BAKERSFIELD, Calif.—Northern Colorado's Reyn Sugai charted an RBI single in the top of the 10th, to help the Bears defeat CSU Bakersfield 6-4 Friday night in Western Athletic Conference baseball action.

Brandon Vaughn's RBI single in the top of the third was the first run given up by CSUB's Hayden Carter (Sr., San Diego, Calif., Vista HS) in 25 innings dating back to Apr. 10. UNC's Cole Maltese led off the fourth with his fifth home run of the year, a shot to the opposite field in right for 2-0 advantage.  Mylz Jones (Jr., Palmdale, Calif., Paraclete HS), the Roadrunners' right-handed hitting shortstop also went to right field to record a home run. Jones' blast tied the score and it was his second homer of the year.

Jake Garcia's two-out RBI single in the top of the sixth returned the lead to Northern Colorado, 3-2. Jake Ek immediately followed with his second double of the game to plate Garcia and make it 4-2. Chance Gusbeth (Jr., Lancaster, Calif., Desert Christian HS) doubled with one out in the bottom of the seventh and moved to third on a Max Carter (So., Bakersfield, Calif., Stockdale HS) single. Kris Cayton (R-Sr., Manhattan Beach, Calif., LA Harbor College), CSUB's second straight pinch-hitter, hit a ball deep to right. It would go down as a sac fly for Cayton as Gusbeth scored.  Dylan Shiraki would become UNC's third pitcher of the night, relieving Matt Loutzenhiser.

The left-handed Shiraki would face the left-handed hitting Jordie Hein (Sr., Scottsdale, Ariz., Chapparal HS) and would give up a Hein single to center. On the 11th pitch of his at-bat against Shiraki, Joey Sanchez (So., Pico Rivera, Calif., El Rancho HS) hit a sinking liner to Ek at shortstop. Ek dove to his backhand and came up with the final out of the frame.

Garcia worked out a two-out eighth inning walk against Carter to bring up Ek. The Northern Colorado shortstop hit a grounder to his counterpart that took a bad hop, but Jones recovered and got the force out at second for out No. 3. Soloman Williams (Sr., Long Beach, Calif., Golden West College) worked out a one-out walk in the bottom of the eighth against Shiraki. UNC again went for the matchup, bringing in a righty, Justin Mulvaney, to face Jones. Jones responded with a single to center that advanced pinch-runner Nick Vehlewald (Jr., Bakersfield, Calif., Garces HS) to third.

For the second straight game a Ryan Grotjohn (So., Cave Creek, Ariz., Brophy College Prep) sacrifice fly tied the game. This time, Grotjohn hit one deep to right to allow Vehlewald to score. Jones was thrown out at second attempting to steal to end the inning.

UNC's Jensen Park, the fourth leading hitter in Division (.418), singled for the third time with one out in the ninth. Vaughn singled to center as Park advanced to third. Pinch-hitter Bryan Tibbets walked to load the bases. With the corners up, Sanchez, the Roadrunner third baseman fielded a Maltese ground and threw Park out at the plate. Rob Cashel, who entered the game as a defensive replacement in the eight in right field, worked the count to 3-2. On Carter's 149th pitch of the night, Cashel struck out swinging. For Carter, it was his career high seventh strikeout in the game.

“Hayden gave up a lot of hits but he held it together, and got out of the jam in the ninth to give us a chance to win,” said CSUB head coach Bill Kernen. “Hayden didn't locate like he usually does and left some balls up, and these guys can hit.”

Steven Gee (So., Taft, Calif., Taft Union HS) relieved Hayden Carter prior to the start of the 10th. Dan Reese was Gee's first batter and he smacked a single to center. Garcia attempted a sacrifice bunt, but he fouled out to CSUB catcher Logan Trowbridge (Sr., Santa Cruz, Calif., College of San Mateo). Ek posted his third hit, an infield single to third, to bring up Sugai, the UNC lead off hitter with runners on first and second. Sugai singled up the middle for the go-ahead run. Park was intentionally walked to load the bases. Vaughn's sac fly allowed Ek to score for an insurance run at 6-4. Vehlewald singled with two outs in the bottom of the 10th. It wasn't enough. Jones, the tying run, lined out to second to end the game.

Northern Colorado would outhit CSUB 17-10 as six different players had at least two hits. David Metzgar (So., Lancaster, Calif., Paraclete HS), Jones, and Gusbeth each recorded two for the Roadrunners.

This was Northern Colorado's (16-22, 12-7 WAC) first victory against CSU Bakersfield in eight tries and moves UNC to a half-game behind the third place Roadrunners (26-17-1, 12-6-1 WAC) in the league standings.  With league leader Grand Canyon ineligible for the WAC Tournament due to the Antelopes' transition to Division I, the next two teams in the league standings (Seattle U is second and plays at GCU this weekend) receive first round byes at the league tournament which begins May 20 in Mesa, Ariz. CSUB dropped its first extra-inning game since 2012 and are now 10-9-1 lifetime in extras.

“We didn't hit enough tonight,” Kernen said. “We hit a lot of balls hard but they were right at somebody. You have to give them credit about the job they did. They beat us. We are going to have to play well. They have gotten better and they are a totally different Northern Colorado team than the one we played last year. We fought hard and I know these guys believe in themselves and we will be OK.”

The series between CSUB and Northern Colorado (15-22, 11-7 WAC) continues Saturday night at 6 p.m. Tickets are available at Vallitix.com. If you can't make it to Hardt Field, you can the watch the game on Bakersfield.com.

~GoRunners.com~