No. 20 Wildcats Dominant in Win Over 'Runners

Baseball April 28, 2010 CSU Bakersfield Athletic Communications

Baseball Travels to Face No. 29 UC Irvine

THIS WEEK
The Roadrunners travel to take on Big West member UC Irvine beginning Friday, Apr. 30 at 6 p.m. The three-game series continues Saturday at 1 p.m. and concludes Sunday at 1 p.m. All games will be played at Anteater Ballpark.

ON DECK
Another brief return home followed by a roadtrip awaits the Roadrunners next week. They host UC Santa Barbara Tuesday at 3 p.m. at Hardt Field. CSUB then heads to Tucson, Ariz., for a three-game series against Arizona.

LIVE STATS
Live statistics are available for all CSUB games this week. The link for all games can be found on the baseball schedule page at gorunners.com.

ON THE WEB
Fans can follow Bakersfield's series at UC Irvine live via the Anteaters audio and video webstreams. The link to both streams can be accessed on the Roadrunners' baseball schedule page at gorunners.com.

PROJECTED PITCHING MATCH-UPS
FRIDAY, APR. 30, 2010
CSUB: Mickey Jannis (RHP) (4-2)
UCI: Daniel Bibona (LHP) (7-2)

SATURDAY MAY 1, 2010
CSUB: Matt Reyes (RHP) (3-2)
UCI: Christian Bergman (RHP) (4-2)

SUNDAY MAY 2, 2010
CSUB: Mike McCarthy (RHP) (3-4)
UCI: Eric Pettis (RHP) (6-2)

'RUNNER REPORT
The Roadrunners bounced back from a series loss at UC Riverside, claiming a huge 13-3 win over Loyola Marymount Tuesday at Hardt Field. They pounded out 19 hits and scored multiple runs in the second, third, fourth and fifth innings.

Martin Medina earned the win in his first start of the season, striking out three and giving up just one hit while facing the minimum nine batters in three innings. Jonathan Montoya tossed 5.1 innings of relief striking out five while giving up three walks and six hits for three runs. Spenser Messmore recorded the final two outs for CSUB.

SCOUTING UC IRVINE
UC Irvine enters the weekend with a 24-14 overall record and a 8-4 mark in the Big West. The Anteaters are currently ranked No. 29 by both Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. They had a four-game win streak snapped Tuesday with a 4-1 loss to No. 5 UCLA.

The Roadrunners will face a pair of All-Americans in LHP Daniel Bibona and RHP Eric Pettis. Bibona is 7-2 with a 2.28 ERA in 10 starts. The 2009 16th round draft pick (St. Louis Cardinals) has a team-high 84 strikeouts to go along with 15 walks and 52 hits allowed in 75 innings.

Pettis is 6-2 with a 3.38 ERA in 13 appearances. The senior has recorded 46 strikeouts to go along with 16 walks and 82 hits allowed in 74.2 innings. He has also recorded three saves on the year.

At the plate, UC Irvine hits .305 as a team, led by Jeff Cusick at .387. The senior first baseman has team-highs of 55 hits, 14 doubles and six home runs. Brian Hernandez (.338, 12 doubles, 3 home runs) and Ryan Fisher (.337, 7 doubles, 3 home runs) follow closely behind as UCI's top hitters.

SERIES HISTORY VS. UC IRVINE
This will be the first ever meeting between the Roadrunners and Anteaters.

KUDLOCK CRUISING
Jason Kudlock's 2-for-4 outing Tuesday against Loyola Marymount

He has gone 29-for-73 (.397) during that span, including 11 multi-hit performances. The senior OF/INF has climbed the ranks to become one of CSUB's top power hitters, collecting seven doubles, two triples and three home runs during his 17-game streak.

For the season, Kudlock is batting .359 and holds a .559 slugging percentage. He trails only Joey Mills in triples with three, is tied for first with 11 doubles and is also second in home runs with four.

