A Mustang News Guide to the San Luis Obispo Regional

the road to omaha starts here May 30, 2014 - June 2, 2014

A MUSTANG NEWS GUIDE TO THE

SAN LUIS OBISPO

REGIONAL

Mustang News | NCAA Regional Edition 2

TABLE OF CONTENTS

3 5

regional BREAKDOWN

Cal poly baseball’s rise to regionals

14

schedule

7, 10

TEAM BREAKDOWNs

8

MATT IMHOF

JIMMY Allen

G1

arizona state vs. pepperdine: friday @ 1 p.m.

G2

Cal Poly vs. sacramento statE: friday @ 6 p.m.

G3

loser G1 vs. loser G2: saturday @ 1 p.m.

G4

Winner G1 vs. Winner G2 : saturday @ 6 p.m.

G5

Winner G3 vs. loser g4: sunday @ 1 p.m.

G6

Winner G4 vs. Winner G5 : sunday @ 6 p.m.

G7

G6 REMATCH IF NECESSARY

monday @ 6 p.m.

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Mustang News | NCAA Regional Edition 3

regional BREAKDOWN

San Luis Obispo Regional breakdown Stephan Teodosescu @steodosescu

ESPNU made a point to mention Mark Mathias’ name when revealing which teams Cal Poly would host in the San Luis Obispo Regional on Monday.

To the sophomore second baseman, it didn’t matter that they pronounced it wrong — he felt fortunate enough to have some version of his name uttered on the ESPN family of networks.

“I wasn’t too mad about the wrong name, I was just pumped up that my name was actually on ESPN,” Mathias said. “People know that it was mispronounced, so I’m not really that mad or anything.”

On top of mentioning Mathias’ teamleading batting average heading into the postseason, Monday’s announcement revealed that Pepperdine, Arizona State and Sacramento State would be the teams rounding out the regional at

Baggett Stadium.

The top-seeded Mustangs (45-10), hosting an NCAA Regional for the first time in school history, will square off against No. 4 Sacramento State at 6 p.m. on Friday. No. 2 Arizona State will take on No. 3 Pepperdine in the tournament opener at 1 p.m.

The Hornets (39-22) head 300 miles south of Sacramento to participate in their first-ever NCAA Tournament since making the jump to Division I. They won the Western Athletic Conference’s regular season and tournament titles to earn the regional berth.

Cal Poly and Sacramento State haven’t met since 2009, but the Mustangs hold the all-time advantage at 43-15, and have won the last seven meetings between the two teams, including a series sweep at Baggett the last time out.

“You’ve got to be a pretty good team to

see BREAKDOWN, pg 4.

IAN BILLINGS | MUSTANG NEWS

GAME ON | The Cal Poly baseball team broke a school record with 45 wins this season.

Mustang News | NCAA Regional Edition 4

BREAKDOWN continued from pg 3. win your conference, and I’m sure we’ll be facing their No. 1 guy on Friday,” sophomore designated hitter Brian Mundell said. “They have some big hitters too, but playing at home is always going to be fun.”

The other two teams in the tournament are also hot. Arizona State (33-22) finished third in a loaded Pac-12 conference that

regional BREAKDOWN featured No. 1 overall seed Oregon State this season, and the Sun Devils have won nine of their last 10 games.

Meanwhile, Pepperdine (39-16) won the West Coast Conference’s automatic bid and has gone 7-3 in its last 10 matchups.

Cal Poly split the season series with the Waves, losing 11-4 in the first matchup in Malibu and winning the second game 5-1 at home later in the season.

Cal Poly head coach Larry Lee said the

Mustangs got a good draw for the regional, citing the fact that even though the West Coast is home to few teams, all are strong competitors.

The winner of the San Luis Obispo Regional will advance to the Super Regional round of the tournament, facing the winner of the Fort Worth Regional hosted by TCU. The winner of the three-game Super Regional series will go on to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.

“Every team in this regional is a quality team. Two of the teams came off a win in their conference tournaments, so that means they’re hot.”

LARRY LEE | CAL POLY HEAD COACH

“Every team in this regional is a quality team,” Lee said. “Two of the teams came off a win in their conference tournaments, so that means they’re hot.”

Friday's winners advance to a game on Saturday at 6 p.m., while the losers will play at 1 p.m. that day. Sunday’s 1 p.m. game will feature the winner of Saturday’s afternoon game and the loser of the evening game. The winner of the Saturday evening game will advance to a 6 p.m. game on Sunday and will face the winner of the game earlier in the day.

Unlike the other three teams, Cal Poly is coming off a bye week and hasn’t seen game action since sweeping Cal State Northridge in the final series of the regular season on May 16-18.

