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Naithen Dewsnap
Rick May

Baseball

Roadrunners Open WAC Tournament with NM State

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – For the sixth consecutive season, the CSU Bakersfield baseball team has qualified for the Western Athletic Conference Tournament.  The Roadrunners will open the six-team tournament against New Mexico State University on Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. in Mesa, Ariz. at Hohokam Stadium. 

WAC Tournament Page

Tournament History
CSUB has qualified for the WAC Tournament in all six seasons it has been in the league.  The Roadrunners are one of just two teams in the field that are above .500 in tournament action.  All-time, CSUB's 12 victories rank second in the field behind Sacramento State's 16.  The Roadrunners' .600 winning percentage is tops in the tournament field.  
 
2017 (2nd) 2015 All-Tournament Team Selections
Sacramento State 10, CSUB 6 David Metzgar - MVP
CSUB 10, Seattle U 4 Steven Gee * 
CSUB 11, NM State 7 Chance Gusbeth
CSUB 8, Northern Colorado 5 Joey Sanchez
Sacramento State 5, CSUB 0 2014 (3rd)
All-Tournament Team Selections CSUB 6, Seattle U 5
Max Carter CSUB 4, Sacramento State 1
Naithen Dewsnap *  Utah Valley 6, CSUB 2
Mahlik Jones Sacramento State 3, CSUB 1
Sergio Robles *  All-Tournament Team Selections
2016 (5th) Oscar Sanay
Utah Valley 6, CSUB 4 Soloman Williams
CSUB 11, Northern Colorado 6 2013 (3rd)
NM State 11, CSUB 6 CSUB 11, San Jose State 3
All-Tournament Team Selections CSUB 7, Sacramento State 1
David Metzgar Univ. of Texas at San Antonio 1, CSUB 0
2015 (1st) All-Tournament Team Selections
CSUB 11, North Dakota 1 (7 inn.) Oscar Sanay
Seattle U 9, CSUB 3
CSUB 4, Sacramento State 0
CSUB 6, Seattle U 5 (10 inn.)
CSUB 5, Seattle U 4
* Indicates on current roster

Team Stats
Overall Conference
RPI 234
Batting Average .266 .289
Scoring Average 4.7 5.4
On-Base Percentage .338 .354
Slugging Percentage .342 .374
Extra-Base Hits 94 47
Stolen Bases 44 18
ERA 5.49 4.70
WHIP 1.67 1.51
Strikeouts Per Nine 6.93 7.26
Fielding Percentage .951 .953

Category Leaders
Overall Conference
Batting Average Penner .357 Barba .372
Runs Penner 33 Penner/Ortega 17
On-Base Percentage Penner .434 Barba .488
Slugging Percentage Koch .439 Barba .472
RBI Koch 33 Koch 8
Extra-Base Hits Koch 20 Koch 8
Stolen Bases Berkey/Penner 6 3 Tied With...3
Wins Daily 5 Daily 4
Innings Pitched Butler/Dewsnap 60.2 Daily 48.0
ERA Dewsnap 3.41 Dewsnap 3.86
Strikeouts Dewsnap 58 Daily 42

Daily's Return Critical to Season
CSUB's 2018 Friday night starter, Alec Daily, missed all of  the 2016 and 2017 seasons because of Tommy John surgery.  It was over 1,000 days between appearances on the mound and Daily opened the season as CSUB's starting first baseman.  

Daily didn't appear on the mound until February 27 against CSUN and after four relief appearances he made his first start of the season at UTRGV when he took a no-hitter into the seventh inning.  He went on to start the first game of every conference series.  For the season, Daily has a 5-3 record with a 4.68 ERA.  He has struck out 54 batters in 57.2 innings and is holding opposing hitters to a .258 batting average.  

Dewsnap Returns to Relief Role
Senior relief man Naithen Dewsnap had plenty of preseason recognition after he set the CSUB career record in saves in his first season in a Roadrunner uniform (14).  Dewsnap was named a preseason All-American by the NCBWA, added to the Stopper of the Year watch list, and was selected as a preseason All-WAC performer.  Things didn't necessarily go as planned for CSUB this spring and because of injuries, Dewsnap was thrust into the weekend rotation for the majority of the conference season.  

He made his first career start against NM State on April 7 and continued in the weekend rotation until the Northern Colorado series.  Since returning to the bullpen, Dewsnap has looked like his old self, throwing nine innings and allowing just two hits and striking out 13 batters.  Dewsnap leads the Roadrunners in ERA, (3.41), strikeouts (58) and saves (5), while tying for the team-lead with freshman Davonte Butler with 60.2 innings pitched.  

