Cal Poly secured its first NCAA regional title in program history with a 5-2 victory over Saint Mary’s on June 1 at Jackie Robinson Stadium in Los Angeles, advancing the Mustangs to next weekend’s Super Regionals.
Ryan Tayman tied the school record for home runs in a single season, Gavin Spiridonoff broke a 2-2 tie with a three-run homer, and Josh Volmerding delivered six strong innings for his first win of the year. Coach Larry Lee said, “Great weekend. Hard-fought games. Four really, really good teams. Our players responded, and it was different guys each game, so it was a total team effort. Josh, Ryan and Gavin supplied a lot of the theatrics to get us over the top and win this regional.”
The Mustangs overcame an early deficit with Nate Castellon’s RBI single in the fifth inning before Tayman’s 18th home run of the year tied the game in the sixth. Spiridonoff followed with his fourth homer of his freshman campaign—a three-run shot that put Cal Poly ahead for good.
Volmerding allowed two runs on five hits over six innings before Corden Pettey and Nick Bonn closed out the final three frames; Bonn earned his nation-leading 17th save by retiring all five batters he faced at game’s end. “The process has been slow,” Volmerding said about returning from injury earlier this season, “Just ramping up those pitches every week, getting back in the swing of things, and tonight it all just clicked. It happened to be at the right time.” Spiridonoff described his go-ahead home run: “First pitch, I got a changeup… I couldn’t believe it. That’s something you dream of… It’s just kind of pure emotion there.”
Coach Lee reflected on reaching this milestone: “Yeah, it’s pretty emotional for me… It’s just a lot of hard work over the years representing San Luis Obispo County, representing Cal Poly… It’s a pretty great moment.” The Mustangs held Saint Mary’s—one of college baseball’s top hitting teams—to just three runs across two meetings during regionals.
Tayman was named most outstanding player while several teammates made all-tournament honors as Cal Poly became the first Big West team since 2018 to reach an NCAA Super Regional.