'Runners Pound Out 19 Hits in 13-3 Win Over Lions

Baseball March 24, 2010 CSU Bakersfield Athletic Communications

Baseball Travels to Washington State for Four-Game Series

THIS WEEK
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.

ON DECK
The Roadrunners return to Hardt Field for a single midweek contest against Stony Brook (NY) on Wed., Mar. 31. They make a quick trip up the 99 on Thurs., Apr. 1, for a rescheduled game at Fresno State, then return home again to host the Bulldogs on Friday and Saturday.

LIVE STATS AND AUDIO
Live statistics and audio broadcast are both available for CSUB's four-game series at Washington State. All links can be found on the baseball schedule page at wsucougars.com.

PROJECTED PITCHING MATCH-UPS
FRIDAY, MAR. 26, 2010
CSUB: Brandon Van Dam (RHP) (0-1)
WSU: Chad Arnold (RHP) (2-1)

SATURDAY, MAR. 27, 2010 — GAME ONE
CSUB: Mickey Jannis (RHP) (2-0)
WSU: Spencer Jackson (LHP) (3-0)

SATURDAY, Mar. 27, 2010 — GAME TWO
CSUB: Matt Reyes (RHP) (1-1)
WSU: Bret DeRooy (LHP) (0-0)

SUNDAY, MAR. 28, 2010
CSUB: Mike McCarthy (RHP) (1-2)
WSU: TBD

'RUNNER REPORT
The Roadrunners won their second consecutive series, taking two of three from San Jose State last week. The previous week, CSUB went 2-1 against another Western Athletic Conference opponent, Nevada. The wins represented a huge turnaround for the Roadrunners, who were swept by both WAC schools one year ago.

SCOUTING WASHINGTON STATE
Washington State improved to 12-5 on the season after a 7-5 win over Gonzaga on Tuesday. The Cougars opened the season with nine straight wins before dropping the final of a four-game series against Utah. In their last eight games, the Cougars are 3-5.

Washington State is hitting .319 as a team, led by Brett Jacobs' .444 average. Matt Argyropoulos is batting .364 and leads the team with seven doubles. Shea Vucinich is batting .357 with three doubles, two triples and two home runs. The Cougars have totaled 42 doubles, three triples and 11 home runs to their opponents' 24 doubles, three triples and 14 home runs.

On the mound, WSU's staff holds a combined 4.07 ERA. RHP Chad Arnold (2-1) has five starts with one complete game, and leads the team in innings pitched (30.2). He also has a team-high 25 strikeouts to go along with 14 walks and 30 hits allowed.

Closer Adam Conley has four saves on the year, tallying 15 strikeouts while allowing just eight hits, one walk and one earned run in 13 innings of work.

SERIES HISTORY VS. WASHINGTON STATE
The Roadrunners and Cougars will meet for the first time this week.

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 started a new streak, safely recording a hit in each of the last six outing. He has nine multiple-hit games and continues to lead the team in batting average (.442), hits (34), at bats (77) and runs (15). He is also second in doubles (6) and RBIs (13).

MEDINA'S MUSCLE
Martin Medina has 23 hits on the year, 13 of which have been for extra bases. He leads the Roadrunners in doubles (9), home runs (5), RBIs (20) and slugging percentage (.610). The sophomore utility player had five hits, four RBIs, two doubles and two home runs in last weekend's series against San Jose State.

HOT HITTER
Jeremy Rodriguez had the hot bat against San Jose State last week, going 6-for-11 (.545) with four runs and one RBI in the three games. The sophomore catcher had entered the series hitting .281 and is now third on the team with a .349 average.

ONE HIT, FIVE RBIs
Joey Mills had just one hit on the Mar. 19 win over San Jose State, but also tallied five RBIs in the game. The senior centerfielder drove in two runs on a triple, then sent two runs home on a pair of sacrifice flies and one more on a bases-loaded walk. Batting out of the nine hole, Mills is currently hitting more than 100 points higher (.360) than his 2009 average (.247).

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 18 games this season, the Roadrunners have doubled that ratio, tallying 2.4 strikeouts for every walk allowed (154 K, 64 BB). Those figures have helped the staff carry a 4.14 ERA so far this year, as opposed to last season's 7.63 ERA.

SATURDAY STRUGGLES
The Roadrunners have won two consecutive three-game series, but their one loss each weekend came on Saturday. On both series, the Roadrunners tallied double-digit hits in both their Friday and Sunday games, but managed just six hits on each Saturday.

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 18 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 two weeks ago and continues on Apr. 3 when CSUB hosts Fresno State. Gates open at 11:30 a.m. and first pitch is 1 p.m.

The remaining card giveaway dates include 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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