Bobby Crocker is hitting .335 with 43 RBIs and 16 stolen bases this season. He went 2-for-4 Tuesday against LMU. Photo by Ryan Sidarto- Mustang Daily

The numbers weren’t there and the postseason was nowhere in sight. When chins started to get heavy, the Mustangs had no thoughts about giving up on a season prematurely.

“Perseverance” is how senior Luke Yoder described this season.

“We could have thrown the towel in so many times and just given up, but we definitely never let that happen. We continued to fight, battle our ways through these ups and downs,” Yoder said. “Just as long as you never throw in the towel, anything is possible.”

After starting the season 10-27, the Mustangs are now 21-31. They have won 11 of their last 15 games and have doubled a single-digit win total they held for months in a matter of weeks.

“That’s what you’re going to remember,” Yoder said. “Especially here as a senior, you’re not going to remember, ‘Oh, we sucked; we didn’t do too hot.’ You’re going to remember, ‘Hey, we fought and never gave up.’”

The Mustangs will square off against Cal State Bakersfield in the final series of the season at Baggett Stadium this weekend. For seniors Adam Melker, Ross Brayton, David Van Ostrand, Mark DeVincenzi, DJ Mauldin and Yoder it will be the final games they will play as Mustangs.

Their recent momentum will be the key.

“If we were playing as well as we are right now — even not the whole season, just the start of conference — I definitely think we could have won our conference. Not with ease, but we could have been at the top,” Yoder said.

Big West coaches predicted Cal Poly would finish third in the Big West. After threatening for first place a season ago, the Mustangs now find themselves sitting sixth.

“Obviously it’s not the year we expected to have and it kind of sucks our seniors are kind of going out from what we did last year on such a high note, to kind of this year on a low note. I mean, it’s a part of the game,” Brayton said. “But recently we have been playing to the capabilities that we’ve known we have been able to all year. It’s just nice too that our hard work in the offseason is finally paying off.”

In their last 14 games, the Mustangs have hit .335 with 16 home runs. A big difference from the first 36 games of the year when Cal Poly hit just .277. In total, the Mustangs now boast eight players batting over .300. First baseman David Van Ostrand leads the team, hitting .342 with 33 RBIs.

“With the way that we are now, with our pitching, our hitting and our defense, we definitely would have a good record,” Yoder said. “There is no doubt in my mind we would be at 30-plus wins right now.”

Yoder, who is on pace to be the first Mustang to hit .300 in all four years, has been a key element to his team’s recent comeback. Yoder, who hit .301 a season ago, went 7-for-13 with five RBIs and a home run against Pacific last weekend. On the season, he is now hitting .335 with 19 doubles and 13 home runs — the only player on his team to have double digits in both those categories. Not to mention he holds a .665 slugging percentage.

“I’m just really seeing the ball well,” Yoder said. “Even if this weekend doesn’t go as well as I would like, I can still look back upon this year and my entire four years here at Cal Poly as a success. The hard work that I have put in, I have been definitely able to reap those rewards.”

But he and the rest of the senior class are left with one less reward to play for this season — a Big West Championship. It’s perhaps a bit of a sour note for a senior class that reached the NCAA regional tournament for the first time in school history last year. With everything out of the picture, now the Mustangs only have one thing on their minds.

“I just think the way we compete is probably the biggest thing,” Brayton said. “We want to go out there and show everybody this is how we are; this is how we should have been doing.”

For Brayton, playing time in his final series is up in the air. The catcher suffered a concussion in the Mustangs series against UC Davis and sat against Pacific and their midweek game against Loyola Marymount.

“I came in to catch on Friday (against UC Davis) in the ninth inning. A guy swung — and when he did, he hit me in the face, on my mask. It rung my bell pretty good,” Brayton said. “I have to be cleared before I can play.”

If Brayton makes it back onto the field, the .320 batter could serve as a shot of adrenaline to an offense already averaging eight runs in their last five games. If he doesn’t, he will be missing out on more than just the end of his career.

“It’s definitely just something that I will look back on and I will always cherish,” Yoder said.