“I think it’s good for us having a weekend off just for our bodies to heal up and recuperate our soreness,” Mathias said. “I think it gives us kind of an advantage because we’re all fresh and other teams have been playing all weekend.”

Cal Poly junior southpaw Matt Imhof will toe the mound in Friday night’s opener, while sophomore pitcher Casey Bloomquist and freshman pitcher Justin Calomeni will round out the first three games for the Mustangs.

Mustang News | NCAA Regional Edition 5

rise to regionals

Cal Poly baseball’s rise to regionals Evan Morter @EvanMorter In 1989, then-head coach Steve McFarland and the Cal Poly baseball team shocked the nation by winning the national championship in its first-ever trip to the College World Series.

But that was the Division II title.

Now, 25 years later, head coach Larry Lee is leading Cal Poly into its third Division I NCAA postseason appearance with the belief that his team has what it takes to bring home college baseball’s highest honor.

“This year is just a good group to coach,” Lee said. “They work extremely hard on the field and in the weight room. They’re blue collar. And when they lose, it hurts them, which is a good quality to have.”

The Mustangs (45-10 overall, 19-5 Big West) won their first Big West title in program history this season and are considered a perennial conference contender — a proj-

ect that began two decades ago.

In 1995, the Cal Poly baseball program was promoted to Division I after facing Division II opposition for nearly 50 years. That year, the Mustangs played in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), which the team was a part of until 1996. But Cal Poly moved to the conference it now calls home — the Big West — in 1997. The Mustangs placed fourth in the standings that year, with a 1515 conference record.

However, Cal Poly’s quest for national relevance began in 2002, when thenCuesta College’s highly coveted head coach, Lee, was hired for Cal Poly’s head coaching position.

Lee graduated from San Luis Obispo High School in 1979 and earned his master’s degree in physical education at Cal Poly in 1985. After finishing his collegiate career hitting .304 at Pepperdine and spending

see RISE, pg 6.

PHOTO COURTESY OF CAL POLY ATHLETICS

THE WIZARD | Former Cal Poly baseball player and St. Louis Cardinals legend Ozzie Smith helped solidify the program at the Division II level in his four-year career.

Mustang News | NCAA Regional Edition 6

RISE continued from pg 5. more than a year in the professional baseball ranks, the Central Coast native went on to lift Cuesta to a 460-241-3 record with California Community College State Final Four on four occasions during his 16-year tenure.

“The team I took over (at Cal Poly) was decimated of players,” Lee said. “There were only a few returners that had any experience. So we gave it a three-year period to make it to a regional.”

rise to regionals The short-term goal of reaching a regional in three years proved to be ambitious. The Mustangs struggled in his first year, but during the next two seasons, Cal Poly boasted a combined record of 74-43-1. Such success would normally earn the club its first regional berth, but not on the West Coast, Lee said.

“Not getting that invite set our program back a few years,” Lee said. “We just had to keep working hard and doing what we thought were the right things to better the program.”

Cal Poly endured another three years

PHOTO COURTESY OF CAL POLY ATHLETICS

CHAMPIONS | The 1989 Cal Poly baseball team won the Division II national championship.

without a postseason berth and dropped in the conference standings each year, but the team’s fortune reversed in 2009. The Mustangs earned its first Division I postseason bid that year, but went 0-2 in the Tempe Regional hosted by Arizona State.

The Mustangs got back on track and posted a 36-20 record last year, making their second trip back to the postseason in 2013.

However, the team lost to eventual national champion UCLA and were eliminated by San Diego later in the Los Angeles Regional.

“It was definitely a great experience making it there last year,” senior third baseman Jimmy Allen said. “We got hot at the end of the season and then had some bad luck against UCLA. It fired us up to come back this year and prove ourselves again, and show that Cal Poly needs to be put on the map.”

Allen took a leadership role as one of the team’s four seniors this year and recently became the program’s all-time hits leader after he smacked two home runs in a game against Cal State Northridge on May 16.

According to junior starting pitcher Matt Imhof, the Mustangs were fueled by how close they came to beating the team that

went on to win the national championship.

“It was a tough one for us to swallow last year,” he said. “We thought we were the better team, and we thought we played the better game. But that’s how the ball falls. It gave us confidence, seeing how successful they were and how we stacked up against them.”

Cal Poly has lost just one series in 2014 and went 27-3 at home in the regular season. For the first time in school history, the Mustangs will host a regional in the first round of the the postseason in their own backyard.

“I can’t wait,” Allen said. “The whole city and community is going to be out here supporting us. It’s going to be awesome.”

