SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Cal Poly’s 2019 baseball schedule, released Thursday by head coach Larry Lee and Mustang director of athletics Don Oberhelman, features weekend series on the road against College World Series participant Washington and regional qualifiers Oklahoma and Baylor in the first five weeks of the campaign.
At home, the Mustangs will host Cal, USC and Saint Mary’s, all potential regional qualifiers next spring.
“The 2019 schedule should prove to be one of the toughest, if not the toughest schedule, that we’ve had,” Lee said. “Road series against 2018 postseason qualifiers Washington, Oklahoma and Baylor in the first five weeks of the season will be a sturdy challenge.
“Combined with home series against Cal, USC, and St. Mary’s, our non-conference opponents are all possible post season teams,” Lee added.
A total of 17 games against 2018 NCAA Regional participants, a 12-game homestand in late March and early April, 30 home games in all for the second straight year and 10 contests against Pac-12 schools highlight the 2019 Cal Poly baseball schedule.
The Mustangs will play their first four games on the road — three at Oklahoma to open the season Feb. 15-17 and one at future Big West Conference member CSU Bakersfield — before entertaining Cal for a three-game series Feb. 22-24.
The Mustangs visit Washington on March 1-3, host USC on April 26-28 and play one game at Stanford on May 14 to close out their 10-game Pac-12 slate.
Ivy League member Columbia, a regional participant in 2018, visits Baggett Stadium for a four-game set March 8-10 and Cal Poly closes the six-week non-conference schedule at home against Saint Mary’s on March 22-24.
Cal Poly opens Big West play with six games at home — three each against CSUN on March 29-31 and Cal State Fullerton on April 5-7. The Mustangs also host Hawai’i on May 3-5 and UC Riverside on May 17-19 for Big West series.
Cal Poly’s Big West series on the road will be at UC Davis on April 12-14, Long Beach State on April 18-20, UC Irvine on May 10-12 and UC Santa Barbara to close out the regular season May 23-25.
Cal Poly’s nine midweek games include four at home, starting with CSU Bakersfield on Feb. 26 and continuing with Santa Clara on April 2, Fresno State on April 9 and Pepperdine on May 7.
In addition to the CSU Bakersfield game Feb. 19 and the Stanford contest on May 14, the Mustangs also play midweek games at Pepperdine on March 12, Santa Clara on April 23 and Fresno State on April 30.
Cal Poly’s home games on Saturday have been moved up to 4 p.m. to allow players more time to prepare for the 1 o’clock contests on Sundays. The Mustangs play two doubleheaders next spring against Columbia on March 9 and Saint Mary’s on March 23, both inside Baggett Stadium starting at 1 p.m.
Cal Poly, which a year ago finished second in the Big West for the second straight year and for the fourth time in the last seven seasons (along with a Big West title in 2014), posted a 30-27 mark in 2018.
Cal Poly has qualified for regional play three times in the last 10 years and has finished fourth or higher in the Big West 15 times in its last 17 seasons. The Mustangs have posted a dozen 30-victory campaigns since 2000, including a 47-12 record during its Big West championship season in 2014, and have produced 16 seasons with records of .500 or better in the last 19 years.
The Mustangs were 15-9 in conference games a year ago, 19-11 at home and have won 171 of their last 236 home games for a 72.5 winning percentage.
The 2019 squad, currently practicing in the fall season, features 20 returning lettermen, including five position players who started at least 25 games in 2018 and three starting pitchers (six or more starts), 10 pitchers in all, along with three redshirts and 11 newcomers.
The Alumni Game will be played Feb. 2, a week earlier than in previous years.
