The spotlight shines on Cal Poly’s baseball team, as six players earn Big West Conference honors for a season well done.
Junior first baseman/outfielder Brett Barbier was named to the All-Big West Conference first team after leading the Mustangs in most offensive categories, including batting average, with a .352 mark that was good for third in Big West.
Meanwhile, catcher Nick Meyer was selected by the league’s head coaches as the Freshman Field Player of the Year.
These two players have left a trail of success behind them. Barbier reached base in 56 of 57 games this season, including separate hitting streaks of 16, 12 and 11 games, more than any other batter in the conference. In his first season, Meyer was first in picking off runners and second in the conference for throwing out runners who were trying to steal.
Three Mustangs also made it on the all-conference second team: Meyer, junior third baseman Michael Sanderson and junior relief pitcher Justin Calomeni. Freshman shortstop Kyle Marinconz and senior outfielder John Schuknecht were listed as honorable mentions, despite the fact that Schuknecht led the entire Big West Conference with 49 RBIs.
Since Cal Poly joined the conference in 1997, Barbier is the 45th Cal Poly student to receive first-team all-Big West honors. Barbier’s on-base percentage of .492 is the fifth-best percentage Cal Poly baseball has seen in the past 22 years.
Sanderson started in all 57 games this season as third baseman after transferring from Feather River College. His grandfather, Jim Sanderson, was the Cal Poly football head coach from 1982-87.