CSUN thus ended the year with a five-game win streak and 34 victories overall, its most since 2002.
UC Irvine scored 28 runs on just 18 hits in its Thursday night opener against UCR, the largest tally by a Big West side in 2023, with a pair of nine-run frames in the fifth and eighth. Program records fell for most runs in a game (previously 25 in 1972 and 1982), largest margin of victory (28-1), and most walks (16-tied). Luke Spillane came up a single shy of the cycle and matched single-game Big West highs for this year of five runs and six RBI. Blake Penso’s first collegiate home run was a three-run shot in the eighth. All 12 ‘Eaters with a plate appearance scored at least once. UCI went on to complete the sweep, 9-1 and 7-5, with veteran southpaw Nick Pinto (8.1 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 K) picking up a fourth career Big West Pitcher of the Week recognition after Friday.
A season-high five home runs for Long Beach State backed another strong outing by Nico Zeglin (7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 10 K) in Thursday night’s 8-1 victory over UC Davis. Two of those long balls, both solo, came from junior corner infielder Jonathon Long, who moved into sole possession of No. 2 on the program’s career home run list with 26. Saturday’s 7-1 win to complete the home sweep, capped by a fifth-inning Connor Burns grand slam, was No. 100 for fourth-year skipper Eric Valenzuela. Burns had also rounded out the scoring of Friday’s 10-3 romp through a two-run double in the eighth, ending a likely final college campaign with 14 doubles, 14 home runs and 50 RBI.
UC San Diego Outright Big West Champion
UC San Diego clinched a share of its first Big West championship in any sport on Sunday, May 21, when moments after the Tritons wrapped up a weekend sweep at UC Riverside, Cal Poly won 9-5 at 2022 champion UC Santa Barbara. At an impressive 21-9 (.700) in league play, UC San Diego then nabbed the outright crown on the final day on Saturday, May 27, when Cal State Fullerton was downed 5-4 at Cal Poly.
UC San Diego was picked to finish eighth in the preseason coaches’ poll ahead of just its third go-around as a member of the NCAA Division I and The Big West. Twelfth-year head coach Eric Newman guided the Tritons to wins in six of 10 conference sets, all via sweep, including each of the last three road trips to San Luis Obispo, Fullerton and Riverside. UC San Diego ended 2023 with a perfect seven-game road stretch. Still in just the third year of their NCAA-mandated four-year reclassification up from Division II, the Tritons are ineligible for The Big West’s automatic berth into the NCAA Championship until 2025.
The Big West Postseason Honors
The Big West revealed seven major award winners and its all-conference teams for the 2023 baseball season on Thursday. The league’s 11 head coaches voted UC Irvine’s Caden Kendle and CSUN’s Jakob Simons, both junior outfielders, as The Big West Co-Field Players of the Year, while Long Beach State ace Nico Zeglin is The Big West Pitcher of the Year. Junior Long Beach State catcher Connor Burns is the first-ever repeat Big West Defensive Player of the Year. UC Irvine first baseman Anthony Martinez and UC Santa Barbara left-hander Hudson Barrett are The Big West Freshman Field Player of the Year and Freshman Pitcher of the Year, respectively. Eric Newman is The Big West Coach of the Year for the first time after directing UC San Diego to a first Big West championship in any sport. Read the complete release >>>
Trio of Initial All-Americans
Collegiate Baseball was the first outlet to unveil its 2023 All-Americans on Thursday morning, with The Big West represented by three standouts. Long Beach State ace Nico Zeglin, The Big West Pitcher of the Year, made the second team, while The Big West Freshman Field Player of the Year Anthony Martinez of UC Irvine and a third All-Big West First Team selection, senior UC San Diego closer Izaak Martinez, both were chosen to the third team.
Poll Chatter
Cal State Fullerton is among several teams receiving votes outside of the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) top 30, alongside UC Irvine, UC San Diego and San José State. The Titans’ opponent Friday night, Texas A&M, moved into the No. 25 spot in Tuesday’s D1Baseball poll, with the Aggies rated 30th by the NCBWA, and getting consideration beyond USA Today’s top 25. Regional host Stanford’s ranks are No. 6 (D1Baseball, Collegiate Baseball, Baseball America and USA Today) and No. 7 (NCBWA).
