Track and field
The Mustangs’ track and field team will compete in one final tune up before the Big West Championships next week when they head south for a dual with Central Coast rival UC Santa Barbara on Saturday.
Cal Poly looks to be a heavy favorite in the running events, which dominates the early portion of the dual.
The Mustangs are expected to win the men’s 1300 meter Steeplechase with junior Carl Durgitz running for Cal Poly.
Also expected to help Cal Poly are the women’s and men’s 4 x 100 Relay and the women’s 1,500 meters. Freshman Tenise Brewer is looking to run just the sixth sub-14 second in the women’s 100 meter hurdles.
Senior Lauren Mulkey has the opportunity to win two races on Saturday, as she is favored in the women’s 1500 and 5000 meter runs.
The Mustangs also seem to have an advantage on the field as well. Junior Jenna Homes is expected to lead Cal Poly in the women’s pole vault. Homes has cleared the regional mark five out of six meets and set a new personal-best at 13-5 1/4 at the Mt. SAC Relays on April 10.
Freshman Tynan Murray, also a member of the football team, is the top seed at 6-10 3/4 in the high jump, while UC Santa Barbara’s David Hoff is next at 6-8 1/4. Murray is still looking for his first 7-foot leap at the collegiate level.
The Big West Conference Multi-Event Championships begin on May 8.
Baseball
Coming off a couple of hard-fought midweek games, the Cal Poly baseball team (30-11) will host San Francisco (22-23) at 6 p.m. tonight, beginning a non-conference three-game series with the Dons at Baggett Stadium.
The Mustangs won a marathon 17-16 in 10 innings on Tuesday against defending national champion Fresno State. They came out sluggish on Wednesday afternoon falling at Saint Mary’s 7-4.
Cal Poly came into the week ranked No. 13 in the nation in both the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and Baseball America polls.
Shortstop Derek Poppert leads the Dons with a .359 average (13 doubles, 31 RBI), followed by outfielder Zach Kim at .359 (23 RBI) and designated hitter Nik Balog (.338).
The Mustangs have some hot hitters of their own. Led by junior Adam Buschini’s .385 average, Cal Poly currently has seven hitters over the .350 mark and is hitting .334 as a team.
Cal Poly is currently sitting in second place in the Big West Conference and is attempting to lock up its first ever NCAA Regional bid.