• Cal Poly captured the school’s first Big West Conference baseball championship with a 19-5 league mark. Winning six straight to close out the season, the Mustangs made their third trip to the NCAA Regionals in six seasons after earning the conference’s automatic bid. (Tempe -2009, UCLA 2013). Cal Poly’s last conference title was in its final year in Division II, earning its fourth consecutive California Collegiate Athletic Association crown in 1994. The Mustangs finished second in the Big West three times – 2005, 2012 and 2013 – before breaking through this spring.
• The 2014 Cal Poly baseball team posted the second-best winning percentage in all of Division I. Coach Larry Lee’s Mustangs posted a 47-12 record for a .797 winning percentage. Only Louisiana-Lafayette, which was 58-10 for an .853 winning percentage, finished ahead of Cal Poly.
• UC Irvine’s Sam Moore concluded the year leading the nation with 23 saves on the season, which is a Big West record. The Rancho Palo Verdes, Calif., native surpassed Long Beach State’s Gabe Gonzalez, who recorded 20 saves during the 1995 season. Moore’s efforts lifted UC Irvine’s season save total to 27, also a Big West record.
• Justin Garza tossed Cal State Fullerton’s first no-hitter in 13 year’s in a 3-0 win over Cal State Northridge in the final week of the regular season. The Ontario, Calif. native walked three and struck out 12, matching his career high, in his first complete game of his career. It marked the first Titan pitcher to accomplish the feat since 2001 and the first Big West no-hitter since 2012 when UC Irvine’s Andrew Thurman was untouchable in a 4-0 victory over LBSU on April 20.
• UC Irvine pitcher Andrew Morales has definitely left his mark on the Big West Conference. The senior pitcher ends his career ranked second in the Big West annals in both career winning percentage (21-2, .913) and ERA with over 200 innings pitched (1.68). Morales also owns top 10 spots in the conference’s single-season records, tossing a 1.89 ERA in 2013 and a 1.53 ERA this year.
• The 2014 season could be called the year of the Titan when referencing pitching performances. The Cal State Fullerton pitching staff, headlined by sophomores Thomas Eshelman and Justin Garza, set a few Big West season records this year. The Titans posted the econd-best numbers in school history in runs allowed (177) and earned runs (136). They also shattered the conference ERA record that was set in 1970 by Fresno State with a 2.24 mark, which also ranked them third in the nation this season. The talented pitching staff issued just 92 walks, breaking a record they set just two years earlier, and registered a nation-best 1.52 walks allowed per nine innings.
• The Long Beach State pitching staff tallied 10 shutouts in 2014, setting a new single-season Big West mark.
• The USA Baseball Collegiate National Team announced its final 24-man roster that will participate in international competition this summer and the Big West Conference landed four members on the team, the second highest total for a conference. The Southeastern Conference led the field with eight selections.
Representing the conference are pitchers Thomas Eshelman (Cal State Fullerton), Justin Garza (Cal State Fullerton) and Dillon Tate (UC Santa Barbara), along with second baseman Mark Mathias (Cal Poly).
• The Big West sent four teams to the 64-team NCAA Baseball Championship for the first time since 2008. Big West Champion Cal Poly, Long Beach State, UC Irvine and Cal State Fullerton represented the league at this year’s event. While all four teams made it to the regional finals, UCI is the lone team that advanced to the Super Regionals.
• The Big West has sent at least one team to the Super Regionals 11 out of the last 12 years. The 2012 season was the lone year where the Big West was not represented at the Super Regionals and College World Series.
• UC Irvine became the first Big West school to advance to the College World Series since Cal State Fullerton visited Omaha in 2009.
• Five teams posted a .500-or-better overall winning percentage this year - Cal Poly, Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State, UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara.
• The Big West Conference dominated the other west coast conferences in the regular season (Mountain West, Pac 12, WAC and West Coast), posting an overall record of 98-76-1 (.563) among its western opponents. The league owns a .500-or-better winning percentage against each individual conference as well.
• The Big West posted a 153-107-1 (.588) record against nonconference opponents during the regular season.
• Since 2000 the Big West Conference has posted a 118-84 (.584) record in the NCAA Tournament, which includes 16 Super Regional appearances, eight College World Series participants and one national champion (Cal State Fullerton, 2004).
• The Southeastern Conference (SEC) led all conferences in the number of teams in the championship field with 10, the most for a single conference in the history of the tournament. The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) has seven institutions, while the Big 12 and Pac-12 Conference each have five selected. The Big West Conference was fifth with four selections.
• The Big West has enjoyed a tradition of representation at the College World Series. In fact, a Big West school has reached Omaha 18 times. Fullerton brought home the Big West’s first national title in 1995 and then brought home a second in 2004.