RODRIGUEZ ROLLING
Jeremy Rodriguez is also on a midseason roll, riding a 16-game hit streak dating back to Mar. 31 against Stony Brook. The sophomore catcher has gone 31-for-68 (.456) during the streak. He has had three four-hit outings while also collecting 19 runs scored, 10 RBIs, six doubles and one home run. Rodriguez is now hitting .402 for the season, the second highest mark on the team.

YOUNGER NO MORE
Kevin Younger is the youngest member of the 2010 Roadrunners squad (born July 15, 1991), but the freshman outfielder has surged in recent weeks, becoming a force at the plate. Earning starts in the past 14 games, Younger has gone 26-for-61 (.426) with five doubles, 13 runs and 12 RBIs. For the season, he is now hitting a team best .406.

MEDINA'S MUSCLE
Martin Medina has 51 hits on the year, 21 of which have been for extra bases. He is batting .311 and leads the Roadrunners in home runs (10), RBIs (40), at bats (164), runs (33) and slugging percentage (.567). He is also second in doubles (10). For reference, as a rookie in 2009, Median finished the season (50 games) with 55 hits, 13 doubles, four triples, eight home runs and 40 RBIs.

RUN RECORD
The Roadrunners' 19 runs scored on Apr. 18 against UC Davis marked an all-time program record. The previous high of 17 was first achieved on Apr. 7, 2009, in a 17-12 win over Fresno State. CSUB matched that mark on Mar. 19 of this season in a 17-7 win over San Jose State.
RECORD BREAKER
Mike McCarthy turned in his second record-breaking outing of the season on Apr. 13, fanning 13 Fresno State batters in a 12-2 complete-game win. That mark broke his own previous CSUB record off 11 strikeouts, a feat he achieved on Mar. 14 against Nevada.

The junior RHP now has a team-high 67 strikeouts on the season, breaking Mickey Jannis' 2009 single-season record of 61.

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 37 games this season, the Roadrunners' ratio is nearly doubled, as they have tallied 2.2 strikeouts for every walk allowed (281 K, 127 BB). Those figures have helped the staff carry a 4.74 ERA so far this year, as opposed to last season's 7.63 ERA.

FIRST SAVE
Seventeen wins into the 2010 season, CSUB finally recorded its first save in its Apr. 17, 12-4 win over UC Davis. Martin Medina pitched three scoreless, hitless innings of relief to preserve Matt Reyes' third win of the season. The sophomore utility player struck out six of the eight batters he faced in the third save of his career.

MIDWAY POINT
CSUB's Apr. 9 game against Cal State Northridge marked the midway point of the 56-game season. The Roadrunners made the best of the outing, collecting their 13th win of the season, matching last year's final win total.

At last year's midpoint, 25 games in, the Roadrunners held a 5-20 overall record. In that 25th game, they broke a 13-game losing streak with a 4-3 walk-off win over then defending national champion Fresno State. CSUB went on to go 8-17 in the second half of the season to finish 13-37.

COMPLETE GAMES
Complete games are piling up for the Roadrunner pitching staff this season. Mike McCarthy has tossed three, Mickey Jannis has two and Matt Reyes pitched his first complete-game on Apr. 10.

McCarthy won his first complete game, a 3-0 decision at Washington State (Mar. 28). That win over the Cougars was also the first-ever shutout win in CSUB history. McCarthy's second complete game resulted in a 4-3 loss to USC. His third came this past Tuesday in a 12-2 win over Fresno State.

Jannis won both his nine-inning affairs, a 9-5 final at Washington State (Mar. 27) and a 6-3 victory this past weekend against Cal State Northridge.

Reyes pitched CSUB's second-ever shutout win, a 5-0 final at Cal State Northridge (Apr. 10). He struck out four and scattered six hits in the game.

ONE HIT, FIVE RBIs
Joey Mills had just one hit in 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.

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 four 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 (Mar. 9, 2009), they came back with a 9-7, 15-inning walk-off win over UC Riverside (Apr. 11, 2009).

Through 38 games this season, the Roadrunners have played two extra-inning game, falling 8-4 to St. Mary's (CA) on Feb. 26 and 13-9 to Fresno State on Apr. 2.

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.

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 final card giveaway dates is 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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