Baseball March 31, 2010 CSU Bakersfield Athletic Communications

'Runners Return Home To Face Stony Brook and Fresno State

THIS WEEK
The Roadrunners return to Hardt Field for a single midweek contest against Stony Brook (NY) on Wed., Mar. 31 at 2:30 p.m.. They make a quick trip up the 99 on Thurs., Apr. 1, for a rescheduled game at Fresno State (6:05 p.m.), then return home again to host the Bulldogs on Friday (2:30 p.m.) and Saturday (1 p.m.).

ON DECK
The Roadrunners face their third Pac-10 opponent of the season, traveling to USC for a single game on Wednesday, Apr. 7 at 6:30 p.m. The squad returns briefly to Bakersfield to host Cal State Northridge on Friday, Apr. 9 at 2:30 p.m. The Roadrunners and Matadors then complete the series on Northridge, facing off on Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m.

LIVE STATS
Live statistics are available for all four CSUB games this week. The link for both home and away games can be found on the baseball schedule page at GoRunners.com.

ON THE AIR
Saturday's game against Fresno 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
WEDNESDAY, MAR. 31, 2010
CSUB: Jonathan Montoya (LHP) (1-2)
SB: TBD

THURSDAY, APR. 1, 2010
CSUB: Mickey Jannis (RHP) (3-0)
FRESNO: TBD

FRIDAY, APR. 2, 2010
CSUB: Mike McCarthy (RHP) (2-2)
FRESNO: TBD

SATURDAY, APR. 3, 2010
CSUB: TBD
FRESNO: TBD

'RUNNER REPORT
The Roadrunners return to Bakersfield following a big weekend in Pullman, Wash. CSUB took on Pac-10 member Washington State in a four-game series, and claimed a 2-2 split with wins in games two and four.

The 9-5 win over the Cougars on Saturday marked the first Roadrunners baseball win over a Pac-10 opponent. Additionally, Sunday's 3-0 victory was the first-ever shutout victory for the young program.

The Roadrunners hit .303 for the series, while also racking up the extra base hits with nine doubles, two triples and five home runs.

COMPLETE GAME(S)
Mickey Jannis and Mike McCarthy both recorded complete-game victories against Washington State last week, the first two complete-game performances of the season and the fifth and sixth of CSUB's young history.

Jannis struck out three and scattered nine hits for five runs (four earned) in CSUB's 9-5 win. The complete game was the second of the senior's career. He recorded his first complete game in a 3-0 loss to Cal State Northridge on May 19, 2009.

On Sunday, McCarthy fanned four and scattered eight hits, but his defense played flawlessly and the Cougars stranded 10 runners for CSUB's first-ever shutout win.

HOT HITTER
Jason Kudlock had the hot bat against Washington State last week, going 6-for-15 (.400), including three doubles, one triple and one home run. He also scored five runs and tallied two RBIs in the four games. The senior outfielder now sits third on the team with a .342 batting average.

SATURDAY STRUGGLES...SNAPPED
The Roadrunners won back-to-back series over Nevada and San Jose State, but struggled at the plate during each Saturday game, collecting just six hits in each game and totalling three runs. This past weekend at Washington State, CSUB put an end to that trend, banging out 30 hits for 21 runs in a doubleheader split with the Cougars.

SCOUTING STONY BROOK
Stony Brook is 7-11 with one game pending against San Diego State on Tuesday before making the trip to Bakersfield. The Seawolves are on a six-game California swing, having opened their cross-country spring break trip with a three-game series at Pepperdine. They won the opener, 7-4, against the Waves, but then dropped the next two, 3-0 and 4-2. On Monday, they rallied from an 11-3 deficit against San Diego State, but came up just short in an 11-10 loss.

Maxx Tissenbaum leads five Seawolves batting over .300. The freshman infielder is batting .344 with 21 hits, five RBIs and nine runs scored. Senior first baseman Robert Dyer leads the team with 16 RBIs and is batting .333.

The Seawolves' pitching staff holds a combined 5.96 ERA. Nick Tropeano and Tyler Johnson are both 2-2. Tropeano holds a 3.00 ERA with a team high 31 strikeotus. Stony Brook's staff has tallied a combined 106 strikeouts to go along with 76 walks.

SERIES HISTORY VS. STONY BROOK
The Roadrunners and Seawolves will meet for the first time this week.

SCOUTING FRESNO STATE
Fresno State, last year's WAC Tournament champions are currently 13-12 on the year after an 8-5 loss at Cal on Tuesday. The Bulldogs have won four of their last six, including two over UC Davis, one over Cal Poly and one over Loyola Marymount.

Danny Muno is hitting .354 to lead Fresno State's offense. The junior infielder is 35-for-99 and has seven doubles, two home runs and 12 RBIs. The Bulldogs have a handful of quality hitters in their lineup including Jordan Ribera, who is batting .347 with nine doubles and a team high eight home runs. Brennan Gowens has a team high 12 doubles and Dusty Robinson has a team high 23 RBIs.

While the Bulldog offense is putting up 5.30 earned runs per game, the pitching staff is giving up 5.42 earned runs per game. Josh Poytress (3-2) leads the staff with 24 strikeouts in 36 innings. The sophomore lefty holds a 5.50 ERA in six starts and nine total appearances. Gene Escat is 2-0 with a team best 1.98 ERA in nine appearances and 13.2 total innings.

SERIES HISTORY VS. FRESNO STATE
The Roadrunners and Bulldogs met seven times during CSUB's inaugural season, with Fresno State holding a slight 4-3 edge. Early in the 2009 season, Fresno State won 16-1 and 3-2. In April, the teams played a five-game series, which the Roadrunners won 3-2. Fresno State won the first game 9-8, but CSUB responded with it's first-ever complete game victory (pitched by Jonathan Montoya), a 4-3 final. Fresno took game three 9-2, but the series then moved to Bakersfield where the Roadrunners won 17-12 and 3-2, the final win courtesy a walk-off single by Brandon Boren.

RECORD BREAKER
Junior RHP Mike McCarthy gave up four runs in the first two innings on Mar. 14 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 10 outing. He has 12 multiple-hit games and continues to lead the team in batting average (.432), hits (41) and at bats (95). He is also second in runs (17), doubles (7) and RBIs (19).

MEDINA'S MUSCLE
Martin Medina has 28 hits on the year, 16 of which have been for extra bases. He leads the Roadrunners in doubles (9), home runs (7), RBIs (23) and slugging percentage (.617). Last weekend at Washington State, Medina went 5-for-17, including a pair of home runs. He also scored four runs and tallied four RBIs.

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 center fielder 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 nearly 100 points higher (.344) 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 22 games this season, the Roadrunners' ratio is nearly doubled, as they have tallied 2.2 strikeouts for every walk allowed (177 K, 80 BB). Those figures have helped the staff carry a 4.43 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 22 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.

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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