BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – With a midweek doubleheader already under their belts, the Roadrunners are set to round out a busy week with five more softball games this weekend. CSU Bakersfield will head to Santa Barbara, Calif. to compete against Saint Mary's and host UCSB in the Gaucho Classic II.

UC Santa Barbara and CSUB have enjoyed a long-standing rivalry that dates back to the 1980s. The Gauchos have earned the bulk of the victories in the all-time series (25-9) and UCSB has won the last 11 meetings.

The Gauchos will open the tournament with a 10-17 record. Sammy Fabian's .409 batting average leads UCSB while the Gauchos have a bit of pop in their bats with 14 home runs so far in 2018. Three pitchers share the circle evenly for UCSB, although no one in the trio has an ERA below 4.00.

Saint Mary's (8-18) has been a familiar foe for the `Runners this season. With three games schedule this weekend, CSUB and SMC will have met six times by the end of the regular season.

The Gaels hosted the `Runners at the end of February in a three-game series. SMC swept CSUB, but all three contests were tightly contested, including an eighth-inning, walk-off victory for the Gaels to close the series.

The `Runners (2-21) traveled south to take on Cal State Fullerton on Tuesday and suffered a pair of losses. The first game of the doubleheader was a well-fought, 3-0 loss, but the Titans ran away with Game 2 (9-0).

Bakersfield looks to senior outfielder Julea Cavazos to lead the `Runner offense with her .339 batting average and .500 on-base percentage. Senior Summer Evans continued to pitch well during the midweek games, allowing just three earned runs over 9.2 innings to Cal State Fullerton.

The Gaucho Classic II will kick off Friday, Mar. 23, with a pair of games for the `Runners. CSUB will play five games over the weekend and a full schedule of games can be found on the CSUB softball schedule page. Links to live stats for all three games can be located at that page as well.

~GoRunners.com~