MESA, Ariz.—CSU Bakersfield (33-21-1) advanced in the championship bracket of the Western Athletic Conference baseball tournament with an 11-1 victory over North Dakota (24-26) Thursday afternoon at Hohokam Stadium.

Soloman Williams (Sr., Long Beach, Calif., Golden West College) gave the Roadrunners a 2-0 lead when he hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the second. The hit-and-run proved to be effective for CSUB later in the inning as on back-to-back hits from Logan Trowbridge (Sr., Santa Cruz, Calif., College of San Mateo) and Chance Gusbeth (Jr., Lancaster, Calif., Desert Christian HS) resulted in RBI's and a 4-0 advantage.

“This is a big ballpark, so when a ball has an angle, it is farther out than you think,” said CSUB head coach Bill Kernen. “Even if it doesn't reach the fence like in other parks, it doesn't have to. Not everybody recognizes that.”

An RBI from Max Carter (So., Bakersfield, Calif., Stockdale HS) in the bottom of the third made it a 5-0 game.  North Dakota got on the board in the fifth when Cooper Maas singled in Ellery Bresnahan.  David Metzgar (So., Lancaster, Calif., Paraclete HS) smacked his second home run of the year, a two-run blast in the fifth to push the CSUB lead to six. Jordie Hein's (Sr., Scottsdale, Ariz., Chapparal HS) RBI ground out in the bottom of the sixth plated the Roadrunners' eighth run. CSUB scored three times in the bottom of the seventh to invoke the league's 10-run mercy rule.

CSUB starter Hayden Carter (Sr., Sa Diego, Calif., Vista HS) tied Jonathan Montoya's (2011) school record with his seventh complete game of the season. Carter scattered eight hits while striking out six. He did not walk a batter. 68 of his 94 pitches were for strikes.

“Hayden did what he always does,” Kernen said. “He located his fastball and mixed in his other pitches when he needed to. He battles, he pitches with his heart and it doesn't matter if he has his best stuff or not. It is about how he commands his pitches.”

In each of the five innings in which the Roadrunner put on the leadoff hitter, CSUB scored. The Roadrunners turned two double plays to raise their season total to 57, breaking the old record of 56 which was set in 2014. CSUB is 14th in Division I in double plays this season. CSUB has outscored North Dakota 42-2 in four games in 2015.

Metzgar tripled in the bottom of the seventh for his second hit of the day. Metzgar also scored two runs. Mylz Jones (Jr., Palmdale, Calif., Paraclete HS) and Gusbeth each added two hits for the Roadrunners. Brett Harrison was the UND leader with two hits (2-for-3).

CSUB will play the winner of the Thursday night game between the No. 1 seed, Seattle U and the fifth seed Utah Valley on Friday night at 7 p.m. All of the games will be seen on the WAC Digital Network. All of the games can be heard on 1230 ESPN.

~GoRunners.com~