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April 11 2017: at Hardt Field in Bakersfield, CA. (Photo by: David Dennis/All-Star Sports Photography)
David Dennis/All-Star Sports Photography
2
Saint Mary's SMC 2-2
3
Winner CSU Bakersfield CSUB 2-2
Saint Mary's SMC
2-2
2
Final
3
CSU Bakersfield CSUB
2-2
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Saint Mary's SMC 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 9 2
CSU Bakersfield CSUB 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 X 3 9 1

W: Parks, Elijah (1-0) L: HANSEN, Andrew (0-1) S: Dewsnap, Naithen (1)

Game Recap: Baseball |

`Runners Come From Behind To Defeat Saint Mary's

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – The Roadrunner baseball team won its second-straight game with a 3-2 victory over a solid Saint Mary's squad on Monday evening. CSU Bakersfield came from behind to take a 3-2 lead and got a six-out save from senior Naithen Dewsnap to seal the win.

After the game, Jeremy Beard, CSUB's Head Coach, had words of praise for all three of his `Runner pitchers: "Ben Cutting came out and just gave us a really gutsy game. He allowed our defense to turn some good double plays for him. Elijah Parks earned going out there in the eighth. I felt comfortable about getting to our best guy at the end of the game there and he did his job. It was fantastic to watch."

Saint Mary's finished the 2017 season with a 37-20 record and the `Runners were able to knock off the strong Gaels team at Hardt Field. "They showed character the whole weekend," Beard said of his team. "We had two really tough games to start the weekend, but we didn't panic. Our guys stayed with each other and we had two good games back-to-back. We got back up after getting knocked down."

The Gaels led off the top of the second inning with a double down the right field line to put pressure on CSUB's starter, Ben Cutting. With runners on the corners, a steal at second accompanied by an error helped the Gaels take a 1-0 lead.

CSUB answered right back in the bottom half of the second to tie the score up at one run apiece. The `Runners capitalized on an error as well and Noah Barba's double drove in Alec Daily. SMC would regain the lead in the top of the fourth on Jackson Thoreson's solo home run that passed over the right field foul pole.

Freshman Evan Berkey doubled down the line with one out in the bottom of the fifth and later came home to score on Jake Ortega's sacrifice fly. The run tied the score up at 2-2 while Parks continued to keep the Gaels off the board.

Ortega, a junior catcher, came up clutch again two innings later. The native of Mission Viejo, Calif. plated Berkey again, this time on an RBI single. The `Runners took a 3-2 lead to the eighth inning, but a single to lead off the frame forced Coach Beard to go to Dewsnap with six outs to go.

Dewsnap, who was named an NCBWA Preseason All-American before the start of the year, had one out with the Saint Mary's runner on third base. Bakersfield's closer fanned the next two Gaels to get the `Runners out of the inning with their one-run lead in tact.

In the top of the ninth, Dewsnap came back out to finish the game off and struck out two more Gaels to seal the 3-2 victory. After setting the CSUB single-season and career record for saves a year ago, Dewsnap started the season off well with a save in his first outing.

Cutting, a College of Southern Nevada transfer, put together a solid performance in his first start for the `Runners. The native of Las Vegas, Nev. threw five innings while allowing just four hits and one earned run. Parks, a freshman from Tulare, Calif., earned the win in his first collegiate outing after pitching two innings and holding Saint Mary's scoreless.

At the plate, Ortega went 1-for-3 with two RBI while catching a quality game for the `Runners behind the dish. Berkey, CSUB's starting shortstop, went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and now leads all `Runners with a .533 batting average. Penner, a senior third baseman, also tallied a pair of hits for CSUB on Monday.

The `Runners (2-2) have wrapped up their season-opening homestand and will hit the road later this week. CSUB has a date with California for a four-game series, Feb. 23-25, in Berkeley.
 
~GoRunners.com~
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