SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — A pair of trips to Texas and three-game series against USC and Oregon State along with 27 home games highlight the 2015 Cal Poly baseball schedule announced Tuesday by Mustang director of athletics Don Oberhelman and head coach Larry Lee.
Cal Poly, which captured its first Big West Conference championship and hosted an NCAA regional for the first time a year ago, will play 20 games against teams which qualified for the NCAA regionals in 2014.
The Mustangs will host Sacramento State and Long Beach State for three-game series and Pepperdine for one midweek contest. The other 13 games against regional teams of a year ago will be three-game series at TCU, Oregon State, Cal State Fullerton and UC Irvine and another midweek game at Pepperdine.
Cal Poly also plays a three-game set at Baylor to open the 2015 season. The Mustangs’ last two trips to the Lone Star State were to Houston in 2009 and Rice in 2007.
“Another very challenging schedule, especially playing some high-quality teams on the road,” said Lee. “Playing at Baylor, at TCU and at Oregon State will prepare us well for conference and we need to be ready from the start.
In addition, we play Cal State Fullerton, UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara, three of the upper-echelon Big West teams, at their home ball parks,” Lee added.
Cal Poly also will travel to Oregon State on March 26-28 for their first meeting since 2007. The Beavers captured College World Series titles in 2005 and 2006. The Mustangs visit former Big West Conference member Pacific for a three-game set March 6-8.
The three teams coming to Baggett Stadium for non-conference series are Grand Canyon on Feb. 20-22, Sacramento State on March 13-15 and USC on March 20-22. Sacramento State played in the San Luis Obispo Regional last year — the Mustangs beating the Hornets in both meetings — while USC and Cal Poly split a rainy doubleheader a year ago at Dedeaux Field.
The Mustangs will host Big West series against Hawai’i on April 10-12, Long Beach State on April 24-26, CSUN on May 1-3 and UC Riverside on May 15-17. Mustang conference series on the road will be at Cal State Fullerton on April 2-4, UC Santa Barbara on April 17-19, UC Irvine on May 8-10 and UC Davis to close out the regular season May 21-23.
TCU and UC Irvine were College World Series participants in 2014 while Pepperdine reached the Super Regionals after winning the San Luis Obispo Regional. Baylor has made 18 NCAA regional appearances, the last in 2012, and earned its fifth conference title two years ago.
Cal Poly had the bye in the Big West schedule on the final weekend of the 2014 regular season. This year, the bye is on the opening weekend and the Mustangs will play at Oregon State while the remaining eight Big West teams open conference play.
Cal Poly and Fresno State will play a pair of midweek games — Feb. 17 at Beiden Field and April 14 at Baggett Stadium — for the first time since the 2012 season.
Cal Poly’s other home midweek games, most of them on Tuesdays, will be against Bakersfield on Feb. 24, Santa Clara on March 3, Dartmouth on March 23 (Monday), Pepperdine on April 7 and San Jose State on May 5.
The Mustangs visit San Jose State on March 24, Pepperdine on March 31, Santa Clara on April 21 and Bakersfield on April 28.
Cal Poly, which played 29 of its 56 games at home each of the last two years, is not scheduled to play a doubleheader this year.
A year ago, the Mustangs shattered the school record with 47 wins, finishing 47-12, and qualified for a regional for the second straight year and the third time in the last six seasons. Cal Poly claimed the Big West title with a 19-5 record, two games ahead of Long Beach State and four in front of UC Irvine. The Mustangs have posted 12 winning seasons and ten 30-victory campaigns since 2000 and won 40 games for the fourth time in school history.
2015 Cal Poly Baseball Schedule (PDF)