After earning its first opportunity to host this year, Cal Poly has begun to establish itself as a household name in the collegiate baseball community, Lee said.

“We’re going in the right direction,” he said. “Now it’s just a matter of trying to be consistent on a yearly basis. It’s very important to raise your incoming and existing players’ expectation levels. You want those players to think that they’re going to participate in regionals. That’s when the program has a chance of taking off.”

Mustang News | NCAA Regional Edition 7

TEAM BREAKDOWNs

1

Cal Poly MUSTANGS Cal Poly is hosting its first-ever regional at Baggett Stadium and making its third postseason appearance in the program’s Division I history. The Mustangs finished the year with a school-record 45 wins en route to their first Big West Conference championship this season. They lost just one series all season, losing two out of three games to Long Beach State on the road. Matt Imhof leads the team with 120 strikeouts.

MATT IMHOF

Sacramento State is making its first appearance in the Division I NCAA tournament after winning the Western Athletic Conference’s regular season title and conference tournament this past weekend. The Hornets qualified by winning four straight games in the tourney, defeating Utah Valley 10-3 in the championship game. Sacramento State is 12-32 all-time against Cal Poly and has lost the last seven games overall in the all-time series.

BRENNAN LEITAO PHOTO COURTESY OF SACRAMENTO STATE ATHLETICS

IAN BILLINGS | MUSTANG NEWS

RECORD: 45-10

RECORD: 39-22

vs. TOurnament field:

vs. RPI top 50:

4

SACRAMENTO STATE HORNETS

7-4

6-5

vs. TOurnament field:

vs. RPI top 50:

2-3

2-4

LAST 10 w-l: 9-1

LAST 10 w-l: 7-3

TEAM BATTING AVERAGE: .300

TEAM BATTING AVERAGE: .286

TEAM ERA: 2.98

TEAM ERA: 3.21

BATTER TO WATCH: jimmy allen

BATTER TO WATCH: nathan lukes

PITCHER TO WATCH: matt imhof

PITCHER TO WATCH: brennan leitao

Mustang News | NCAA Regional Edition 8

MATT IMHOF ISN’T Jefferson P. Nolan @Jefferson_Nolan Matt Imhof’s stomach is always uneasy when he wakes up on Friday morning.

The business administration junior makes a hearty breakfast, watches television and listens to a “pregame” playlist on his iPod. For Imhof, it’s a ritual.

But when the Fremont, Calif. native makes his way to the clubhouse at Baggett Stadium, the nerves begin to fade away.

At about 3 in the afternoon, Imhof, Cal Poly’s premier starting pitcher, mentally prepares for the game.

“When I get to the field, I start to dial in,” Imhof said. “I like to do the same thing; the routine helps calm the nerves a little bit.”

On Friday, the Mustangs’ ace will perform this routine again.

But this time, Imhof (9-4) will lead the Cal Poly baseball team in the most important start of his college career against Sacramento State (39-22) as the Mustangs host an NCAA Regional for the first time in its 20-year history in Division I baseball.

When the southpaw takes the mound against the Hornets, major-league scouts equipped with radar guns will group around the home plate backstop, and the fans at the jam-packed Baggett Stadium will see an expressionless, emotionless pitcher on the mound.

But unbeknownst to most, Imhof’s composure on the bump is a far cry from his personality off the field.

Described by fellow pitcher Michael Dingilian simply as a “giant goofball,” it is remarkable that Imhof’s outlandish personality belongs to the same stoic athlete who helped lead the No. 5 Mustangs to their first Big West Conference title in program history.

“Off the field, he’s such a funny guy, and he jokes around a ton,” second baseman Mark Mathias said. “But when it comes time for his Friday start, his nose is forward, his head is straight and his eyes are just so focused. You can’t get anything past him.”

Mathias met Imhof at 8 years old, while playing travel baseball in Fremont. But even out of high school, the athlete was radically dis-

similar from the pitcher he has become.

In fact, Imhof barely gave Cal Poly a second thought until he was rejected by his dream school, Stanford.

“I thought I was getting in (to Stanford) at one point, but then I ended up not being accepted,” Imhof said. “I was pretty upset about that, but I ended up coming to Cal Poly. It is the best decision I could have made; the best three years of my life have been here at Cal Poly.”

In high school, he excelled in the academically, but Imhof did not take pitching seriously until his sophomore year at Mission San Jose High School. Even then, he

Mustang News | NCAA Regional Edition 9

GOOFING AROUND lacked the mentoring he needed to shine on the baseball diamond.

That was when Cal Poly pitching coach Thomas Eager changed everything.

“After I first saw Matt pitch, I told him, ‘You can be as good as you want to be.

