Michael Sanderson is expected to be Cal Poly’s starting third baseman in his final season as a Mustang. As of March 9, Sanderson has played in all 69 games since coming to Cal Poly and has started all 69 at third base.
In 2017, he has started all 12 games and is hitting .262 through March 9 with three doubles, one triple and three RBI. His two sacrifice bunts leads the team.
Sanderson started all 57 games in 2016, at third base, as a junior in his first season at Cal Poly. He was a .296 hitter with 12 doubles and one triple en route to second-team All-Big West Conference honors. He knocked in 33 runs, second most on the team. He had 15 multiple-hit games, including four-hit game against San Francisco, and eight multiple-RBI contests, knocking in three in that San Francisco game with a double and triple. Sanderson had an eight-game hitting streak in early April. He walked 29 times for an on-base percentage of .381. He went 7-for-13 with three RBI in UC Riverside series. Sanderson hit .309 against right-handers and .314 in night games. He did not play summer ball.
Sanderson attended Feather River Community and was a .337 hitter as a freshman and .344 as a sophomore. In the two seasons combined hit he 24 doubles, three triples, a pair of home runs and knocked in 62 runs, including 38 as a sophomore. Twice, Sanderson earned All-Golden Valley Conference honors and led Golden Eagles to a pair of Golden Valley Conference titles.
In High School Sanderson was a .408 hitter in three varsity seasons under head coach Ron Souza at Pleasant Valley High School in Chico. He hit .472 as a senior with four doubles, three triples, a pair of home runs and 23 RBI with just four strikeouts in 88 plate appearances. He was first-team All-Eastern League and first-team All-CIF-Northern Section honors at third base. Sanderson helped the Vikings to 22-8 record, second-place Eastern League finish and a spot in the semifinal round of the CIF-Northern Section Division I playoffs. Sanderson hit .389 as a junior with nine doubles, two home runs and 22 RBI.
Sanderson is the son of Scott Sanderson and Olga Wilkinson. His father is a San Luis Obispo High School graduate and played football at Utah. His grandfather Jim Sanderson was Cal Poly head football coach from 1982-87. He has one brother, James. Sanderson was born December 27, 1994, in Chico, Calif. and is majoring in sociology.
