SAN LUIS OBISPO - The Cal Poly softball program opens its 18-game home schedule at Bob Janssen Field when the Pens are welcomed at 3 p.m. for a matchup Wednesday, March 9. Cal Poly (2–13) then hosts the 14th Mustang Classic (returning after a three-season hiatus), two as part of a six-game event against Nevada (4–16) and Pacific (6–13). Bar (Full schedule below.) Entering Wednesday's singles game against the Penn with back-to-back victories, Cal Poly has held an overall record of 41-21 in the past 13 Mustang Classic tournaments.
2022 Mustang Classic
March 12-13, 2022
Bob Janssen Field (San Luis Obispo, CA)
Saturday, March 12
Pacific in Cal Poly, 11 a.m.
Nevada (H) v. Pacific, 1:30 p.m.
Cal Poly in Nevada, 4 p.m.
Sunday, March 13
Pacific (H) v. Nevada, 10 a.m.
Cal Poly in Nevada, 12:30 p.m.
Pacific in Cal Poly, 3 p.m.
Follow Cal Poly this week: Dan Gilman will provide audio play-by-play from all six of Cal Poly's upcoming games versus Penn, Nevada and Pacific ... live stats and video from all six games also via GoPoly.com will be available.
Cal Poly versus Penn, Nevada and the Pacific: Cal Poly's first match in a 48 varsity season against Penn took place on March 5, with the Mustangs producing an 8–0, five-inning victory at the Judy Garman Classic (Fullerton, Calif.) ... leads the all-time series, 15-8, against the Nevada, Mustangs, opponents ever in Cal Poly history, with the first meeting taking place on May 1, 1975. Cal Poly has won the last two matchups, the National Invitational Softball Championship Region 1 postseason title while topping Nevada twice (May 17–18, 2017) (Cal Poly advanced to the NISC Championship round at Liberty, fourth at the national level). Big West 1997–2013 Conference opponents, Pacific led an all-time series against Cal Poly, 43–27, with the first matchup on February 29, 1980. The Mustangs and Tigers last split a March 12, 2021 doubleheader.
Clements Debuts a Hit: After hitting safely in 12 of 15 games - including career-best four-hit outings against San Diego State (Feb. 13) and San Jose State (Feb. 25) - freshman left fielder Jessica Clements is second in the Big West. Conference players with a team are third with a .460 (23 for -50) batting average and 23 hits. February 14 Awarded Big West Freshman Player of the Week, Clements - leader of Cal Poly with 11 runs (26 percent of the program total) - has started all 15 games and already produced seven multi-hit outings Is.
Amos Rounding Off Standout Career: Cal Poly's leading run-maker with 11 RBIs and second leading hitter with .365 (19-for-52), senior shortstop Maddie Amos takes career batting average of .305 (92-for-302) Wednesday's matchup against Penn. The leader of Cal Poly for doubles (three), homers (two), extra-base hits (five), total bases (28) and ninth among Big West players with 11 RBIs, Amos has seven multi- Hit games. Awarded March 7 Big West Field Player of the Week, Amos has started 105 of a possible 124 games during his career – including 50 straight between this year and the last.
Company You Keep: Three of Cal Poly's opening 13 games were against events ranked or voted on in the February 15 edition of the USA TODAY/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coach Poll. After falling against Stanford (received the vote) on February 13, the Mustangs scored more consistently than No. 5 UCLA (March 3) and No. 23 Arizona State (March 4).
Cal Polly Selected Sixth in Big West Poll Earning a first-place vote in the 2022 Big West Precision Coach Poll, Cal Poly was selected for sixth place following Monday's release. The Mustangs, which finished seventh in the standings last year, earned 42 votes in Monday's poll, seven points behind Hawaii and UC San Diego and one point ahead of UC Santa Barbara. Cal State Fullerton was voted first with 77 points and five first out of 10 places.
Looking ahead: Cal Poly began its 25th Big West Conference season when it visited CSUN for a three-game, March 19–20 set. The series opens with a Saturday, March 19 doubleheader before concluding with a Sunday, March 20 single-game matchup. Action continues from 1 pm onwards. Both days for Cal Poly, who took two of three home games to open the Big West play from CSUN last year.