Freshman Mitch Haniger singles to left for one of his two hits on the afternoon. His other hit was his first career grand slam which gave the Mustangs a 5-0 lead in the third inning. Photo by Patrick Leiva-Mustang Daily.

The Cal Poly offense has been on a roll lately — and the trend continued Sunday afternoon. The Mustangs pounded out 15 hits and rolled to their second consecutive series win with a 11-3 victory over the third-place Pacific Tigers (31-20, 12-9 Big West).

With the win, the Mustangs (20-31, 10-14 Big West) reached their goal of obtaining 20 wins after struggling mightily to begin the season. Before a weekend series against Long Beach State, the Mustangs set a goal of going at least 10-9 in their last 19 games to finish the season with 20 wins. The victory also marked the second consecutive Big West series win; the Mustangs have won three of their last four series.

Senior Luke Yoder said it meant a lot for the team to reach the 20-win mark after starting the season off so poorly.

“Early on in the season, it looked like we wouldn’t even come close to winning 20 games,” Yoder said. “It just shows you what hard work and dedication can do.”

Yoder said it would be good for the team to win out the rest of their games and finish the season with a 24-31 record.

“It would be awesome to win out and that wouldn’t be a bad season especially after the way we’ve ended it,” Yoder said.

The series win improved the Mustangs record in the month of May to 10-4. Also, the Mustangs have compiled back-to-back weeks with a 3-1 record. Head coach Larry Lee said he has seen a completely different atmosphere and mindset from his team the past five weeks.

“It’s better if we would’ve figured things out a little bit earlier but what we are doing is just preparing for the future by getting some young guys some experience,” Lee said.

Cal Poly was paced by a balanced attack offensively as five starters collected multiple hits on the afternoon, led by freshman designated hitter Mitch Haniger. Haniger went 2-for-5 with four RBIs. Center fielder Adam Melker and shortstop J.J. Thompson each had three hits, while catcher Jordan Hadlock and right fielder Bobby Crocker contributed two hits. The Mustangs have collected double-digit hits in 11 of their last 13 games.

Lee said he has been impressed and pleased with his offensive attack lately.

“The majority of our guys are in their comfort zone and able to take fundamentally-sound swings,” Lee said. “We probably had six of nine players in our lineup on today.”

Cal Poly also benefited from the long ball as the Mustangs hit three homers on the afternoon. All the home runs were to left field where there was a strong wind blowing out.

The Mustangs jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first inning and never looked back. Yoder led off the inning with a bloop double down the right-field line. With the double, Yoder became the Cal Poly all-time leader in doubles with 49. He passed John Macalutas, who played at Cal Poly from 1993 to 1996. After advancing to third on a flyout by Melker, Yoder came home on the successful squeeze bunt by Crocker. Crocker was safe at first with an infield single on the play.

Yoder said he was joking around with some of his teammates about breaking the record and said it was nice to get the record in his first at-bat.

“It’s a great honor to be able to have that record and it’s been around for quite some time,” Yoder said. “It’s something that I’ll never forget and we got four more games left so hopefully I can tack on and add to that lead.”

Yoder was given the ball as soon he was safe at second.

“I just know that I wanted that ball because it’s something that doesn’t happen very often and now I have it as a keepsake to remember the time here at Cal Poly,” Yoder said.

Cal Poly starter Eugene Wright struggled early with his control, especially in the third inning. After getting the first two batters to ground out to shortstop, Wright hit the next batter and walked the next two to load the bases with two outs. Wright was able to get Pacific’s leading hitter J.B. Brown to ground out to first to get out of the jam.

Cal Poly struck for four more runs in the bottom of the third thanks to one swing from Haniger. With one out, Melker and Crocker each singled to put runners on first and second. Then, first baseman David Van Ostrand was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Haniger, who was hitting .500 on the season with the bases loaded, belted a grand slam to left-center field for his sixth home run on the year. The home run gave Cal Poly a 5-0 lead.

Haniger said it felt good to break the game open especially after battling some back issues throughout the season.

“It was real good and I’ve been waiting for one of those for a while now,” Haniger said. “It was a 3-1 count and I was looking for something up that I could drive. He just threw me a fastball middle-in and I just put a good swing on it and the rest is history.”

