Larry Lee’s wait is finally over.
After a number of years in which the Cal Poly baseball team had its bubble burst by the NCAA selection committee, Lee’s team will finally see the postseason for the first time at the Division I level on Friday at 2 p.m. when they travel to the Tempe Regional to face Oral Roberts (31-13).
“I didn’t think we were a bubble team but you just never know,” Lee said. “I know it’s not a Western United States based committee.”
While the committee may not have caught many Cal Poly games this year, it couldn’t ignore the Mustangs solid résumé this year. Cal Poly (37-19) finished in third place in a Big West Conference that saw the top two teams, UC Irvine and Cal State Fullerton, earn two of the top eight national seeds this year.
The Mustangs weren’t far behind, earning a Top 25 ranking throughout the majority of the season and holding victories over several Top 25 teams including then-No. 3 Rice and two victories against defending national champion Fresno State.
Lee said that regardless of how his team performs in this postseason, the Mustangs have taken a huge step forward.
“I think getting to the regional is the important thing,” he said. “No matter what you do it helps out in every aspect of your program. It breaks down that initial barrier of getting to the playoffs. It gets you accustomed to that and it allows continuing athletes to know what its all about.”
While Cal Poly may feel postseason jitters in their first regional experience, Oral Roberts has become accustomed to it.
The Golden Eagles have made 12 consecutive trips to the NCAA postseason. They defeated South Dakota 6-2 on Saturday in Tulsa, Okla., to win their 12th straight Summit League championship.
“(I don’t know) a lot about them,” Lee said. “Pitching is one of their strengths but we’re just collecting our scouting information on them right now.”
The Mustangs will have three full days to prepare for Oral Roberts, but Lee has already made the decision on who is going to start for his team on Friday.
“We’ll throw Radeke on Friday night,” Lee said. “He’s our most consistent pitcher. He’s able to spot his fastball inside and out. He allows you to call a game for him and he competes.”
Radeke (6-1) has become one of the Mustangs best starters late in the season. The freshman has allowed just 18 walks in 71.2 innings this year.
“He’s resilient,” Lee said of Radeke. “We know we can throw him on Friday and he can come back on one day’s rest if we need him to.”
The winner of Cal Poly’s first game will play the winner of the Arizona State (44-12) and Kent State (42-15) contest. The Sun Devils are the No. 5 seed nationally after winning the Pac-10. Kent State defeated Toledo 5-3 on Saturday to capture the Mid-American Conference tournament title. They finished third in the regular season.
“I think it’s a good regional for us,” Lee said. “We’re an offensive team and it’s an offensive ballpark. Arizona State is a good team; they’re as good as anyone in the country. A team like them is there year in and year out.”
Despite having to bus to San Jose and fly to Tempe, Lee was pleased with the team’s regional selection. The Mustangs would not be allowed to travel to Irvine or Fullerton due to those host teams being part of the Big West Conference, so Tempe was the next closest place to travel.
“It was the logical (regional venue),” Lee said. “If we continue to make regionals it’s a logical place to send us. It’s probably the best possible scenario for us.”
The regional is a double-elimination format meaning that to advance a team will need to win at least three games to move on.
The winner of the Tempe Regional will play the Clemson Regional champion (Clemson, Tennessee Tech, Oklahoma State and Alabama) June 5-7 or June 6-8 for a trip to the College World Series in Omaha.
The Mustangs hope to follow the blueprint set forth by Fresno State last year. The Bulldogs arrived at the NCAA Regionals unheralded and ran a streak of hot hitting straight to Omaha.
Fresno State would go on to beat Georgia 6-1 in the national championship game.
“Once you get to a four-team regional anything can happen,” Lee said. “If things fall into place anything can happen — that’s what happened to Fresno State last year… I think the most important game is that first game. We just need to come out and weather the storm early in the game and be in control ourselves and try to get that first win. Once that happens it seems like everything settles down.”