SANTA BARBARA, Calif. ? Richard Escalera's first home run of the season gave the CSUB baseball team the go-ahead runs and freshman hurler Spenser Messmore went the distance in his first collegiate start as the Roadrunners held on for an 8-6 win over UC Santa Barbara Tuesday at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium.
Messmore struck out six, walked four and scattered 14 hits for six runs, earning his second win of the season. His complete-game performance was the second of the season for Bakersfield, the first completed by Jonathan Montoya in a win over Fresno State.
Bakersfield (8-29) got off to a quick start at the plate, scoring three runs in the opening frame. Kyle Richardson led off with a ground rule double that bounced over the right-center field fence. Ryan McIntyre followed with a walk and Jeremy Rodriguez singled to center, moving McIntyre to third and plating Richardson. McIntyre then scored on a sacrifice fly to left by Escalera and Martin Medina sent Rodriguez home from second with a single to shallow right.
The Gauchos' Matt Valaika cut the Roadrunner lead to one with a two-run homer in the bottom of the second. Also scoring on the play was Ryan Cavan, who reached on a single to center.
JJ Henry sent two more runs across home plate in the top of the third with a two out single to center. Escalera, who reached on a walk, and Stuart Smith, who singled to left, scored on the play, giving CSUB a 5-2 advantage.
UCSB (23-15) collected five hits to tie the game, 5-5, in the fourth. John DeAlba led off with a double and Ryan Tregoning singled to center, sending DeAlba home. After a fly out, Ryan Palermo singled and Gunnar Terhune RBI-singled to right before being thrown out attempting to advance to second. Brian Gump added one final RBI-single before Cavan lined out to second to end the inning.
In the fifth, Rodriguez drew a leadoff walk and Escalera followed by launching his first home run of the season over the right-center field fence, giving Bakersfield a 7-5 lead.
Messmore worked his way out of a jam in the seventh to retain the two-run lead. He opened the inning by giving up back-to-back singles to Eric Oliver and Cavan, but drew an infield fly pop out by Valaika and fly out to center by DeAlba for two outs. He then issued a full-count walk to Tregoning, but got pinch hitter Marty Mullins to foul fly out to left field for the third out.
Santa Barbara inched closer with one run in the bottom of the eight, cutting Bakersfield's lead to 7-6. Pinch hitter Steve Cook led off with a single to left, advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on a Gump single to center.
Bakersfield pushed the spread back to two with a Medina RBI-single in the top of the ninth. Rodriguez led off the inning with a walk, advanced to second on a passed ball, advanced to third on a single by Escalera and scored on Medina's single to center.
In the final frame, Messmore walked Gauchos' leadoff Cavan, but got some defensive support on the next play as Valaika hit into a six-four-three double play. Messmore then finished things off on his own, issuing a full-count strike out to DeAlba.
Richardson went 3-for-5 with one run while Rodriguez added two hits, three runs and one RBI. Escalera added a 2-for-3 performance, with three RBIs, while Medina and Henry each knocked in a pair of runs.
The Roadrunners return to Hardt Field Wednesday for a 3 p.m. match-up against Loyola Marymount.
Score by Innings R H E
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CSU Bakersfield..... 302 020 001 - 8 11 1
UC Santa Barbara.... 020 300 010 - 6 14 0
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Win - Messmore (2-2). Loss - D. Meals (2-2). Save - None.
E - Mills. DP - CSUB 1. LOB - CSUB 8; UCSB 9. 2B - Richardson(10); J. DeAlba(6). HR - Escalera(1); M. Valaika(4). HBP - E. Oliver. SH - G. Terhune. SF - Escalera. SB - Richardson(5); Henry(1). CS - B. Gump(5).
