BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – The CSU Bakersfield baseball team will open their 2018 season with four straight home games starting Friday, Feb. 16.  The `Runners will host UC Davis for three games Feb. 16-18 and then on Monday, Feb. 19, CSUB will finish up the homestand with a game against Saint Mary's.
 
The `Runners are coming off a successful 32-24 season in 2017 under first year head coach Jeremy Beard.  Technically, Coach Beard was the Interim last season.  But Coach Beard was taking over a team that had went 19-37 in 2016, so I would think it was very easy for the CSUB brass to take that interim tag off of Coach Beard's title after a 13 game improvement.
 
UC Davis is coming off a 21-30 season where they went 10-14 in the Big West Conference.  This will be a preview of a Big West Conference matchup as the `Runners will join the Big West for the 2020-2021 season. 
 
St. Mary's will be coming to Bakersfield after opening the season with a three game set at Long Beach State Feb. 16-18.  The Gaels are coming off a successful campaign in 2017 that saw the West Coast Conference member go 37-20 overall and 18-9 in conference play.  The last time the `Runners played St. Mary's was in 2016 when CSUB was swept in a two game set at home.
 
This Roadrunner squad may have been picked to finish fifth in the Western Athletic Conference, but there will be plenty of reasons for fans and MLB scouts to come to Hardt Field in Bakersfield this season.
 
CSUB's Naithen Dewsnap is just one of the reasons why.  Dewsnap has been named to the preseason watch list for "Stopper of the Year" which is given to the nation's top relief pitcher at the end of each year.  The senior from Norco, Calif., was also selected to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association's (NCBWA) Preseason All-America Third Team and is the first `Runner to be named to the squad.
 
The 'Runners will open up Western Athletic Conference play on the road at UTRGV on Mar. 23 and New Mexico State will come to town on Apr. 6 for CSUB's conference home opener.  The `Runners will wrap up the regular season May 17-19 with a three game homestand against WAC rival Chicago State before going to Mesa, Ariz. For the WAC Tournament May 23-27.