BAKERSFIELD, Calif.--The Bakersfield baseball team (20-26, 12-9 WAC) hosts the program's final five home games this week. The home stand begins Tuesday at 6 p.m. against UC Santa Barbara.
The Gauchos defeated the 'Runners 5-1 Feb. 18 in Santa Barbara. Bakersfield leads the all-time series 6-5. UC Santa Barbara is 26-14-1 entering this week. Joey Epperson leads the team in hitting at a .390 clip. Tyler Kuresa paces UCSB with nine home runs and 40 RBI's. Lefthander Domenic Mazza (3-2) is Tuesday's probable starting pitcher. Mazza will go up against Roadrunner Steven Gee (2-1).
The Roadrunners welcome Fresno State Wednesday night for a 6 p.m. first pitch. The Bulldogs will play in back-to-back weeks beginning Wednesday night. CSUB will head to Fresno next Tuesday. The teams have played 23 times with the 'Runners leading the all-time series 12-11. Bakersfield has won four of the last five in the series.
The Bulldogs are 25-24 as the week begins. Jordan Luplow leads the team in hitting (.380), home runs (8), RBI's (40), doubles (20), slugging percentage (.630) and on-base percentage (.473). He has not committed an error in 111 chances this season (107-4-0) in the outfield. Fresno State has not announced a probable starter for Wednesday's game. Nick Rogowski or Alec Daily is scheduled to start for the Roadrunners.
The week concludes with a three-game WAC series against New Mexico State. Friday and Saturday's games begin at 6 p.m. The Sunday finale gets underway at 1 p.m. The Aggies are 18-25, 9-9 in WAC play. Derek Umphres leads the team in hitting (.321). Umphres has hit three home runs and driven in 31 RBI's. Kristoffer Koerper leads the team in RBI's (33) while Ryan Wagner has hit the most home runs on the Aggies with four.
Christopher Bradley (Fri.-3-5, 4.23 ERA), and Billy Conard (Sat.-3-3, 5.01 ERA) are the probable NM State starters. Sunday's Aggie starter is to be determined. The NM State trio will go up against Taylor Aikenhead (Friday-Sr., Lancaster, Calif., Bakersfield College), James Barragan (Saturday-Jr., Bakersfield, Calif., Stockdale HS), Austin Davis (Sunday-R-So., Scottsdale, Ariz., Desert Mountain HS).
After sweeping Northern Colorado last weekend, Bakersfield has moved into a tie for what would be the third seed at the WAC Tournament with Texas-Pan American. Both teams are 12-9, but the Broncs would get the higher seed at the league tournament as UTPA holds the tiebreaker (head-to-head) against CSUB.
Sacramento State is the league leader (17-4), Grand Canyon which is not eligible for the WAC Tournament this season, is second with a 14-7 mark. Utah Valley is third (13-8) followed by UTPA and CSUB.
Seattle U (10-8) is on the bubble for the league tournament, holding a one game advantage over New Mexico State (9-9). North Dakota (8-10). Chicago State (3-15), and Northern Colorado (1-20) round out the league standings.
The Roadrunners host the Aggies. Sac State is at Texas-Pan American, Seattle is at Utah Valley, Grand Canyon is at North Dakota State with Northern Colorado traveling to Chicago State.
