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Alec Daily RM01
Rick May

Baseball

CSUB Hosting Chicago State for Final Series

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - The CSU Bakersfield baseball team will welcome Chicago State University to Hardt Field this weekend with a berth in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament on the line.  The final series of the regular season begins tomorrow night at 6:00 p.m. 

Time to Finish Strong
Despite dropping the series to the University of Northern Colorado, the Roadrunners still control their postseason destiny.  With three games remaining, CSUB leads the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley by one game in the race for the final spot in the six-team tournament.  The Vaqueros do hold the tiebreaker over the `Runners because UTRGV won the regular season series 2-1.  CSUB's magic number over the Vaqueros is just three, which means any combination of three CSUB wins and UTRGV losses will eliminate the Vaqueros.  CSUB needs just one victory over Chicago State this weekend to eliminate the Cougars and Utah Valley University from contention.  

Series History
The Roadrunners have dominated the all-time series with the Cougars and have won 10 of the 12 meetings between the two programs.  CSUB is undefeated against Chicago State at home, winning all six meetings.  Last season in Chicago, CSUB won two out of three games and have won all four series.  

Aaron Charles threw four innings and allowed just one run against Chicago State last season.  He earned the victory in the series finale after striking out three batters and scattering five hits.  Cole Valletta also performed well in last season's series, hitting .429 with three hits, a double and three runs scored.  

Scouting the Cougars
Chicago State struggled to open the 2018 conference season after being swept by Grand Canyon University, New Mexico State, Seattle U and Sacramento State.  The Cougars have dug themselves out of the 0-12 hole and have gone 6-3 over their last three series, knocking off UTRGV, Northern Colorado and Utah Valley.  The Cougars own a non-conference victory over Big 10 Conference neighbor Northwestern University.  On Tuesday, the Cougars lost a late lead to Valparaiso as they were defeated 3-2.  Chicago State was picked to finish ninth in the conference by all eight coaches.  

In conference action, the Cougars are hitting .246 with a .323 slugging percentage and a .320 on-base percentage.  Chicago State's pitching staff sports an 8.20 ERA in WAC games, while opposing hitters are batting .320 off its staff. 

Pitching Matchups
LHP Alec Daily (4-3, 5.15 ERA) vs. LHP Grant Trower (1-4, 10.21 ERA) 
It will be an all left-handed matchup in Thursday's series opener.  Daily has been the Roadrunners opening starter for every conference series.  The senior has seen his ERA rise after struggling in his last two starts.  In his last outing at Northern Colorado, Daily threw 6.2 innings and allowed 12 hits and eight earned runs.  Daily also struck out eight batters, which is just one shy of career high.  Trower has struggled in six starts, but is coming off of his best outing of the season.  The senior threw six innings, a season-high, and allowed just two runs despite giving up five hits and five walks.  

RHP Davonte Butler (2-7, 5.07 ERA) vs. RHP Joe Fitka (1-4, 5.87 ERA)
Butler will remain in the rotation for the second straight weekend.  The freshman had a solid outing in his last start, going seven innings and allowing four earned runs.  His six strikeouts were just one shy of his career-best of seven.  Butler was also excellent in his previous appearance against Grand Canyon.  He tossed three shutout innings to get his second victory of the season.  Fitka will be making his seventh start of the season this weekend.  He took the loss against UTRGV last Saturday after allowing four runs in three innings against the Vaqueros.  The junior has struck out 37 batters in 46 innings.  

TBA vs. LHP Zach Thomas (2-6, 4.08 ERA) 
Head coach Jeremy Beard has yet to name a starter for Saturday's series finale. Isaac Meza took the bump last Sunday and Elijah Parks has seen time in the rotation.  Aaron Charles and Ben Cutting have also been used as starters this season.  Thomas has made 11 starts for the Cougars this season.  He won his first start of the year against LIU Brooklyn and beat Northern Colorado two series ago.  Thomas'  season-long start is seven innings.  He walked six and gave up five hits in his last start against UTRGV, when he lasted four innings.  

Team Comparison
CSUB CSU
RPI 225 265
Batting Average .257 .241
Scoring Average 4.5 3.8
On-Base Percentage .330 .321
Slugging Percentage .329 .320
Extra-Base Hits 83 86
Stolen Bases 38 42
ERA 5.65 7.64
WHIP 1.70 1.95
Strikeouts Per Nine 7.0 6.5
Fielding Percentage .951 .959

Category Leaders
CSUB CSU
Batting Average Penner .356 Lowe .384
Runs Penner 29 Lowe 33
On-Base Percentage Penner .430 Paciello .424
Slugging Percentage Koch .441 Lowe .558
RBI Koch 31 Lowe 41
Extra-Base Hits Koch 18 Paciello 19
Stolen Bases Penner 6 3 Tied With...7
Wins Daily 4 Gutierrez 4
Innings Pitched Dewsnap 58.1 Cumming 71.1
ERA Dewsnap 3.55 Thomas 4.08
Strikeouts Dewsnap 56 Cumming 60

Saturday is Senior Day
Saturday's regular season finale will also serve as Senior Day for Alec Daily, Christian Deaton, Naithen Dewsnap, Luis Martinez, Jassen Oliver, Mark Pena and Andrew Penner.  All seven student-athletes will be recognized before the game with festivities starting at 11:35 a.m.  First pitch is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. 
 
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Players Mentioned

Aaron Charles

#25 Aaron Charles

P/INF
6' 4"
Sophomore
R/R
Alec Daily

#5 Alec Daily

P/1B
6' 3"
Redshirt Senior
L/L
Christian Deaton

#1 Christian Deaton

OF
5' 7"
Senior
L/L
Naithen Dewsnap

#22 Naithen Dewsnap

P
6' 4"
Senior
R/R
Luis Martinez

#16 Luis Martinez

INF
5' 11"
Senior
R/R
Isaac Meza

#34 Isaac Meza

P
6' 4"
Sophomore
R/R
Jassen Oliver

#13 Jassen Oliver

OF
6' 1"
Senior
R/R
Mark Pena

#30 Mark Pena

OF
6' 1"
Redshirt Senior
R/L
Andrew Penner

#7 Andrew Penner

C/OF
5' 11"
Senior
R/R
Cole Valletta

#14 Cole Valletta

OF
6' 2"
Junior
R/R

Players Mentioned

Aaron Charles

#25 Aaron Charles

6' 4"
Sophomore
R/R
P/INF
Alec Daily

#5 Alec Daily

6' 3"
Redshirt Senior
L/L
P/1B
Christian Deaton

#1 Christian Deaton

5' 7"
Senior
L/L
OF
Naithen Dewsnap

#22 Naithen Dewsnap

6' 4"
Senior
R/R
P
Luis Martinez

#16 Luis Martinez

5' 11"
Senior
R/R
INF
Isaac Meza

#34 Isaac Meza

6' 4"
Sophomore
R/R
P
Jassen Oliver

#13 Jassen Oliver

6' 1"
Senior
R/R
OF
Mark Pena

#30 Mark Pena

6' 1"
Redshirt Senior
R/L
OF
Andrew Penner

#7 Andrew Penner

5' 11"
Senior
R/R
C/OF
Cole Valletta

#14 Cole Valletta

6' 2"
Junior
R/R
OF
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