BAKERSFIELD, Calif.--The postseason has arrived for the CSU Bakersfield baseball team as the Roadrunners open Western Athletic Conference Tournament play Thursday afternoon at 3 p.m.
The Roadrunners (32-21-1, 17-9-1 WAC) are the tournament's second seed and will await the highest seed available after the first day of the meet is concluded on Wednesday. The tournament begins with the No. 4 seed, Sacramento State (30-25, 16-11 WAC) taking on the fifth seed Utah Valley (19-32, 15-12 WAC) at 3 p.m. The No. 3 seed is North Dakota (23-25, 16-11 WAC). North Dakota faces Northern Colorado (16-30, 12-15 WAC), the sixth seed at 7 p.m.
Seattle U (29-25, 19-8 WAC) is the No. 1 seed and will face the lowest seed available on Thursday at 7 p.m. CSUB took 2-of-3 conference games from Seattle U, North Dakota, Sacramento State, and Northern Colorado this season. Utah Valley won 2-of-3 from the Roadrunners this season.
The complete tournament schedule is available at http://www.wacsports.com. All games will be streamed on the WAC Digital Network with all CSUB games also being broadcasted on 1230 ESPN.
The winner of this week's WAC Tournament receives the league's automatic berth into the 2015 NCAA Division I Championships. The top 16 seeds will be revealed on Sunday night on ESPN U with all 64 teams being announced on Monday at 9 a.m. PDT on ESPN U.
CSU Bakersfield's Hayden Carter was selected Western Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year while Roadrunner head coach Bill Kernen was named WAC Coach of the Year as the Western Athletic Conference has announced its All-WAC baseball teams and major awards Tuesday. All awards were selected by the league's 10 head coaches.
Carter, a senior right-hander from San Diego, Calif. (Vista HS), went 5-1 in nine conference appearances for the Roadrunners, posting a 1.83 ERA. He threw a league-high 69 innings, averaging seven and two-third innings per game. Not only did he go the distance but he was also among the most effective pitchers in the league, allowing just 1.30 walks per game and a league-low 1.96 runs per game. Carter was also named first team All-Conference.
In his seventh season leading the Roadrunners, Kernen earned WAC Coach of the Year honors for the second time in three seasons, also having earned the award in 2013. This season, he led Bakersfield to its third straight WAC Tournament, going 17-9-1 in conference play to earn the second seed. He recently had his number 17 retired by the Roadrunners, the first number in any sport at Bakersfield to be retired.
Other CSUB players joining Carter as a first team All-Conference selection were James Barragan, David Metzgar, and Joey Sanchez. Barragan was 6-0 in seven WAC starts with a 1.82 ERA. He struck out 50 in 54.1 innings of WAC work. His 1.82 ERA was the second lowest in the conference this season. Metzgar hit .345 with one home run and 16 RBI's in conference play. Sanchez scored 13 runs in 23 league appearances.
Max Carter was chosen second team All-Conference. Carter hit .383 with 20 RBI's in 25 WAC appearances.
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