Lauren RabainoTwo of the Big West Conference’s three softball teams still undefeated in conference play will spar this weekend, as Cal Poly visits UC Santa Barbara for a three-game series beginning Saturday at the Gauchos’ Campus Diamond.
The defending Big West champion Mustangs (15-13, 3-0), who have won five straight, swept Cal State Fullerton last weekend, 9-1 and 1-0 Saturday before edging the Titans 2-1 Sunday.
UCSB, the only conference foe to defeat Cal Poly in a series a season ago, also swept over the weekend, topping UC Riverside 7-6 and 6-2 Saturday and then 3-1 Sunday.
This weekend’s series opens with a doubleheader beginning at noon Saturday and finishes at noon Sunday.
Baseball team looks to amend defensive woes
After dropping two of three to No. 7 UC Irvine last weekend, the Cal Poly baseball team continues Big West Conference play with a three-game series at Cal State Northridge’s Matador Field beginning today.
The Mustangs (9-14, 1-2) held leads in all five of their games a week ago but could prevail in only one. They book-ended a 4-2 Saturday win over the Anteaters with 12-4 and 10-6 losses March 28 and Sunday, and rank next-to-last in the conference in staff earned-run average, at 5.92.
“It has been a season filled with ups and downs,” Cal Poly head coach Larry Lee said in a statement last week. “Defensively we knew we had the capability of playing strong defense and for the most part we have. The real struggle has been from the pitching aspect. We need to get better outings from everyone involved on our staff.”
Cal State Northridge (10-13, 0-3), meanwhile, won nine of its opening 15 contests before falling in seven of eight.
The series starts at 3 p.m. today, with both the second and third installments scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Frazeur finishes in top 20 at Texas Relays
Cal Poly senior Chris Frazeur placed 19th in the 400-meter hurdles Thursday in 53.09 seconds at the 81st Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays.
The Mustangs will continue competition in Austin, Texas through Saturday, while others will partake in the Stanford Invitational, which is held today through Saturday.
Women’s tennis team looks to end losing skid
The Cal Poly women’s tennis team will host three-time defending Big West Conference Tournament champion and conference-leading Long Beach State at 1:30 p.m. today at Mustang Courts.
Long Beach State (12-5, 5-0) routed Cal State Northridge 6-1 on March 28, while the fourth-place Mustangs (10-9, 3-2) have lost three matches in a row, all by 6-1 margins.
Men’s tennis team hosts pair of Big West foes
Coming off a 4-3 win over Loyola Marymount on Saturday, the Cal Poly men’s tennis team will host two Big West Conference contests this weekend at Mustang Courts.
The first match will take place at noon Saturday against conference-leading Pacific (8-7, 2-0), followed by another noon outing Sunday, against fourth-place UC Davis (8-8, 1-1).
Second-place Cal Poly (9-7, 1-0) has won two of its past three.