The Mustangs added another run in the bottom of the fourth on a double to right-center by Melker, who drove in Yoder from first base following his one-out walk.

Pacific got on the board with two runs in the top of the sixth inning. The Tigers got the first three runners on in the inning to load the bases with no outs following a walk and two singles. Designated hitter John Haberman grounded out to first to score the first run for the Tigers. The next batter was shortstop Ben Gorang who hit a sacrifice fly t0 center to score the second run and make the score 6-2.

Cal Poly answered with three runs in the bottom of the seventh. After a strike out to begin the frame, Haniger singled to left. The next batter was Jordan Hadlock who hit a two-run home run to left field for his second home run of the year. The Mustangs kept up the pressure with a single by Thompson and he was driven home by third baseman Evan Busby who doubled to to right field to make the score 9-2.

The Mustangs continued to tack on runs in the bottom of the eighth via the long ball. Van Ostrand hit a two-run shot to left-center field to give the Mustangs a 11-2 lead. It was the second home run of the series for Van Ostrand and his third on the season.

The Tigers added a final run in the top of the ninth inning on a RBI single by center fielder Brett Christopher for the final margin of victory.

Wright gave the Mustangs a quality start by throwing seven innings allowing only two runs on six hits while striking out one. Reliever Jeff Johnson came on to pitch the final two innings for the Mustangs.

Haniger said Wright was impressive all-game because he never allowed Pacific back into the game.

“Eugene threw the ball really well and the biggest thing was he never gave them any momentum,” Haniger said. “We just kept stepping on their throats.”

With only four games remaining in the season, the Mustangs will look to continue their winning ways. Haniger said it would be nice to win the remaining games after the early season struggles and would be good to build some momentum for next season.

“I just hope we win out,” Haniger said. “We’ve been playing really well and I think we deserve it and a lot of guys have been working really hard.”

For seniors such as Yoder, the last four home games represent the last games in their Cal Poly careers.

“There’s been guys that have been here with me for four years going through the grind so just enjoying the time and making sure to have some fun with each other, ” Yoder said. “We want to end the year on a really good note.”

After the Mustangs were barely going to secure 10 wins this season they have turned it around and are aiming for 20 wins. Photo by Ryan Sidarto- Mustang Daily

