Poly baseball team opens LMU series at home tonight

As difficult as the Cal Poly baseball team’s schedule has been so far, head coach Larry Lee knows what’s coming.

After their three-game series against struggling Loyola Marymount at home this weekend, the Mustangs have looming series at UNLV (8-8), at No. 6 Rice and at home against No. 9 Oregon State.

All the more reason Cal Poly (10-7) hopes to win its fifth straight series against the Lions (4-11-1). The series begins at 6 tonight at Baggett Stadium, continues at 1 p.m. Saturday and concludes at 11 a.m. Sunday.

In all, Cal Poly’s schedule is ranked the fifth-toughest in Division I by BoydsWorld.com, which uses a simulation of the NCAA’s secret Ratings Percentage Index formula to predict what teams will reach the postseason.

“We know that in the near future, we go to Rice, the next weekend is Oregon State,” Lee said Monday. “Our conference is loaded this year. Irvine and Riverside have really stepped up their talent. It makes you think in our case, we’re going to go with a younger group, mostly freshmen and sophomores, they will figure out the game as the season progresses.”

The Mustangs are progressing nicely already, having won 10 of their last 12 games since an 0-5 start that included three season-opening losses at current 21st-ranked San Diego and current 28th-ranked USC.

“Things have really turned around and our young players have learned how to compete at this level and slow the game down a little bit,” Lee said. “They’ve broken down a lot of mental barriers as well as physical barriers. We’ve still got a ways to go. We’ve still got to get more of the young guys involved in the competition.”

Among the young players to have made a significant impact so far are sophomore third baseman Brent Morel (.408 average), freshman catcher Wes Dorrell (.291, 12 RBI), sophomore starting right-hander Thomas Eager (3-1, 2.04 ERA) and sophomore left-handed reliever Derrick Saito (1-0, 0.0).

But despite the efforts of the underclassmen on the roster, two upperclassmen – junior right fielder Grant Desme and junior right-handed reliever Evan Reed – have emerged as team leaders.

Desme leads Cal Poly in hits (24), runs scored (20), home runs (six), RBI (21), total bases (47), slugging percentage (.770), walks (11) and on-base percentage (.479). He is second on the team in average (.393) and doubles (five) and tied for the team lead in stolen bases (two).

Reed, who has four saves, has yet to allow a run in 11 1/3 innings of work.

“We still need to get a few more players involved,” Lee said of the bullpen. “Grant Theophilus threw (Feb. 18) for the first time in a year after two surgeries on his knee. He’s got some tenderness on his shoulder so he didn’t throw this week. Evan Reed’s been lights out. A lot of his saves are one-inning saves. He came into a situation with a runner at first base and nobody out in the eighth (inning) and got six outs for a save in a 3-2 ballgame (last) Saturday, which was good for him to go through. It’s just another experience that he needed to go through to gain more confidence.”

Lee said first-year Cal Poly pitching coach Jason Kelly has taught Reed – whom Lee said throws 94 to 95 mph – a slider and reduced his reliance on the curveball.

“(Reed) is much more of a pitcher now than he ever was,” Lee said. “Evan’s a pitcher that I think, if we had to, we could put him back in a starting role, which we don’t want to, but if we had to, we can. He’s not a one-pitch pitcher anymore. There’s games he’s been out there where he just blows hitters up.”

The Friday night starters are slated to be Cal Poly junior right-hander Marc Nobriga (2-2, 4.45) and Loyola Marymount right-hander Brad Meyers (1-2, 3.33). Saturday’s starters should be Cal Poly freshman southpaw Matt Leonard (1-1, 6.08) and Loyola Marymount southpaw Daniel Macias (0-2, 4.43). Sunday’s aces are scheduled to be Eager and Loyola Marymount right-hander Brian Wilson (1-0, 5.21).

The Lions have a 14-8 edge in the all-time series against the Mustangs.

“It’s a program that may be struggling early, but they play a competitive nonconference schedule,” Lee said. “They’ll be ready to battle.”