1975 - Cal State Fullerton
1988 - Cal State Fullerton, Fresno State
1989 - Long Beach State
1990 - Cal State Fullerton
1991 - Long Beach State, Fresno State
1992 - Cal State Fullerton
1993 - Long Beach State
1994 - Cal State Fullerton
1995 - Cal State Fullerton (NCAA champ)
1998 - Long Beach State
1999 - Cal State Fullerton
2001 - Cal State Fullerton
2003 - Cal State Fullerton
2004 - Cal State Fullerton (NCAA champ)
2006 - Cal State Fullerton
2007 - Cal State Fullerton, UC Irvine
2009 - Cal State Fullerton
2014 - UC Irvine
CAL POLY
We Are The Champions: Sporting a conference mark of 19-5, Cal Poly captured its first Big West Conference baseball championship and earned the league’s automatic berth into the postseason.
Allen Sets School Records: Senior Jimmy Allen lifted his career hit total to 252, setting a new Cal Poly record. He is also the school’s leader in career doubles (56) and at-bats (824), which ties for 10th in the Big West annals.
Mustangs Set School Record: The 47 overall wins recorded this year is a school best. Prior to this season, the 1977 and 1992 squads held the mark with 41 victories.
CAL STATE FULLERTON
Run Baby, Run: Cal State Fullerton allowed just 177 runs scored this year, the second lowest total in school history. The record of 173 was set by the 1975 pitching staff. The Titans’ stellar pitching staffs have allowed under 200 runs just three times prior to this year - 1975 (173), 1977 (181) and 2013 (181).
Untouchable Titans: Cal State Fullerton ranks second in the country with a 2.24 earned run average, which is the lowest for any Titan pitching staff dating back to 1975. The impressive number also set a new Big West record, besting Fresno State’s 1970 squad that registered a 2.34 ERA.
CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE
Matador Leaders: Nick Blaser finishes the year pacing the Matadors with a .302 batting average, while placing second in RBI (23). Ranny Lowe scored a team-high 26 runs and notched 52 hits, fourth best for CSUN.
Senior Swan Song: Cal State Northridge (18-38/6-18) says goodbye to the following seniors - Shay Maltese, John Salas, Ranny Lowe, Michael Coates, Brett Balkan and Brycen Rutherford.
LONG BEACH STATE
LBSU Posts 30-Win Season: LBSU tallied a 34-26 overall record and a 17-7 mark in league play to grab second place. That marks the highest conference finish and highest win total for LBSU since 2008.
Close Calls: The Dirtbags played 22 one-run decision contests to rank among the top in the country. During that span LBSU tallied a 12-10 record.
On the mound: Saturday starter Josh Frye concluded the regular season with a perfect 8-0 record while posting a 1.51 ERA.
UC DAVIS
Aggies Finish Season In Seventh Place: UC Davis finished seventh in the Big West Conference with a 7-17 record, while posting an overall mark of 23-31.
Barker Leading The Way: Kevin Barker hit .335 in 50 games to rank among the Big West’s best at the end of the regular season, while also leading the team in hits (63) and stolen bases (7), and finishing second in doubles (10). His hitting streak of 13 games from April 11 to May 9 was the longest by a UC Davis player this season.
UC IRVINE
Anteaters Post Best Finish Since 2011: UCI finished third in the Big West with a 15-9 record, the highest finish since securing second place in 2011 with a 16-8 mark. The Anteaters’ 40 victories is also the highest win total since 2011 (43-18).
Streaking ‘Eaters: UC Irvine ended the 2014 season dropping eight of its last nine contests, but have since posted a 5-1 record in postseason play and is making its first CWS appearance since 2007.
UC RIVERSIDE
Highlanders Record Highest Finish Since 2011: Posting a 12-12 mark in Big West play landed UC Riverside in a tie for fifth place with UC Santa Barbara, its best finish since 2011 where it also ranked fifth. The Highlanders narrowly missed registering a winning overall record with a 24-26 mark.
Stuart Little: Dylan Stuart finished conference play with an ERA of 0.00 in 34.0 innings of work. He currently paces the league with an overall ERA of 1.44. The senior went 3-0 on the season with four saves.
UC SANTA BARBARA
The Big 3-0: UC Santa Barbara registered an overall record of 34-17-1 to mark the first time the Gauchos posted back-to-back 30-win seasons since the 1991 and 1992 seasons. UC Santa Barbara tallied a 35-25 mark in 2013.
Nonconference Dominance: Winning the final nonconference contest awarded the Gauchos a 22-5-1 (.851) nonconference mark to secure the highest nonconference winning percentage in school history. The mark previously belonged to the 1984 team that went 31-10 for a .756 winning percentage.
HAWAI'I
Hawai’i Finishes Eighth: Hawai’i concludes the 2014 season tied for eighth in the Big West Conference with a 6-18 record. The Rainbow Warriors also tallied a 22-31 overall mark.
Cooper’s Stellar Season: Friday starter Matt Cooper finished with 106 strikeouts, becoming just the 14th pitcher in program history to record 100 strikeouts in a season. His final ERA of 1.60 also put him among UH’s best as only two other Hawai’i starting pitchers posted a higher single-season ERA.