BAKERSFIELD, Calif.—After running their winning streak to six with a weekend sweep of Wagner, CSU Bakersfield (9-6) begins a 14-day stretch for CSUB in which the Roadrunners will play 10 games Tuesday night. The Roadrunners host CSUN at 6 p.m.
Tuesday is the first of two meetings between CSUB and CSUN this season. The Roadrunners travel to Northridge on Mar. 24. CSUB took two of three games against the Matadors last season. CSUN leads the all-time series 9-8.
The Matadors (11-4) have had a week off after losing 6-1 to then No. 6 UCLA last Tuesday. Ryan Raslowsky leads CSUN in hitting with a .352 batting average. Nick Blaser has a team leading eight RBI's while four other players have seven RBI's. Rayne Raven (R, 2-1, 0.44 ERA) will get the start against CSUB's James Barragan (R, 1-1, 1.84 ERA).
On Wednesday night, CSUB travels to UC Riverside for the first of two games that CSUB and UC Riverside will play this season. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. AJ Monarrez (R, 0-0, 4.50 ERA) makes his first start for the Roadrunners. UCR has not announced a probable starting pitcher.
The Highlanders travel to Bakersfield on Mar. 31. UC Riverside swept a series from the Roadrunners last season in Bakersfield to take a 12-3 all-time series lead. Former major league pitcher Troy Percival is in his first season as head coach at his alma mater. UC Riverside is 7-9 after losing 2-of-3 at the University of San Francisco last weekend. Drake Zarate is UCR's leading hitter (.344). Vince Fernandez is hitting .339 with one home runs and a team leading 14 RBI's.
The Roadrunners conclude this week by open Western Athletic Conference play at New Mexico State. The series begins Friday at 6 p.m. (MDT). Saturday's action gets underway at 1 p.m. (MDT) with the series concluding at 12 p.m. (MDT) on Sunday. On Friday, Hayden Carter (R, 2-1, 3.00 ERA) will face Riley Barr (R, 0-1, 3.78 ERA). Saturday's matchup features Steven Gee (R, 2-1, 1.40 ERA) against Matt Loeffler (R, 0-0, 3.00 ERA). Nick Rogowski gets the call for CSUB (R, 2-1, 5.00 ERA) on Sunday and will face Billy Conrad (R, 1-2, 5.06 ERA).
The Aggies are 1-12 under first year head coach Brian Green. NM State had a series against Northern Kentucky cancelled last weekend due to weather. The Aggies travel to No. 24 Texas Tech for a pair of games on Tuesday and Wednesday. Quinnton Mack leads NM State with a .319 batting average, one home run, and nine RBI's.
Rogowski was named WAC Pitcher of the Week Mar. 9. Rogowski recorded a complete game six-hitter as Bakersfield completed a three-game series sweep of Wagner. He tied his career high with nine strikeouts and walked just two on 126 pitches.
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