Undefeated and 27th ranked Mustangs look to jump start offense

Posted: Feb 26, 2013 5:56 PM by Andrew Masuda
Updated: Feb 27, 2013 10:09 AM

Undefeated Cal Poly baseball looks to get offense rolling

Stellar pitching and just enough hitting have helped the Cal Poly baseball team to its best start since 1981. The Mustangs are a perfect 7-0 and ranked 27th in the nation this week by the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper.

Larry Lee's squad completed a three game weekend sweep at Baggett Stadium over the weekend against Seattle.The pitching staff compiled a 0.33 ERA with 30 strikeouts in 27 innings against the Redhawks. Weekend starting pitchers Joey Wagman (2-0, 1.50 ERA), Matt Imhof (1-0, 0.00 ERA) and Bryan Granger (2-0,1.93) have allowed just five earned runs in six games started this season for the Mustangs. The entire pitching staff owns a 1.29 ERA for the season.

But other than freshman Brian Mundell and senior second baseman Denver Chavez, who had 5 hits apiece against Seattle, Cal Poly struggled offensively over the weekend. After hitting .324 in four games in the Bay Area to open the season, the Mustangs hit just .175 in the first two games against the Redhawks and .234 for the series.

Head coach Larry Lee is hoping to get the bats going leading into this weekend's series at the University of Washington.

"It's a concern. We just haven't been that strong offensively and that's why you always have to pitch and play defense because if you do those things well you're in every ball game late," said coach Lee.

"We're getting back into it you know. We have a hand full of hot hitters right now and eventually the way baseball goes other guys will step up and hitting is like a roller coaster," added junior David Armendariz, who's hitting .286 with 3 RBI for the Mustangs.

First pitch Friday in Husky Ballpark is at 5 pm. Saturday's game is set for 2 pm and Sunday's finale is at 1pm. Washington is 2-6 to open the season. The Huskies' pitching coach is Jason Kelly, a St. Joseph High graduate, who was coach Lee's pitching coach at Cal Poly until joining UW after last season.

Cal Poly has a chance for its first 8-0 start since 1974. The school record is a 10-0 start by the 1951 team.