BAKERSFIELD, Calif.—The CSU Bakersfield baseball team heads out on the road for the final time Tuesday at No. 24/26 UC Santa Barbara before returning home to begin a season-ending home stand against Chicago State.
Tuesday's game against UCSB is set for 3 p.m. The Gauchos defeated the Roadrunners 10-4 Mar. 22 in Bakersfield to take an 8-7 all-time series lead. UC Santa Barbara is ranked 24th in the Baseball America and 26th in the Collegiate Baseball polls to start the week.
The Gauchos lost two of three at UC Davis last weekend to fall to 31-12-1 on the year. Devon Gradford leads the team in batting (.377) while Austin Bush is the team leader in home runs (5) and RBI's (34). The Gauchos have not announced a probable starter for Tuesday's game while CSUB will likely start Max Carter (0-7) against UCSB.
The CSUB series against Chicago State is set for Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 6 p.m., and Sunday at 12 p.m. The Roadrunners and Cougars are playing for the seventh, eighth, and ninth times with the 'Runners leading the all-time series 5-1.
Chicago State is 12-36 before playing the University of Chicago (a NCAA Division III program) Wednesday night. Andy Gertonson has started all 48 games for Chicago State and leads the team in hitting (.288), home runs (6), and RBI's (28).
On Friday night, CSUB will start Isaiah Moten (1-3) against either Jake Perkins (3-6) or Josh Willis (1-6). Saturday's probable starter for the Roadrunners will be Andrew Hansen (2-7). Hansen should face Justin Wyant (4-8) AJ Monarrez (4-5) will get the call for CSUB on Sunday against Dillon Engle (2-9).
All three games can be heard on ESPN 1230 AM/98.1 FM with Corey Costelloe on the call.
With two weeks remaining in the regular season, Seattle U, NM State, Utah Valley, and Sacramento State have clinched a spot in the May 25-29 WAC Tournament. Northern Colorado can clinch a WAC Tournament spot with one win this weekend at Seattle U or one CSU Bakersfield loss.
UTRGV can clinch the last spot with four wins over the last six WAC games. If they do not win four, it will depend on the number of losses by either Chicago State or CSU Bakersfield who play each other this weekend in Bakersfield. North Dakota is not officially eliminated though they are 5.5 games back of the last spot and would need some major help to earn qualification.
CSU Bakersfield's AJ Monarrez has been named Western Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week ending May 8. Monarrez threw a complete game shutout in the Roadrunners' series-clinching win at UT Rio Grande Valley.
He tied his career high with nine strikeouts while only walking two Vaquero hitters. He gave up just three hits on the game, including two in the first four batters he faced. From there, only two Vaqueros reached base as he needed just 125 pitches, including 78 for strikes, to earn CSUB's first shutout of the season.
~www.GoRunners.com~
