BAKERSFIELD, Calif.—Three weeks ago, any chance for CSU Bakersfield to make the Western Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament seemed to be a long shot. The long shot came in as the Roadrunners won their seventh consecutive WAC game as CSUB defeated North Dakota 10-6 Friday night. The win combined with a 10-0 UTRGV loss to Grand Canyon clinched the sixth and final WAC Tournament slot for the Roadrunners.

Dustin Frailey was hit by a Zach Muckenhirn pitch to begin the CSUB first. He stole his 18th base of the season of the season, breaking Jordie Hein's 2014 school record of 17 and came home on a David Metzgar double to give the Roadrunners an early lead. Cody White plated Metzgar to make it a two-run advantage.

Tyler Berg was hit by an Andrew Hansen pitch with one out. Home plate umpire Javier Cantu issued a warning to both benches as this was the sixth batter hit by a pitch in the series. Connor Trygstad singled through the right side before Hayden May flew out to right. Luis Calvo popped out to first to end the inning.

Ellery Bresnanhan led off the UND third with single up the middle and advanced to second when Ben Renznicek reached on a bunt single. Miles Lewis, the Fighting Hawks' leading hitter, attempted to lay down a sac bunt. He fouled off his first attempt before singling up the middle on a 1-1 count to drive in the first North Dakota run. Lewis reached second on a CSUB error with Renznicek going to third on the play.

Brett Harrison gave UND the lead with a single up the middle that scored a pair. Daniel Lockhert hit into a 5-4-3 double play, the 11th for the Roadrunners in their last six games. Berg grounded out to third for the third out.

Frailey led off the CSUB third with a single but Jones struck out and he was erased a 6-4 fielder's choice on a ball that was hit by Metzgar. Max Carter struck out, the sixth for Muckenhirn in the first three innings to bring his league leading total to 96.

Trygstad began the UND fourth with a double to right.  May's grounder to second was enough to get Trygstad to third. CSUB brought the infield in against Calvo, a .147 hitter. Calvo flew out to center, but the ball wasn't deep enough to score a run. Bresnahan fouled out to CSUB catcher Junior Felix to keep the score 3-2.

Ryan Grotjohn reached on a two-out error by Calvo, the North Dakota shortstop. Chance Gusbeth made the Fighting Hawks pay, as he hit his fourth home run of the year, to the deepest part of Hardt Field, 390 feet away in centerfield.

Hansen retired eight in a row before giving up Trygstad's third hit of the game with two outs in the sixth. May singled to put the go-ahead run on first for Calvo. Calvo tied the game with a single to right to score Trygstad. Bresnahan was retired with a pop out to third to conclude matters.

Muckenheim retired eight in a row after giving up the Gusbeth home run. Gusbeth put down a bunt with one out in the bottom of the seventh. He reached safely as Muckenheim threw the ball away, allowing Gusbeth to advance to second. Felix lined out to left. Down 0-1 in the count, Frailey launched into the 15-mph wind blowing out to right to return the lead to the Roadrunners.

Jones was hit by a pitch before Metzgar's grounder to Reznicek at second was misplayed, keeping the inning alive for Carter. Carter posted only his second hit in his last 15 at-bats, a single to left center that scored Jones and move to Metzgar to third. White nearly added to the lead, but his shot to left was caught at the warning track.

Coats walked Lockhert on four pitches to get the UND eighth underway. With one out, Trygstad, was hit by a Coats' 0-2 pitch. May walked to load the bases and bring the go-ahead run up again in Calvo's spot in the lineup. He was pulled in favor of Tyler Midas. CSUB went to the bullpen and called in Jones who started the game as the designated hitter.

The righty-righty matchup worked in favor of the Fighting Hawks as Midas singled to left to score Lockhert. Cooper Maas pinch-ran for Midas as the bases remained loaded for Bresnahan. Jones struck out Bresnahan for the second out. Reznicek was hit by a pitch to make it 7-6. Jones struck Lewis looking to keep CSUB up by one.

Austin Crank relieved Mucknhirm to start the CSUB eighth. Drew Seelman's pop up was lost in the lights by the North Dakota infield. The ball dropped in for a base hit. Grotjohn singled through the right side to push Seelman to third. Gusbeth tripled to left center to give the Roadrunners some breathing run as both runners scored. With the infield in, Felix grounded out to third.

UND kept the infield in Frailey against CSUB's leading hitter and the ploy worked as he grounded out to third. Jones dropped a bunt down the third base line. He was safe as Gusbeth scored.  Metzgar grounded out to third for the final out.

Lockhert singled with one out in the ninth. Berg would ground into 4-3 double play to send the 'Runners back to Mesa in search of their second straight WAC Tournament title.

Northern Colorado earned the remaining WAC Tournament slot when UTRGV lost. The final day of the regular season will determine if CSUB will either be the fifth or sixth seed at the tournament which begins next Wednesday.

Gusbeth was a double away from the cycle as he went 3-for-4 with four RBI's. Frailey tallied his 26th multi-hit game of the season as he went 2-for-4 with two RBI's and two runs scored. Muckenhirn would end his final start of the 2016 season with nine strikeouts for 99 on the year. Trygstad, who only had seven hits in 27 appearances prior to Friday's game, went 3-for-3 with two runs scored. Lewis would put up two hits

CSUB (17-35, 11-14 WAC) and North Dakota (8-36, 4-22 WAC) conclude the series Saturday afternoon. First pitch is set for 12 p.m. as the Roadrunners will honor its four seniors prior to the game.

Tickets are available through the CSUB Ticket Office at (661) 654-BLUE or tickets@csub.edu, or online at Vallitix.com. The can be heard on 1230 AM/98.1 FM ESPN radio beginning at 11:45 a.m. with Corey Costelloe on the call.

~www.GoRunners.com~