Burns Among Buster Posey Semifinalists
Long Beach State junior Connor Burns, the back-to-back Big West Defensive Player of the Year, was announced on May 22 as one of 13 semifinalists for the 2023 Buster Posey Award, given annually by the Wichita Sports Commission to the top Division I collegiate backstop. Six Big West catchers were among 74 named on March 31 to the initial watch list. They were Burns, 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, Stafford and UC Irvine’s Thomas McCaffrey made the 2022 watch list.
Surveying Some Stats
UC Santa Barbara paces the league and is 16th in the country with a team ERA of 4.20. CSUN tops The Big West with a .311 batting average, good for 17th nationally, with UC San Diego the best fielding club at .976. The Gauchos led The Big West in home runs (86) for the fourth full season in a row (COVID-shortened 2020 season not included). UC Irvine is No. 1 in Division I in sacrifice flies (52), second in hit-by-pitches (133) and 13th in sacrifice bunts (46).
Anthony Martinez of UCI is the individual batting champion at .394 (31st in Division I). The first baseman tops The Big West in on-base percentage (.471), hits (91) and RBI (60). Fellow freshman Hudson Barrett of UCSB is No. 5 in the country in ERA (1.92) and 14th in hits allowed per nine innings (6.20). The southpaw is No. 1 in The Big West in opposing batting average (.195), just ahead of Long Beach State senior Nico Zeglin (.202), who is first in innings (94.2), WHIP (0.99) and strikeouts (117), and second in ERA (2.00). UCSB sophomore Matt Ager is second in innings (92.1) and strikeouts (115), with CSUN’s Lucas Braun third in both (91.1 IP, 100 K). Zeglin and Ager are tied for seventh and 10th nationally in strikeouts, and 12th and 22nd in WHIP. Cal State Fullerton’s Fynn Chester has the fifth-best walks allowed per nine mark in the country of 0.94, having issued six free passes over 57.2 frames. The senior righty is eighth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (7.00). Dirtbag Jonathon Long and Gaucho newcomer Jared Sundstrom had a league-best 15 home runs, with the latter also No. 1 in slugging (.672). Caden Kendle (69) is 12 runs ahead of teammate Jo Oyama, with two more ‘Eaters, Chase Call and Will Bermudez, first in walks (50) and HBP (21). Oyama had 14 steals and five triples, tied in the latter category with Tritons Matt Halbach and Noah Sudyka. Alex Gouveia of UC Davis and Ryan Stafford of Cal Poly each hit 20 doubles, with CSUN closer Joshua Romero at 13 saves.
Two National Pitcher of the Year Semifinalists
Senior right-hander Nico Zeglin (8-4, 2.00 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 94.2 IP, 117 K) of Long Beach State and freshman southpaw Hudson Barrett (5-1, six saves, 1.92 ERA, 82 K) of UC Santa Barbara were named on May 17 among 25 semifinalists for the College Baseball Foundation National Pitcher of the Year Award. The Big West was among five conferences with two representatives, alongside the SEC, Conference USA, Southern and Southland, and behind only the ACC, Big 12 and Sun Belt with three apiece. The Pac-12, Big Ten, Big East and West Coast each had just one. Barrett was one of only two freshman semifinalists. Neither hurler made the list of five finalists on June 1.
Gaucho Power Hour
UC Santa Barbara comfortably topped The Big West for the fourth straight full season in home runs with a program-record 86. Long Beach State was closest with 62. 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 haul UCSB reached five times in 2023. 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 joint home run champion with 15. Christian Kirtley (14), Ivan Brethowr (11), Broc Mortensen (11) and Aaron Parker (10) all also remarkably got to double digits. Mortensen’s fourth-inning solo effort in a 4-2 home triumph versus rival Cal Poly on May 20 matched Matt Wilkerson’s (2002-05) school standard of 42 career homers.
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.
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.
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.
Three Big West Arms on Stopper List
Freshman southpaw Hudson Barrett of UC Santa Barbara (six saves), fourth-year junior right-hander Jacob King of UC Irvine (eight saves) and junior righty Joshua Romero of CSUN (league-best and single-season school-record 13 saves) 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.
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.
Coaches’ Corner
CSUN featured the lone first-year skipper in the conference in Eddie Cornejo, who took 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 two-time Big West Coach of the Year Andrew Checketts 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. Fourth-year Long Beach State skipper Eric Valenzuela earned win No. 100 on Senior Day on May 27. Larry Lee, the league’s longest-tenured head coach in a 21st season at Cal Poly (635 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 1,136 across a 36-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.
|
|