BAKERSFIELD, Calif.—The CSU Bakersfield baseball team hosts No. 17/24 UC Santa Barbara Tuesday before opening Western Athletic Conference play Thursday at Seattle U.

Tuesday's game against the Gauchos will begin at 6 p.m. CSUB and UC Santa Barbara split a pair of games last season with each team winning on the other's home field. The all-time series is tied 7-7.

The Gauchos are ranked 17th in the Collegiate Baseball Top 30 poll and 24th in the Baseball America Top 25. UC Santa Barbara is 15-3 entering this week's action. Dempsey Grover is the team leader in batting average (.422). Austin Bush has driven in a team leading 19 RBI's. Two players (JJ Muno and Josh Adams) have each hit three home runs.

The Seattle U series will be played at Bannerwood Park in Bellevue, Wash. The series begins Thursday at 5 p.m., continuing Friday at 5 p.m., and concluding Saturday at 12 p.m. Saturday's game will be available on the WAC Digital Network.

CSUB-SU is a rematch of the WAC Tournament finals in which the 'Runners won two straight to make their first NCAA Tournament appearance. CSUB and the Redhawks played a total of six times last season with the Roadrunners winning four times. CSUB leads the all-time series 9-4.

The Redhawks are a WAC best 11-8 before a Tuesday game at Oregon. Seattle U paces the WAC in hitting (.312), ERA (2.68), and saves (6). Sheldon Stober is seventh in the league in hitting (.360). The pitching staff features Tarik Skubal (0.87) and Nick Meservey (0.96) who are first and second in the WAC in ERA.

Dustin Frailey is current leading the Roadrunner (5-14) offense. As of Mar. 21, Frailey is 12th in Division I in batting average (.454) and 13th in on-base percentage (.545). He is also tied for 61st in triples with teammate David Metzgar (2) and 66th in slugging percentage (.667).

~www.GoRunners.com~