BAKERSFIELD, Calif.-CSU Bakersfield baseball will join the Western Athletic Conference as an affiliate member beginning in the spring of 2013, following an invitation by WAC officials last week. Joining CSUB will be Dallas Baptist making the WAC a 10-team baseball conference when competition begins in March of 2013.
“We are very excited to accept the invitation and have our baseball team join the WAC, said Jeff Konya, CSUB Athletic Director. “It's a testament to the excellent work done by our coaching staff, our student-athletes and our program. All have worked tirelessly to make our baseball program an attractive conference member in such a short time.”
In just three seasons of play, CSUB head coach Bill Kernen has built the Roadrunners not only from the ground up, but into a nationally-ranked, top RPI performing program that has competed and had success against established programs such as UCLA, Arizona State, Nebraska, and two-time defending national champion South Carolina. The Roadrunners narrowly missed an at-large selection into the NCAA Tournament last season despite a 33-22 record and an RPI that finished 52nd in the country.
“Membership in the WAC is a major step forward for the CSUB baseball program and a validation of the work done here by our student-athletes over the past three years,” said Kernen. “As now structured, the WAC owns a comparable Power Index number with the Big West and in my opinion will surpass that conference in the coming years.”
With CSUB's entry, the WAC in 2013 will have 10 teams in five states with a stronghold in the baseball-rich states of California and Texas, providing the potential to be among the top conferences in the nation. The WAC will then be made up of full-time members Seattle, San Jose State, New Mexico State, Texas State, Texas-Arlington, Texas-San Antonio and affiliate members CSU Bakersfield, Dallas Baptist and Sacramento State.
“It is our objective to continue the growth of our program at CSU Bakersfield to elite Top-25 status and to contribute to this conference in its efforts to become a multiple-bid NCAA post-season participant,” Kernen said. “Dr. Mitchell and Jeff Konya are to be congratulated for their diligence in securing this affiliate membership and we hope to represent the university with class and excellence on and off the field.”
The conference will play a 27-game schedule in a round-robin format with the first games scheduled for the weekend of March 22nd, 2013. A conference tournament will follow the regular season for the automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament, the number of teams that will qualify is yet to be determined.
“This is a piece of the puzzle for this program but it's not the last, “ Konya said. “Now that we have a conference home, I think we have to take the next steps and work with the community to ramp-up even more support to ensure our facilities, our recruiting and our resources are at the levels necessary to be successful in the WAC.”
In other conference news, CSUB men's and women's outdoor track and field along with the CSUB tennis program have also found conference homes. All three teams have accepted an invitation to join the Great West Conference beginning in the spring of 2012.
“I am very excited about becoming a member of the Great West Conference and the opportunity for our men's and women's track teams to compete at the 2012 Great West Track and Field Championships,” said Alan Collatz, CSUB Director of Track and Field. “Our student-athletes will get to experience a championship meet and the atmosphere that surrounds it. This is great news for our program and we look forward to the challenge.”
Head tennis coach Regina Csibi-Krueger also says she and her team are looking forward to competing for a conference championship.
“We are extremely delighted and honored to join the Great West Conference,” Csibi-Krueger said. “We feel that this is another step forward to become an outstanding Division I program at CSUB and we are very excited about participating in this conference and the conference tournament in Texas.”
CSUB will have 10 of their 19 teams affiliated with a conference by next season, the breakdown is as follows:
Baseball-WAC (2013)
Men's Track and Field-Great West (Spring 2012)
Women's Track and Field-Great West (Spring 2012)
Tennis- Great West (Spring 2012)
Men's Soccer- Mountain Pacific Sports Federation
Men's Swimming and Diving-MPSF
Women's Swimming and Diving-MPSF
Wrestling-PAC 12
Softball- Pacific Coast Softball Conference
Water Polo-Western Water Polo Association
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