The Cal Poly baseball team will travel to Malibu on April 21 for its third and final midweek game of the season against Pepperdine. The matchup is scheduled for a 3 p.m. start and will be streamed on ESPN+, with links available on the Cal Poly baseball schedule page at GoPoly.com.
This game comes as Cal Poly aims to recover from recent walk-off losses, including a narrow defeat by UC San Diego, and maintain momentum in conference play. The Mustangs, who are tied for first place in the Big West standings alongside UC San Diego and UC Santa Barbara, look to build on their current record of 21-17.
Cal Poly won both previous meetings against Pepperdine this season, posting scores of 12-2 and 7-3 at Baggett Stadium. In those games, pitchers Brady Estes, Josh Morano, and Chris Downs combined for a total of 18 strikeouts while Dylan Kordic and Ryan Tayman each hit multi-RBI home runs. Sean McGrath is set to start Tuesday’s game for Cal Poly with a record of two wins and two losses this year.
Alejandro Garza leads the Mustangs offensively with a .379 batting average after an impressive performance in the recent UC San Diego series. Garza has also recorded multiple hits in seven of his last eight games and currently leads the Big West Conference in hits. Five other regulars are batting above .300 this season: Ryan Tayman (.331), Casey Murray Jr. (.329), Nate Castellon (.327), Xander McLaurin (.308), and Cam Hoiland (.300).
Pepperdine enters the contest with a record of 13-26 under head coach Tyler LaTorre but holds an overall lead in its all-time series against Cal Poly at 41-37 since their first meeting in 1947. Despite six consecutive wins over Pepperdine by Cal Poly, Tuesday’s game remains significant as both teams look to finish their non-conference matchups strongly.
Following Tuesday’s contest, Cal Poly will return home to host CSUN for a three-game Big West series beginning Friday evening.