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

Baseball May 19, 2010 CSU Bakersfield Athletic Communications

Big Test for the Roadrunners at No. 6 TCU This Week

THIS WEEK
The Roadrunners head to Fort Worth, Texas, to take on the highest ranked opponent in program history, TCU. The teams face off Thursday, May 20 at 11 a.m. (CST), Friday, May 21 at 6:30 p.m. (CST) and Saturday, May 22 at 1 p.m. (CST).

ON DECK
The Roadrunners have a loaded final week of play to close out the 2010 season. They travel to UC Santa Barbara Tuesday and Loyola Marymount Wednesday before rounding out the year with a three-game series at Cal Poly (Friday-Sunday).

LIVE LINKS
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. A free live webstream from TCU will also be available. That link can be found alongside the livestats link at gorunners.com.

PROJECTED PITCHING MATCH-UPS
THURSDAY, MAY 20, 2010
CSUB: Mickey Jannis (RHP) (4-3)
TCU: Matt Purke (LHP) (10-0)

FRIDAY, MAY 21, 2010
CSUB: Brandon Van Dam (RHP) (0-2)
TCU: Kyle Winkler (RHP) (8-1)

SATURDAY, MAY 22, 2010
CSUB: Mike McCarthy (RHP) (5-4)
TCU: Steven Maxwell (RHP) (8-1)

'RUNNER REPORT
The Roadrunners closed out the home portion of the 2010 season with a commanding 2-1 series victory over Big West member Pacific to move to 23-25 on the season. One week after turning in what is arguably the program's greatest achievement to date, taking two of three games from then No. 20 Arizona, the Roadrunners brought that play back home to Hardt Field against the Tigers.

On Friday, Jeremy Rodriguez broke a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the 10th with a three-run, walk-off home run, giving CSUB a 4-1 win. On Saturday, the Tigers rallied for seven unanswered runs to even the series 1-1 with an 8-5 win.

But the Roadrunners came storming back on Sunday, going ahead 5-0 early on their way to a 15-6 final.

WALK OFF HOME RUN
Jeremy Rodriguez's walk-off home run against Pacific was the first of his career and the second in Roadrunner history. With runners on first and third, the sophomore catcher launched the 2-2 offering well beyond the right field fence for the extra-inning win.

The first-ever walk-off home run in CSUB history came on Apr. 11 of last season when Jason Kudlock blasted a two-run shot in the bottom of the 15th inning to give CSUB a 9-7 win over UC Riverside.

.500 WEEKEND
Helping the team hit a combined .327 on the weekend, Brandon Boren and Jeremy Rodriguez both turned in .500 averages in CSUB's three games against Pacific. Boren went 7-for-14 with one double and four runs scored. Rodriguez was 5-for-10 with two doubles, one home run, five runs scored and seven RBIs.

JANNIS' GEM
Mickey Jannis recorded arguably his most dominating performance of the season on Friday, May 14 against Pacific. The senior hurler tied his career-high of 10 strikeouts while scattering just five hits for one earned run in seven innings. He took a no-decision when the tie game went into extra innings, but the Roadrunners eventually came away with the win in the 10th courtesy Jeremy Rodriguez's walk-off home run.

SERIES WIN AGAIN
The Roadrunners' 2-1 series victory over Pacific was the seventh of the season and second in a row after claiming 2-of-3 from Arizona on May 7-9.

RPI CLIMBING
The Roadrunners began last week with an official RPI ranking of 132. With the two wins over Pacific, Bakersfield jumped 16 spots to 116, the highest ranking in program history.

SCOUTING TCU
TCU has climbed into the national spotlight and will represent the highest ranked opponent that the Roadrunners have faced in the young program history. A Super Regional team one year ago, the Horned Frogs are eyeing Omaha this year with a current overall record of 40-11, national rankings as high as No. 6 and an RPI of 20.

Last week, TCU won a 10-5 midweek meeting over Texas State, then claimed 3-of-4 against Mountain West Conference opponent Air Force.

The Horned Frogs boast solid numbers in every faucet of the game, beginning at the plate with a .342 team batting average. Eleven total players are batting over .300, led by Brance Rivera at .394. TCU has a powerful lineup, collecting 147 doubles, 16 triples and 84 home runs on the year. Matt Curry leads the way with 16 home runs and 24 doubles while two other players have double digit home runs and six others have reached double figures in doubles.

TCU's pitching staff, meanwhile, holds a combined 3.88 ERA and keeps opponents hitting just .257. The Roadrunners will face freshman Matt Purke on Friday, last week's MWC Pitcher of the Week. The lefty holds a perfect 10-0 record and a 3.62 ERA, striking out 94 while walking just 22 in 77 innings.

