Baseball May 24, 2010 CSU Bakersfield Athletic Communications

Final Week of 2010 Season Begins at UCSB and LMU

THIS WEEK
The Roadrunners have a loaded final week of play to close out the 2010 season. They begin their five-game week with by traveling to UC Santa Barbara Tuesday for a 2 p.m. start. A quick trip over the Grapevine follows on Wednesday for a 3 p.m. make-up game at Loyola Marymount.

ON DECK
The Roadrunners round out their second year of competition with a three-game series at Cal Poly. Game times are Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 1 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.

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.

ON THE AIR
Fans can tune into UCSB's free audio broadcast of Tuesday's game between the Guachos and Roadrunners. The website link to the broadcast can be found on the baseball schedule page at gorunners.com.

Wednesday's game at Loyola Marymount 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 from Los Angeles.

PROJECTED PITCHING MATCH-UPS
TUESDAY, MAY 25, 2010
CSUB: Sam Jones (LHP) (0-0)
UCSB: Nick Capito (LHP) (4-6)

WEDNESDAY, MAY 26, 2010
CSUB: Jonathan Montoya (LHP) (4-5)
LMU: TBA

'RUNNER REPORT
The Roadrunners hot streak was halted in Texas as they were outscored 32-1 in a three-game series at then No. 6 TCU. After claiming back-to-back series wins over then No. 20 Arizona and Pacific, the Roadrunners were swept by the Horned Frogs, falling to 23-28 on the season.

The Roadrunners hit just .174 as a team, committed 10 errors and allowed a 9.75 earned run average over the three-game set. The squad will seek to get back on track with their return to California and they head into the final five games of the season this week.

SCOUTING UCSB
UC Santa Barbara enters Tuesday's game with a 21-29 overall record. The Gauchos have dropped four straight, including a three-game series at home against Big West foe UC Davis last weekend.

UCSB is batting just .275 as a team, with two regular starters hitting over .300. Trevor Whyte leads the way with a .316 average. His 56 hits have included 10 doubles and five home runs while he also leads the team with 34 RBIs. Beck Wheeler is batting .306 with five doubles, one triple and two home runs.

On the mound, the Roadrunners will face Nick Capito on Tuesday. The lefty is 4-6 with a 6.52 ERA in 16 total appearances and 12 starts. In 69 innings, Capito has totaled 39 strikeouts, 18 walks and 97 hits allowed.

SERIES HISTORY VS. UCSB
Santa Barbara won two-of-three games over the Roadrunners last season, but Bakersfield evened the all-time series, 2-2, with a 4-0 win over the Gauchos on May 4 of this year. Jonathan Montoya tossed his first career shutout and struck out a career-high 10 for the Roadrunners.
SCOUTING LOYOLA MARYMOUNT
Loyola Marymount picked up an 11-10 midweek win over then No. 9 Cal State Fullerton, then dropped three straight at Gonzaga last weekend to enter this week with a 22-29 record. The Lions face Cal Poly on Tuesday before hosting the Roadrunners on Wednesday.

The Lions hit just .292 as a team, but do boast four players batting over .300. Ryan Hawthorne leads the way with a .342 average and 67 hits, including 11 doubles. Matt Lowenstein is batting .345 with a team-high 15 doubles. Jason Barmasse (.327) and Jonathan Johnson (.320) are also hitting over .300. Matt Koch leads the Lions with 15 home runs and 45 RBIs.

SERIES HISTORY VS. LOYOLA MARYMOUNT
The Roadrunners evened their all-time record against Loyola Marymount at 1-1 with a 13-3 win over the Lions on Apr. 27. CSUB led 13-0 through five innings and never looked back, cruising to the 10-run win.

A SHOT AT .500
The Roadrunners enter this week's play five games below .500...with five games to go. They would have to go a perfect 5-0 to finish with a .500 record in just their second year of existence. In 2009, the first-year program concluded with a 13-37 overall mark.

FIRST START
Sam Jones will toe the rubber in the first inning for the first time this season, earning the start against UC Santa Barbara on Tuesday. The senior lefty has appeared in 11 games this season, all from the bullpen. Last season, he earned five starts early on, then worked mostly from the pen late, earning his first save on May 21, 2009, against UC Davis.

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, hitting safely in 13 of the last 14 games. He is 29-for-67 (.433) during this recent run, while also adding 17 runs, five RBI's, three doubles, one triple and one home run. The senior second baseman currently leads the team with a .394 average.

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, hitting safely in nine of 12 games since, including seven multi-hit outings. Kudlock leads the team in doubles (15), triples (6) and slugging percentage (.565), and is second in RBIs (41).

YOUNGER NO MORE
Despite struggling along with the rest of the Roadrunners squad this past weekend in Texas, the youngest player on the CSUB squad has rarely shown signs of his youth since earning the starting spot in left field on Apr. 2. Kevin Younger (born July 15, 1991) is batting .378 on the year, has had 13 multi-hit games and carried a career-best hit streak of nine games from Apr. 13-Apr. 30.

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.

Since his streak ended, Rodriguez has safely hit in seven of 10 games, including five multi-hit games. He also holds the team's second highest batting average at .393.

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).

WALK OFF HOME RUN
Jeremy Rodriguez's walk-off home run against Pacific (May 14) 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.

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.

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 51 games this season, the Roadrunners' ratio is nearly doubled, as they have tallied 1.9 strikeouts for every walk allowed (354 K, 187 BB). Those figures have helped the staff carry a 4.95 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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