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Eau Claire, Wis. – The Express front office today announced four more verbal commitments to the 2014 roster, all from the Cal Poly Mustangs program. Pitchers Casey Bloomquist and Michael Dingilian join catcher Brian Mundell and shortstop Peter Van Gansen to bring the Express roster to nine.
Bloomquist is a 6-foot-3-inch, 180-pound sophomore for the Mustangs. As a freshman, the right-hander finished with a 6-2 record and 5.02 earned run average in 52 innings pitched. The Bakersfield, Calif. native was moved into the weekend rotation as the Sunday starter in the final two weeks of regular season play in 2013. Early in 2014, Bloomquist has made three appearances (two starts) and is 2-0 with a 1.64 ERA in 11 innings pitched. He has started two of the Mustangs’ three Sunday games thus far.
Dingilian is a junior for Cal Poly in 2014. The 6-foot-2-inch, 195-pound pitcher has seen limited action in his first two seasons as a Mustang. He completed 12 innings as a sophomore with no record and a 3.00 ERA. He appeared in two games (one start) as a freshman and threw only six innings. The San Fernando, Calif. native has thrown one scoreless inning this spring so far.
Mundell is a 6-foot-3-inch, 225-pound catcher. The sophomore is expected to be Cal Poly’s designated hitter while also backing up the catchers. As a freshman he started 55 of 59 games, all as designated hitter. He batted .265 with a team-leading 11 home runs in 204 at-bats. The Valencia, Calif. native has started all ten games Cal Poly has played this spring, ranks second on the club with a .364 batting average and is tied for the team lead in home runs with three.
Van Gansen, like Dingilian, is a native of San Fernando, Calif. The 5-foot-8-inch, 165-pound sophomore begins his second season as starting shortstop for the Mustangs after a solid freshman season. Van Gansen appeared in all 59 games last season (57 starts) and finished with a .253 batting average in 178 at-bats. In ten games started this spring, he has seven hits in 32 at-bats, good enough for a .219 batting average. He has been solid in the field, making only one error thus far.
The Express begin their 10th season of play in the Northwoods League on Tuesday, May 27 versus the Lakeshore Chinooks. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 PM with gates opening at 5:30. Season tickets and voucher packs are on sale now. Single-game tickets will go on sale May 1. The full promotional schedule for 2014 will be announced on April 1.
The Eau Claire Express are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Playing its 21st season of summer collegiate baseball, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 18 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, more than 115 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (DET) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (WAS), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Allen Craig (STL) and Ben Zobrist (TB). All league games are viewable live and free of charge via the Northwoods League YouTube channel. For more information, visit www.eauclaireexpress.com.
