It doesn’t get any closer to a must win series than this for the Cal Poly baseball team.
The No. 12 Mustangs (32-13, 10-5 Big West Conference) are in a dogfight for second place in the Big West. One of the teams standing in their way — not only in the conference but also of a possible postseason berth will visit Baggett Stadium this weekend.
Cal State Fullerton (34-12, 12-6) will face off against the Mustangs tonight at 6 p.m. in a three game series.
The Titans, currently No. 6 in the Baseball America Top 25 polls and tied with Cal Poly for second in the conference, have a championship pedigree. The Titans have made 30 NCAA Regional appearances and are four-time national champions.
Meanwhile Cal Poly has never been invited to the postseason at the Division I level. A series win over Cal State Fullerton could go a long way towards guaranteeing the Mustangs their first regional berth.
With an NCAA RPI ranking of 50th according to Boydsworld.com, Cal Poly may be on the bubble for a regional selection despite being ranked 12th in the polls. Cal State Fullerton is currently second in the RPI behind North Carolina.
A series win against the Titans would likely boost the Mustangs off the bubble for the 64-team regional field.
Cal Poly is playing without freshman second baseman Matt Jensen who is out for the rest of the year after a broken clavicle suffered in a collision against San Francisco last Saturday.
Cal State Fullerton brings a strong pitching staff to match up against the Mustangs high-octane offense. They are led by starting pitchers Daniel Renken (6-2, 2.27 ERA), Noe Ramirez (5-1, 2.80 ERA) and Tyler Pill (8-1, 3.21 ERA).
The Titans won two of three last year at Goodwin Field in Fullerton and hold a 53-30 advantage in the all-time series.