After posting their 37-21 record a season ago, the Mustangs (18-30, 8-13 Big West) had nothing but high expectations for this campaign.
But the Mustangs struggled out of the gate, dropping four of their first 10 games. After bringing their record to .500 after a sweep of Northern Illinois, the Mustangs plummeted. They lost 21 of their next 25 games, didn’t win their first weekend series until May and have yet to hold a winning record. Runs were hard to score, pitches couldn’t find the strike zone and errors were riddling the Cal Poly defense.
But then things changed. After being swept by Cal State Fullerton, RBIs started lighting up the box scores, the team’s ERA started to drop and the Mustangs found ways to get on base. Now, after firing off eight wins in their last 12 games, the Mustangs can lessen the pain of falling short of the postseason.
“It’s a good feeling,” head coach Larry Lee said. “It’s a good feeling in the dugout, a lot more positive energy. It’s nice to see.”
They just hope they can keep the wheels turning when they square off against Pacific (30-18, 11-7 Big West), a team ranked third in the Big West.
“We’ve played fairly well for the last month,” Lee said. “At given times during each game or each series, we’ve done some things pretty well … Offensively, we’ve really stepped it up to a different level …It’s good experience for a number of players.”
Coming into the weekend, the Tigers dropped a non-conference series at the hands of Cal State Bakersfield. The Mustangs pitching staff will be tested as Pacific brings in the second-best hitting attack in the Big West, with a .329 team batting average. The Mustangs will be looking to control Pacific’s duo of second baseman J.B. Brown, who currently sits third in the Big West with a .401 average, and first baseman Brian Martin, who owns a .382 average on the year. The duo ranks second and third in the Big West in hits as Brown has accumulated 79, while Martin has 78.
The Tigers’ pitching staff sits in the middle of the pack of the conference, sporting a 5.19 team ERA. They are led by junior right-hander Marcus Pointer, senior left-hander David Rowse and junior right-hander Jake Hummel. All three pitchers are tied for a team leading seven wins and senior closer Hunter Carnevale leads the team with a 2.62 ERA and four saves.
The Tigers have won eight of their last 11 games and are looking to catch second-place UC Irvine; they trail by one game.
When the Mustangs looked close to barely scraping out 10 wins, Cal Poly is now on pace to surpass 20. But the success can be viewed as a double-edged sword. Wins or not, Cal Poly has to stay thirsty for more.
Lee has that kind of mindset. The current winning streak has not blinded him to the problems his team is still struggling with.
“I think we are still kind of limited with the options we can go to,” Lee said. “Pitching-wise, we are still not where we need to be. We just don’t have that quality or depth that we really need to make a strong impact in the Big West.”
The Mustangs pitching staff has struggled all season long, as the Mustangs own the worst team ERA in the Big West at 6.81. But they have been winning due to their hitting. Over their past 12 games, the Mustangs have posted 153 hits and a team batting average of .331. For the season, the Mustangs boast a .292 average and are led by freshman Mitch Haniger with a .327 batting average.
Another key contributor has been outfielder Luke Yoder. In his final season playing for the Mustangs, he has hit .324 with 11 home runs and 33 RBIs. But in his four-year stint with Cal Poly, he has added more than just numbers for the Mustangs.
“Luke has been great,” Lee said. “He is very level headed—very much in control. He has had some real good seasons. This is probably his best season; he has put up some good numbers … He has really solidified our lead-off spot. He has added a lot to the program, added class. It’s been great.”
Yoder is currently undergoing the end of his résumé process for the majors. With his senior year nearly finished, the next step in the Yoder baseball saga is the pros. Not many get a chance to play a sport professionally, but Lee sees his starting outfielder as pro-ready.
“Yoder should be,” Lee said. “He and (catcher Ross) Brayton — as seniors — should be drafted. (But,) some of the draft-eligible juniors that we thought would be drafted probably won’t. They just didn’t have that type of a season that they needed to.”
Lee could be hinting at players like juniors J.J. Thomspon and DJ Gentile, who have both seen drops in their statistics from 2009 to 2010. Thompson, who hit .292 a year ago, is hitting.270 this season and Gentile, who hit .304 a year ago, is now hitting .184. Another offseason may be the remedy they need to help them get back to the players they were a year ago — or maybe even better.
“We should have a lot of guys back that we didn’t expect back (for next season),” Lee said. “Hopefully they can take that as some motivation, work hard in the offseason and come back as the player they want to become.”
The books for 2010 still aren’t closed. Thompson, Gentile and the rest of the Mustangs still have chances to improve a season that began with high expectations. But they will have to do so against Pacific this weekend.
First pitch is set for Friday at 6 p.m.

—    Brian De Los Santos and Patrick Leiva contributed to this report.

Corbin Duer finished fifth in the decathlon while Turquoise Williams finished seventh in the heptathlon at the Big West Conference Championships last weekend.

Duer led a group of three Mustangs, finishing with 6,704 points. Dominic Byrne finished in sixth with 6,704 while Jordan Goffena was seventh with 6,551 points.

Duer helped the Mustangs with four team points when he finished first in the pole vault when he cleared 15-feet, 11 inches and scored 865 points. He added 623 points with a third place finish in the javelin with a toss of 171-feet, 7 inches. Duer also added 591 points with a time of 4:54.65 in the 1500 and 788 points in the 100m hurdles with a time of 15.52 seconds.

Byrne scored four team points when he finished sixth. He scored 635 points with a second place finish in the javelin with a mark of 174-feet, 4 inches. He added 659 points when he cleared 13-feet, 7.25 inches in the pole vault.

Goffena added two team points with his seventh place finish. Goffena’s final day of competition was highlighted when he finished second in the 1500 with a time of 4:37.58 and 696 points.

Williams scored four team points with her seventh place finish while Sara Klein finished ninth, just out of the points.

Williams scored 694 points with her time of 2:29.59 in the 800 and had mark of 17-feet, 4.25 inches in the long jump (640), and a mark of 87-feet, 2 inches in the javelin (412)

The men’s and women’s team will continue the championship next weekend with the rest of track and field events.