Early Lead Doesn?t Stand in Loss to Bulldogs

Baseball March 17, 2010 CSU Bakersfield Athletic Communications

Baseball Hosts San Jose State This Weekend At Hardt Field

THIS WEEK
The Roadrunners conclude a season-opening stretch of five consecutive weekends at home with a three-game series against San Jose State. The teams face off Friday, Mar. 19 at 2:30 p.m., Saturday, Mar. 20 at 1 p.m. and Sunday, Mar. 21 at 1 p.m. All games will be played at Hardt Field.

ON DECK
The Roadrunners hit the road for just the second time this season, traveling to Pullman, Wash., for a four-game series at Pac-10 member Washington State. The teams meet for a single game Friday, Mar. 26, a doubleheader on Mar. 27 and one final game on Mar. 28.

LIVE STATS
Live statistics are available for all Roadrunner home games during the 2010 season. The link can be found on the CSUB baseball schedule page or the Multimedia link on the home page at gorunners.com.

ON THE AIR
Saturday's game against San Jose State will be broadcast live on ESPN 1230 AM and via the internet at espnbakersfield.com. ESPN 1230 Program Director Corey Costelloe will provide the play-by-play, while Kevin Keyes will provide color commentary.

PROJECTED PITCHING MATCH-UPS
FRIDAY, MAR. 19, 2010
CSUB: Mickey Jannis (RHP) (1-0)
SJSU: Sean Martin (RHP) (1-0)

SATURDAY, MAR. 20, 2010
CSUB: Jonathan Montoya (LHP) (1-2)
SJSU: Blake McFarland (RHP) (2-1)

SUNDAY, MAR. 21, 2010
CSUB: TBD
SJSU: Esteban Guzman (RHP) (2-3)

'RUNNER REPORT
The Roadrunners continued to get stellar efforts from the mound and the offense began working its way out a recent slump as CSUB took two of three games from Nevada last weekend.

The first game was an offensive battle which the Roadrunners won 13-8. After the Wolf Pack tied the game at eight in the eighth, CSUB rallied for five runs in the bottom of the inning.

Nevada claimed game two, 1-0, in a pitcher's dual, but the Roadrunners bounced back on Sunday to take the rubber match, 6-5, on a game-winning RBI-single from Brandon Boren and a stellar performance on the mound by Mike McCarthy (11 K, 1 BB, 5 hits).

SCOUTING SAN JOSE STATE
San Jose State enters the series against Bakersfield with an 8-7 record. The Spartans surrendered a five-run fifth inning and dropped a 6-2 decision to St. Mary's on Tuesday.

After dropping a three-game series to Santa Clara to begin the month of March, the Spartans have won four of their last six contests.

Jason Martin and Alex Sofranac, who both hold a .364 batting average, lead a trio of Spartans hitting over .300. Martin, a junior outfielder, is 20-for-55 with three doubles and five RBIs. Sofranac, a senior outfielder, is 16-for-44 with four doubles, one home run and 10 RBIs. Senior infielder Karson Klauer is close behind with a .321 average, including three doubles, one home run and a team best 13 RBIs.

The Spartans hit .286 as a team while their opponents are slightly higher at .295. The pitching staff holds a combined 5.10 ERA, led by Blake McFarnald's 1.16 ERA. The junior RHP is 2-1 in three starts, tallying 19 strikeouts and just four walks in 23.1 innings.

SERIES HISTORY VS. SAN JOSE STATE
The Roadrunners and Spartans played a three-game series in San Jose last season, which resulted in a 3-0 sweep by SJSU. Bakersfield played the Spartans close in games one and two, falling 8-4 and 13-10, but the third game got away from them in a 17-2 final.

RECORD BREAKER
Junior RHP Mike McCarthy gave up four runs in the first two innings Sunday against Nevada, but got into a rhythm soon after, finishing the day with a school record 11 strikeouts. He accomplished the feat in just six innings of work and moved his season total to 25 in 21.1 innings. McCarthy's 11 Ks bested Mickey Jannis' mark of 10, set on May 19, 2009, in a 3-0 loss to Cal State Northridge.

BRANDON AT BAT
Brandon Boren's season-opening hitting streak ended at eight games, but the senior second baseman has still hit safely in 13 of 15 games this season. He has eight multiple-hit games and continues to lead the team in batting average (.460), hits (29), at bats (63) and runs (13). He is also second in doubles (6) and RBIs (13).

MEDINA'S MUSCLE
Martin Medina has 18 hits on the year, ten of which have been for extra bases. He leads the Roadrunners in doubles (7), home runs (3) and RBIs (16). With a .286 batting average, the sophomore INF/RHP is second only to Brandon Boren in slugging percentage at .540.