You have a chance to be one of the highest draft picks out of Cal Poly and possibly in the big leagues,’” Eager said. “I said to him, ‘Matt, I’ll be at your first game if you go on to pitch in the big leagues.’”

It didn’t happen immediately, but Eager and Cal Poly head coach Larry Lee helped guide the young athlete to be a dominant force on the mound.

“In high school, he didn’t have much success,” Eager said. “He was a smart kid, but he just didn’t know who he was on the mound. Now, I feel like he’s found himself. He used to be a big nerd.”

After mostly pitching in relief in his freshman year, Imhof began to develop a presence on the mound. In 2013, Imhof posted a 7-3 record and a 2.74 ERA as Cal Poly’s Saturday starter.

With an increase in his velocity, Imhof realized he could use his fastball to his advantage.

From the batters’ box, the baseball appears to come out of the lefty’s ear. The southpaw’s interesting arm slot and

downward throwing motion allows the ball to cross the strike zone at a unique angle.

“I’ve always thrown a little bit funky,” Imhof said. “All left-handers throw a little bit weird, but that’s just the way I throw.”

Following a successful sophomore year, Imhof earned a spot on the USA Baseball Collegiate National 24-man roster. As Cal Poly’s first Team USA member since the Mustangs’ move to Division

I baseball, Imhof recorded an impressive 3-0 record in six appearances and a 0.53 ERA after competing against Teams Japan

see IMHOF, pg 12.

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY IAN BILLINGS | MUSTANG NEWS

Mustang News | NCAA Regional Edition 10

2

TEAM BREAKDOWNs

ARIZONA STATE SUN DEVILS Arizona State has rattled off nine wins in its last 10 games of the regular season entering the San Luis Obispo Regional. The Sun Devils clinched sole possession of third place in the Pac-12 standings and earned an at-large berth into the tournament with a 6-3 win over Washington State in its final regular season game of the year.

Arizona State is making its 37th postseason appearance and will be playing in its 31st NCAA Regional.

nate causey PHOTO COURTESY OF ARIZONA STATE ATHLETICS

Pepperdine earned an automatic bid to the postseason based on its West Coast Conference Tournament title.

The Waves have twice advanced to the College World Series and once, in 1992, taken home the national championship. Junior pitcher Aaron Brown has led the Waves with his arm and bat this season. He’s swatted 12 home runs and batted .320 in 55 games this season, while going 11-1 with a 2.24 ERA on the mound as the Sunday starter. The Waves split two games with Cal Poly this season.

AARON BROWN PHOTO COURTESY OF PEPPERDINE ATHLETICS

RECORD: 39-16

RECORD: 33-22 vs. TOurnament field:

vs. RPI top 50:

3

PEPPERDINE WAVES

9-11

9-11

vs. TOurnament field:

vs. RPI top 50:

5-2

7-3

LAST 10 w-l: 9-1

LAST 10 w-l: 7-3

TEAM BATTING AVERAGE: .286

TEAM BATTING AVERAGE: .286

TEAM ERA: 3.91

TEAM ERA: 2.52

BATTER TO WATCH: drew stankiewicz

BATTER TO WATCH: aARON brown

PITCHER TO WATCH: Brett Lilek

PITCHER TO WATCH: COREY MILLER

Mustang News | NCAA Regional Edition 12

Imhof continued from pg 9. and Cuba.

“I loved every minute of it,” Imhof said of his experience with the national team. “You just get really proud when you hear the national anthem and when you have ‘USA’ across your chest. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I’m so thankful that I was able to get it.”

Though Eager was one of the first to profess his confidence in the lefty, Imhof proved to himself with Team USA that he could play and win against the best in the game.

In the 2014 campaign, Imhof has recorded a team-best 120 strikeouts, and he set a Cal

Matt imhof

Poly record earlier this season when he struck out 15 batters against Seattle in early March.

After watching Imof embrace the pressure and responsibility of a Friday starter, Lee anticipates this season will be Imhof’s last hurrah in college baseball before he turns professional.

“Matt will be a really high draft pick,” Lee said. “He’ll sign.”

But even now, three years into his college career and with his most important start to date looming closer and closer, Eager still reminds Imhof of what he used to be. “(Matt) will walk by and I’ll say, ‘Hey Matt, remember who you are ... You’re a big nerd,’” Eager said.

“After I first saw Matt pitch, I told him, ‘You can be as good as you want to be.’”

THOMAS EAGER | CAL POLY PITCHING COACH

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER: FOLLOW THE GAMES ON TWITTER: @cpmustangsports

@CPMustangSports

IAN BILLINGS | MUSTANG NEWS

GOOF | Matt Imhof is projected to be selected in the first several rounds of the MLB Draft.

