BAKERSFIELD, Calif.—Hayden Carter (Sr., San Diego, Calif., Vista HS) tossed his third complete game of the season as CSU Bakersfield defeated Texas-Pan American 5-1 Friday night in the opener of a three-game Western Athletic Conference series.

Carter retired 14 of the first 15 batters that he faced. He scattered nine hits as he improved to 4-3 on the season. The 5-11 righty threw 132 pitches, 82 for strikes. He struck out one and did not allow a walk.

“Hayden battled without his best stuff,” said CSUB head coach Bill Kernen. “He located the ball very well and we didn't give anything away. That was a gutty performance by him.”

Max Carter (So., Bakersfield, Calif., Stockdale HS), who entered the game hitting .692 over the last 10 games, continued his torrid pace as he broke the seal with a RBI single in the top of the first. Soloman Williams' (Sr., Long Beach, Calif., Golden West College) two-out RBI single in the third plated David Metzgar (So., Lancaster, Calif., Paraclete HS).

Hayden Carter retired nine in a row at before giving up three straight hits with two outs in the top of the fifth. Pinch-hitter Isaac Gonzalez's RBI single scored Edgar Coran from second, but Chance Gusbeth (Jr., Lancaster, Calif., Desert Christian HS) threw out Jacob Huckaby trying to advance to third for the final out.

The Roadrunners loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the fifth for Williams. Williams picked up his second RBI with a sacrifice fly that scored Metzgar. Down 1-2 in the count, Gusbeth tripled to right center to drive in two runs.

“Gusbeth's triple was a big one,” Kernen said. “We had a sac fly that got us one, but when you get it to 5-1 with somebody who is pitching as well as Hayden was, it's pretty difficult to come back from that.”

The victory was the fifth in a row for the Roadrunners. CSUB has outscored their opponents 46-3 during the stretch. Both teams recorded nine hits. Cole Loncar, Correy Davis, and Jacob Huckaby all recorded two hits for the Broncs.

Joey Sanchez (So., Pico Rivera, Calif., El Rancho HS), Metzgar and Max Carter each posted two for CSUB. Williams and Gusbeth both charted two RBI's.  Williams played first base for the first time this season after off-season surgery on his shoulder.  He recorded 10 putouts and an assist.

“It wasn't a great offensive night, but it was enough when you play good defense and pitch,” Kernen said. “Having Soloman at first makes it easier for us to use Max at DH and potentially close. That's the lineup we need to have. We knew we were better than we were playing there for a while. If we want to be conference champion, we know we have to sweep a couple of series after losing a couple early. We'll see if we can do that.”

The series between the Roadrunners (18-14-1, 6-3-1 WAC) and UTPA (12-20, 0-10 WAC) continues Saturday. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. Tickets are available at Vallitix.com. If you can't make it to Hardt Field, you can watch the game on Bakersfield.com or listen to the game on 1230 ESPN.

~GoRunners.com~