RODRIGUEZ RETURNS
Jeremy Rodriguez was held out of the lineup for the Northern Illinois series and the first game at San Francisco due to concussion symptoms suffered against Central Michigan and Cal on Feb. 27-28. He returned as a designated hitter in the second San Francisco game and the first two games of the Nevada series, then made his return behind the plate in the final game against the Wolf Pack. He went 2-for-3 with one run scored in the game, and is now batting .281 on the season.

BALL CONTROL
One major area of concern last season was the pitching staff's strikeout to walk ratio. During that inaugural season, the Roadrunners finished with a 1.2 strikeout to walk ratio (322 K, 261 BB). Through 15 games this season, the Roadrunners have more than doubled that ratio, tallying 2.8 strikeouts for every walk allowed (135 K, 49 BB). Those figures have helped the staff carry a 4.04 ERA so far this year, as opposed to last season's 7.63 ERA.

WALK-OFF
Brandon Boren recorded the second walk-off hit of his Roadrunner career on Feb. 28 against Central Michigan. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, the senior second baseman, sent a bloop hit just past first base to score Kevin Younger and give CSUB the 7-6 come-from-behind win.

Boren's first walk-off hit as a Roadrunner took place back on Apr. 8, 2009, when his single down the right-field line scored JJ Henry, giving CSUB a 3-2 win over then defending College World Series champion Fresno State.

EXTRA INNINGS
The Roadrunners have played just three extra innings games in their one-plus seasons of existence. After dropping their first-ever extra inning game, a 7-6 final in 11 innings to Buffalo (3/9/09), they came back with a 9-7, 15-inning walk-off win over UC Riverside (4/11/09).

Through 15 games this season, the Roadrunners have played just one extra-inning game, falling 8-4 to St. Mary's on Feb. 26.

FIVE-HIT OUTING
As part of his 12-for-20 performance on opening weekend, Brandon Boren tied his own program record with five hits in one game. He went 5-for-6 with two RBIs and three runs scored in the second game of the doubleheader on Feb. 20 against Air Force. Those numbers are an exact match to his performance last year in CSUB's 17-12 win over Fresno State on Apr. 7. He is the only Roadrunner to achieve five hits in one game.

OPENING WEEKEND HOME RUN DERBY
Not necessarily known as a home run-hitting team, the Roadrunners tallied seven long balls in their first four games this season. They had four in the season-opener alone, then added three more in the Feb. 20 doubleheader. Martin Medina and JJ Henry have two homers apiece while Stuart Smith, Jason Kudlock and Ryan McIntyre have added one each. For reference, in 50 games played in 2009, the Roadrunners had 36 total home runs.
TOGETHER AGAIN
Bakersfield is the fourth school coaches Bill Kernen and Jody Robinson have worked at together. The two were assistants at Cal State Fullerton in the late 1970's through 1981. During that time, the Titans, who had just made the transition to Division I in 1975, earned five NCAA Tournament appearances, including two trips to the College World Series and a national championship title in 1979. They also teamed up briefly in 1988, both serving as assistants to former Titan Head Coach Augie Garrido, this time at the University of Illinois. In 1991, Kernen was in his second season as the head coach at Cal State Northridge, leading the Matadors through the transition from DII to DI play. Robinson joined the staff as an assistant coach, helping CSUN to a 44–18–1 record, the West Regional championship game and a top 10 ranking in the final NCAA Division I poll in its first season of DI play.

HARDT FIELD
Coming from the 99 Freeway (north or south) exit at Ming Ave. and proceed WEST to Haggin Oaks Blvd. (approximately four miles). Turn right on Haggin Oaks to Camino Media. Turn left on Camino Media. Turn right into campus on Roadrunner Drive and park in Lot E or I. Hardt Field is located west of Lot E.

COLLECT YOUR BASEBALL TRADING CARDS
Collect the Official 2010 CSUB Baseball Trading Card set when six different cards are being unveiled at each remaining Saturday home contests. The first 100 fans through the gate each day will receive one set of six cards. Fans looking to collect the entire set must be one of the first 100 fans at every Saturday home game.

The giveaway began last Saturday and continues at this Saturday's game against San Jose State. Gates open at 11:30 a.m. this Saturday and first pitch is 1 p.m.

The remaining card giveaway dates include Saturday, Apr. 3 versus Fresno State, Saturday, Apr. 17 versus UC Davis and Saturday, May 15 versus University of the Pacific. All Saturday games begin at 1 p.m. with gates opening at 11:30 a.m.

LITTLE LEAGUE DISCOUNT
Any Bakersfield area little leaguer 13 and under will receive $1 admission to all remaining home Sunday Roadrunner baseball games when accompanied by a paying adult. Little League players, who must be in uniform to receive the discount, may also have the opportunity to join the Roadrunners on the field for the national anthem. Visit GoRunners.com for more information.

NEED MORE INFO?
For all of the most up-to-date information about CSUB Baseball and all other Roadrunner sports, visit GoRunners.com.

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