Mustang News | NCAA Regional Edition 14

JIMMY ALLEN

Jimmy Allen shuns the spotlight Keenan Donath

@KEENAN_DONATH

Cal Poly baseball players don’t often deny an offer from the Boston Red Sox. That is, unless they’re senior third baseman Jimmy Allen, who turned down a 23rd-round selection from one of the most famed MLB teams in the hopes of capping off a recordbreaking collegiate career with a deep postseason run with Cal Poly.

“I came back here this year because I knew the team had so much potential,” Allen said.

Regardless of how well the Mustangs do in their upcoming NCAA Regional, Cal Poly’s all-time hits leader has already cemented himself as one of the most lethal offensive threats in program history. But one would never know it from talking to him.

“I honestly had no idea about the hits record until a week ago,” Allen said. “When people first meet me I would say I am kind of shy at first … and maybe a little goofy.”

Allen’s laid-back attitude fits in well as part of a team that has cited its chemistry as the reason for this year’s successes.

Junior reliever Reed Reilly referred to Allen as the “quiet leader of the team,” while fellow junior reliever Danny Zandona echoed his sentiment, saying “(Jimmy) leads by example.”

A graduate of Rancho Buena Vista High School in San Diego County, Allen was highly recruited by West Coast baseball powerhouses such as Arizona State, Pepperdine and USC, but he always knew he would end up playing at Baggett Stadium. Even after the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim came knocking when they drafted him in the 39th round of the 2010 draft, Allen still had his eyes set on attending Cal Poly.

“My mom and sister went here, and my brotherin-law played baseball here for (Cal Poly head coach Larry Lee), so I went to a lot of games here as a kid,” Allen said. “If I got hurt or something and baseball didn’t work out, I would still be happy here.”

For now, Allen is content carving up opposing Big West pitchers. The senior is batting .301 after playing in all 55 of the team’s regular season games. In

see ALLEN, pg 15.

IAN BILLINGS | MUSTANG NEWS

Mustang News | NCAA Regional Edition 15

JIMMY ALLEN Allen continued from pg 14. the season’s final series against Cal State Northridge, Allen hit three home runs on his way to earning Big West Conference Field Player of the Week honors.

“He is putting up good numbers on a very good offensive team and has been a component in a lineup that has produced for the majority of the season,” Lee said.

Allen has been a major contributor since his first year at Cal Poly. While a steep learning curve led to a .261 average in his freshman year, the then-left fielder was keen on improving in his sophomore campaign. A switch to third base coupled with an improved presence at the plate led to the kind of offensive

numbers that get attention from pro scouts. Allen led the Big West with 20 doubles and sported a .345 batting average, ninth best in one of the nation’s top baseball conferences.

A productive junior year saw Allen bat .299, while starting in every one of the team’s 59 games. But it was when the team needed him most, battling against some of the nation’s preeminent programs in the Los Angeles Regional, that Allen played some of the best ball of his career. The third baseman caught fire, collecting eight hits in 13 at-bats.

But the hot streak came in a losing effort.

As this year’s returning players know all too well, Cal Poly lost a heartbreaker against UCLA in the second game of the regional.

The Bruins eventually won the national

championship, while the Mustangs were sent packing.

While Allen’s play late in the season was notable, the former John Orton Golden Glove winner was not intent on basking in the attention, even if that meant turning down a predictably hefty signing bonus from the Red Sox. Throw in the chance of injury or diminished performance on the field and Allen’s decision to stay in school becomes that much more admirable, according to Reilly.

“For him to come back and do what he has done, just like last year, it’s awesome,” Reilly said.

And with Allen heating up late in the season again, the road to Omaha and the College World Series is looking more and more welcoming. The senior went 6 for

14 against Cal State Northridge to clinch the Big West title two weeks ago. But Allen’s consistency this season and during the past three years is not surprising to anyone around the team.

“He goes about his business every day for four years,” Lee said. “At the end of it all, he is the career leader in hits, he is up there in a few other offensive categories. He has been a steady influence on our entire team.”

Allen is not the type of player who demands attention. He doesn’t wow with great power or speed, but what he lacks in flashiness, he makes up for in consistency — which is necessary for a team vying for a national title.

“I might be under the radar, but I am OK with that,” Allen said. “I don’t really want all the hype.

IAN BILLINGS | MUSTANG NEWS

RECORD HOLDER | With two homers in a May 16 game against Cal State Northridge, senior third baseman Jimmy Allen surpassed Jon Macalutas as Cal Poly’s all-time hits leader (248).