Mustang News Staff Report
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Success always seems to paint a bullseye on the champion’s back.
After a banner 2014 campaign, the Cal Poly baseball team will find itself tackling a handful of elite opponents in 2015. The Mustangs’ schedule — announced Tuesday — features three-game sets with TCU and Oregon State, in addition to a pair of weekday matchups against Pepperdine.
The challenging schedule doesn’t come as much of a surprise, considering Cal Poly’s success last year. The Mustangs won their first Big West Conference championship and advanced to the final round of the 2014 NCAA San Luis Obispo Regional Tournament, hosted at Baggett Stadium. After climbing the national rankings all season, Cal Poly won 47 games and garnered a No. 1 ranking from Collegiate Baseball Newspaper in late April, causing some speculation that the Mustangs would earn a College World Series berth, though their season ended at the hands of Pepperdine in the regional finals.
Cal Poly travels to Fort Worth, Texas on Feb. 27 to face TCU — likely its strongest opponent. The Horned Frogs finished No. 5 in all four of the major national polls and made a fairly deep run into the playoffs. Cal Poly will get a rematch with Pepperdine on March 21 in Malibu, and a second opportunity for revenge three weeks later at Baggett Stadium. The Waves ended up falling to TCU in the Super Regional round of last year’s playoffs.
Oregon State tallied a staggering 45 wins in 2014, earning a Pac-12 Championship and — like many of the Mustangs’ 2015 opponents — a postseason berth. Cal Poly heads to Corvalis, Oregon on March 26 for the series.
The Mustangs will have their hands full in the Big West as well. Both UC Irvine and Long Beach State made the postseason in 2014, the former reaching the late stages of the College World Series.
Conference play opens on April 2 at Cal State Fullerton.
After the alumni game on Feb. 7, the season officially begins on Feb. 13 at Baylor. The Mustangs host Grand Canyon on Feb. 20 for the season home-opener.
In total, Cal Poly will play 20 games against teams which qualified for regional play a year ago. It’s a staggering figure, but one that comes inevitably after a historic, 47-victory 2014 season for Cal Poly.
Jacob Lauing contributed to this report.