Cal Poly earns national ranking by Collegiate Baseball

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. - The Cal Poly baseball team has earned its first national ranking in six years.

Collegiate Baseball bumped Coach Larry Lee's Mustangs from the unranked to No. 17 on Monday, thanks to a 5-0 week with one win over Santa Clara and a four-game series sweep against Dixie State.

Cal Poly has won six straight games and 11 of its last 12 for an 18-10 record, the first time the Mustangs have been eight games above the .500 mark since a 10-2 start in 2016. The last time Cal Poly enjoyed a 5-0 mark or better in a week was during their Big West championship season in 2014 when the Mustangs won all six games over six days -- three-game series versus Northern Illinois and Wagner.

Six years ago, Cal Poly was ranked No. 19 in the Collegiate Baseball poll on April 25 before the Mustangs were swept at Long Beach State. Cal Poly was never ranked during the 2017, 2019 and 2021 seasons but received some votes in a few preseason polls in 2018. The 2020 campaign was shut down after four weeks of play due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cal Poly, ranked No. 1 for a week by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper in 2014, finished ranked from Nos. 18-20 in all five major polls. The Mustangs claimed the Big West title that year and hosted the NCAA San Luis Obispo Regional at Baggett Stadium, finishing 2-2 in the regional and 47-12 for the season.

Collegiate Baseball ranked Cal Poly No. 47 in this year's preseason poll.

Cal Poly's highest ranking in 2013 was No. 16 in the Collegiate Baseball poll before losing two of three games to Cal State Fullerton. In 2012, the Mustangs were ranked No. 22 by Collegiate Baseball after their 7-1 start and No. 27 in early April after sweeping UC Irvine before falling back.

Cal Poly was ranked as high as No. 22 by Baseball America in 2006 after jumping to a 9-2 start, but lost 12 of its next 19 games to fall back. The Mustangs were briefly ranked by Collegiate Baseball in 2007 after winning 10 of 12 games early in the season, and the Mustangs were ranked as high as No. 12 by Collegiate Baseball and Baseball America after getting off to a 17-4 start in 2009. Tennessee is the consensus No. 1 in all major polls this week, winning 27 of 28 games so far.

UC Santa Barbara is ranked No. 24 this week in the Collegiate Baseball poll.

Cal Poly plays at Cal on Tuesday before resuming Big West Conference play Friday through Sunday with a three-game series against preseason Big West favorite Long Beach State at Baggett Stadium. The Mustangs share second place in the conference standings with CSU Bakersfield, both with 5-1 marks, a half-game behind UC Santa Barbara (7-2).

{Article courtesy of Cal Poly Athletics}