SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — At least 15 games against 2017 NCAA Regional participants — possibly four more — a pair of homestands of at least seven games, 30 home games in all and four contests against Pac-12 schools (perhaps one more) highlight the 2018 Cal Poly baseball schedule announced Monday by Mustang director of athletics Don Oberhelman and 16th-year head coach Larry Lee.
The Mustangs will play their first eight games on the road, then will play 11 of their next 15 contests at Baggett Stadium, including three-game series against San Diego State (March 16-18) and Dartmouth (March 22-24) plus a four-game set against Pacific (March 2-4).
The Mustangs open the 57-game season with a pair of tournaments, playing Oregon State, Gonzaga and New Mexico in the Surprise (Ariz.) Tournament and Arizona, Michigan, Oklahoma, Arkansas and host San Diego State in the Tony Gwynn Memorial Tournament.
The eighth game of the season-opening road trip is at San Jose State on Feb. 27 and is the first of nine midweek games for Cal Poly. The Mustangs host the Spartans on May 9.
Cal Poly opens Big West play with six games on the road — three each at CSUN on March 29-31 and Cal State Fullerton on April 6-8 — but will play four of the next five conference series at home against UC Davis on April 13-15, Long Beach State on April 20-22, UC Irvine on May 11-13 and UC Santa Barbara on May 18-20.
Cal Poly also will visit Hawai’i on May 4-6 and UC Riverside on May 24-26.
During the bye week in conference play April 27-29, Cal Poly will host UCLA for a three-game non-conference series.
“The 2018 schedule will be another challenging one,” said Lee. “There is a good mixture of quality series opponents as well as two strong early season tournaments where we get to play at neutral sites.”
Cal Poly, which a year ago finished second in the Big West for the third time in the last six years (along with a Big West title in 2014), hosts New Mexico for a single game March 12 and also has home-and-home single midweek games against San Jose State, CSU Bakersfield, Pepperdine and Santa Clara.
During non-conference play in the first six weeks of the season, Cal Poly will host Pacific for four games March 2-4, San Diego State for three games March 16-18 and Dartmouth for three games March 22-24. The Mustangs visit Nebraska for four games March 8-10.
The series against Pacific and Nebraska include the only two scheduled doubleheaders of the year on March 3 and 10, respectively.
The teams Cal Poly will play who qualified for the 2017 NCAA regionals are Nebraska (four games), Long Beach State (three games), UCLA (three games), Cal State Fullerton (three games) and Oregon State (one game) as well as all five teams joining Cal Poly in the Tony Gwynn Memorial Tournament — San Diego State, Arizona, Michigan, Oklahoma and Arkansas.
Cal Poly has qualified for regional play three times in the last nine years and has finished fourth or higher in the Big West 14 times in its last 16 seasons. The Mustangs have posted eleven 30-victory campaigns since 2000, including a 47-12 record during its Big West championship season in 2014 and a 32-25 mark in 2015, and have produced 15 seasons with records of .500 or better in the last 18 years.
The Mustangs were 16-8 in conference games a year ago, 16-11 at home and have won 152 of their last 206 home games for a 73.8 winning percentage.
The 2018 squad, currently practicing in the fall season, features 19 returning lettermen, including eight position players who started at least 25 games in 2017 and two starting pitchers (six or more starts), nine pitchers in all, along with four redshirts and 15 newcomers.
After the Alumni Game on Feb. 10, the 2018 season officially opens Feb. 16-19 with four games in the Surprise Tournament against Oregon State, Gonzaga and New Mexico, to be played at the spring training complex of the Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals.