Saturday's starter, Kyle Winkler, is 8-1 with a 3.52 ERA and Sunday's starter, Steve Maxwell, is 8-1 with a 3.16 ERA.

SERIES HISTORY VS. TCU
This week's games will be the first ever between the Roadrunners and Horned Frogs.

BOREN'S BACK
Brandon Boren began the 2010 season on a tear, boosting his batting average to .600 after opening weekend. He continued to roll through the month of March and into April, compiling a 16-game hit streak through Apr. 10. He then went hitless in six-of-nine games, but has come on strong again and currently rides an 11-game streak. He is 24-for-51 (.470) during this recent streak, while also adding 17 runs, five RBI's, three doubles, one triple and one home run. The senior second baseman has boosted his season average back to a team-leading .407.

KUDLOCK CRUISING
Jason Kudlock's career-best 17-game hit streak came to an end on Apr. 30 against UC Irvine. But he has remained a force at the plate, going 17-for-41 (.415) with four doubles, three triples and one home run in the past nine games. Kudlock leads the team in doubles (15), triples (6) and slugging percentage (.584), and is second in RBIs (41).

YOUNGER NO MORE
Kevin Younger is the youngest member of the 2010 Roadrunners squad (born July 15, 1991), but the freshman outfielder has shown no signs of youth since earning the starting spot in left field since Apr. 2. He has gone 41-for-100 (.410) with seven doubles, one triple, 25 runs and 16 RBIs since earning that start and is currently batting .398.

JUST A BUMP IN THE ROAD
Jeremy Rodriguez's school record 19-game hit streak dating back to Mar. 31 against Stony Brook came to an end on May 4. During his 19-game streak, the sophomore catcher went 34-for-79 (.430). He had three four-hit outings while also collecting 21 runs scored, 10 RBIs, seven doubles and one home run.

But one no-hit game was enough for Rodriguez, who has safely hit in each of the past six outings. He went a combined 7-for-12 (.538) with two doubles, nine RBI's, five walks and seven runs scored in three games at then No. 20 Arizona. This past weekend against Pacific, Rodriguez was 5-for-10 with two doubles, one home run, five runs and seven RBIs. He is now tied for the team high, batting .407.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS
Jeremy Rodriguez was named CB360's Primetime Player of the Week on May 11, becoming the first Roadrunner baseball team member to earned a national player of the week honor in the two year history of the program. He was honored for his contributions to CSUB's series win over Arizona (7-for-12 (.538) with two doubles, nine RBI's, five walks and seven runs scored in three games).

EXTRA INNINGS
The Roadrunners have played just four extra-inning games this sesaon and hold a 2-2 record in this games. They fell 8-4 to St. Mary's (CA) on Feb. 26 and 13-9 to Fresno State on Apr. 2, but then went on to post five runs in the top of the 11th to claim a 7-2 win over then No. 20 Arizona (May 7). Bakersfield won its second extra-inning affair of the season on May 14, a 4-1, 10-inning final over Pacific.

TWENTY-TWENTY
The Roadrunners picked up their 20th win of the season over the 20th ranked team in the country, the University of Arizona, on May 7. CSUB broke a 2-2 tie by posting five runs in the top of the 11th inning against the Wildcats.

RUN RECORD
The Roadrunners' 22 runs scored on May 9 against then No. 20 Arizona marked an all-time program record. The previous high of 19 was achieved on Apr. 18, in a 19-8 win over UC Davis.

TRIPLE DOUBLE
Jason Kudlock knocked out a pair of triples in consecutive at bats on May 1 against UC Irvine. It was the first time in CSUB history a player had recorded multiple triples in a game.

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 79 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 2.0 strikeouts for every walk allowed (343 K, 168 BB). Those figures have helped the staff carry a 4.68 ERA so far this year, as opposed to last season's 7.63 ERA.

LONE 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. That save remains the only one in 23 wins for the Roadrunners.
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 five, Mickey Jannis has three, and Matt Reyes and Jonathan Montoya have one each.

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. He also picked up complete-game wins over Fresno State (Apr. 13), Arizona (May 9) and Pacific (May 16).

Jannis won both his nine-inning affairs, a 9-5 final at Washington State (Mar. 27) and a 6-3 victory on Apr. 9 against Cal State Northridge. He also tossed eight complete innings at UC Irvine on Apr. 30, a 3-2 loss for the Roadrunners.

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.

Montoya's May 4 complete-game shutout of UC Santa Barbara was the program's third-ever shutout and the sophomore's second career complete 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 HIT
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.

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.

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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