MESA, Ariz.—Seattle U defeated CSU Bakersfield 9-3 in a Western Athletic Conference winner's bracket tournament game Friday night at Hohokam Stadium.

The Redhawks (31-25) took the lead right away as on James Barragan's (Sr., Bakersfield, Calif., Stockdale HS) third pitch of the game, Dalton Hurd hit a two-run home run. SU sent nine batters to the plate in the bottom of the second, scoring three times for a 5-0 advantage.

Michael McCann chased Barragan from the game when he picked up his second and third RBI's of the game on a one-out single up the middle in the bottom of the third.  Kris Cayton's (R-Sr., Manhattan Beach, Calif., LA Harbor College) RBI single with one out in the top of the fifth got the Roadrunners on the scoreboard. CSUB loaded the bases with two outs in the fifth, but Joey Sanchez (So., Pico Rivera, Calif., El Rancho HS) grounded into a fielder's choice to third for the final out.

Soloman Williams' (Sr., Long Beach, Calif., Golden West College) sac fly in the top of the sixth scored David Metzgar (So., Lancaster, Calif., Paraclete HS) for CSUB's second run. Logan Trowbridge (Sr., Santa Cruz, Calif., College of San Mateo) immediately followed with an RBI single to plate Mylz Jones (Jr., Palmdale, Calif., Paraclete HS).

Jones singled to lead off of the CSUB eighth. With one out, Trowbridge walked. Cayton lined out before Chance Gusbeth (Jr., Lancaster, Calif., Desert Christian HS) grounded into a fielder's choice to end the inning. Seattle U added two runs in the eighth.

“We got beat fair and square,” said CSUB head coach Bill Kernen. “They hammered us early. We dug in and fought it out. We gave ourselves a chance with runners in scoring position. We didn't give up. We played it all the way to the end.”

Metzgar went 2-for-5, marking the 26th time in 56 starts this season that Metzgar has had at least two hits in a game. Jones was 2-for-3 and scored twice for the Roadrunners. Barragan dropped to 7-4 on the year. Nick Dermenjian (Sr., Fair Oaks, Calif., American River College) kept CSUB in the game. He pitched a career high five innings of relief, striking out a career high three. He gave up four hits and two runs.  

McCann led Seattle U by going 3-for-4 with his three RBI's. Landon Cray was 2-for-4 with two runs scored. In addition to his three RBI's, Hurd was 2-for-3.  Grant Newton added two hits and two runs scored. Tarik Skubal improved to 7-4 on the year, pitching the first six innings, giving up five hits and three runs (two unearned). Ted Hammond got the three-inning save. He allowed two hits.

The Roadrunners (33-22-1) will play Sacramento State (33-26) in an elimination game on Saturday beginning at 3 p.m. The winner of the CSUB-Sac State game will play Seattle U at 7 p.m. on Saturday in the first WAC Tournament championship game.

“We have the same job that we had three days ago,” Kernen said. “We have to win three games, instead of winning three in three days, we have to win three in two. We have to do it against a pair of teams that we have beaten two out of three this year. So we have a job to do that we know we can do against teams we know we can do it against. It is more difficult, but it's the same job we had when we showed up.”

All of the games will be seen on the WAC Digital Network. All of the CSUB games can be heard on 1230 ESPN.