Penner Keeping Pace
Since joining the Roadrunners last season, all senior first baseman Andrew Penner has done is hit.  Penner hit .372 last season and is hitting .357 entering the WAC Tournament in 2018.  His career batting average of .364 is on pace to shatter the CSUB career record of .350 set by Brandon Boren in 2009-10.  Despite having just 17 extra-base hits (14 doubles, one triple, two home runs) in his career, the senior's career slugging percentage (.417) ranks eighth in CSUB history.  

Penner has batted third nearly the entire season for CSUB and is the only player to start every single game.  He currently leads the team in batting average (.357), at-bats (213), runs scored (33), hits (76), total bases (92), walks (19), hit by pitch (11) and on-base percentage (.434).  Penner is also the most difficult player in the WAC to strikeout as he does so just once every 11.8 at-bats.  He ranks in the top 100 in Division I in batting average and hits and ranks sixth and fourth in the WAC in those categories, respectively.  

Staff Changes
Just five of the 15 CSUB pitchers that have appeared for the `Runners this spring pitched for CSUB last season.  The new staff members have won 14 games this season and have accounted for 329.2 innings pitched out of a total of 466.1, good for over 70 percent of the possible outs.  The 10 pitchers have combined for a 5.62 ERA, an 14-21 record, six saves and 240 strikeouts.  

Alec Daily and Davonte Butler have shouldered the brunt of the load this season.  Both players have been regulars in the starting rotation down the stretch.  Butler's 3-7 record is a bit deceiving as he has an ERA of 4.90 and is allowing opposing hitters to bat .267 off of him, nearly the same average as CSUB preseason All-American Naithen Dewsnap.  Isaac Meza has also worked his way into the starting rotation after a rough start to the season for the sophomore.  Meza has seen the mound a lot more after a midweek start against Hawaii when he allowed just one earned run in five innings pitched.  Meza had another impressive midweek outing the next week at Loyola Marymount before entering the weekend rotation.  He allowed just three earned runs against the Lions in seven innings pitched, a career-long outing.  In his last appearance against Chicago State, he did not allow an earned run in 3.1 innings pitched.  Kyle King served as the closer after Dewsnap moved to the bullpen and Kevin Altamirano and Michael Bovee, Jr. have been pitching frequently as of late.    

Early Playing Time
Head Coach Jeremy Beard has not been afraid to test young freshman this season.  CSUB has started true freshman 141 times this season a number that ranks in the top 10 in the country.  The `Runners have started first-year players 125 times in the batting order and 16 times on the mound.  The number would be even higher if not for injuries to middle infielder Lewis Dirkes and outfielder Jared Toothman, who were both seeing regular playing time in the early going.

Daniel Carrizosa and Evan Berkey have been staples of the middle infield since the Utah Valley series.  Carrizosa has 38 starts under his belt after splitting time between third base and shortstop, while Berkey has started 48 games between shortstop and second base.  Carrizosa stuggled at the plate to start the season, but has improved during the conference season after getting his feet wet.  The shortstop has hit .273 against WAC competition with 13 RBI and five runs scored.  Berkey has also been steady in conference action, hitting .269 and an on-base percentage of .363.  He is tied with Ryan Koch for the team lead in walks with nine in WAC play.  
Davonte Butler and Elijah Parks have been in and out of the starting rotation during conference action.  Kevin Altamirano has appeared in 16 games and started a pair for CSUB in his first season.  Altamirano also struggled early, but has settled in and pitched 3.1 scoreless inning at UC Santa Barbara last week.  It was his most effective outing of his young career.  

The Lineup is A Changin'
With 18 newcomers and 12 freshman it is no surprise that it took CSUB skipper Jeremy Beard a while to determine a lineup he liked.  What he didn't intend was a number of injuries to position players that forced him to constantly shuffle players in and out of the lineup.  Lewis Dirkes and Jared Toothman were lost for the season in March, while outfielders Sergio Robles, Mark Pena and Noah Barba all missed time due to injury.  In total, CSUB has used 46 different lineup combinations this season in just 54 games.  

Catching and Leading Off
It's not often you find catchers with the ability to lead off, but that is exactly what Jake Ortega is doing for CSUB.  Since settling into the top spot in the order in the beginning of the GCU series, Ortega is hitting .366 with eight runs scored, is leading the team with a .488 slugging percentage and is getting on base at a .381 clip.  Ortega tied the school record against Chicago State with two triples in the same game.  The six total bases also set a new career-high for the junior.  He also stroked his first double of the season against the Cougars.   
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Players Mentioned

Max Carter

#8 Max Carter

INF/P
5' 11"
Senior
Mahlik Jones

#10 Mahlik Jones

INF/P
6' 4"
Senior
David Metzgar

#15 David Metzgar

INF
5' 8"
Senior
Alec Daily

#5 Alec Daily

P/1B
6' 3"
Redshirt Senior
L/L
Naithen Dewsnap

#22 Naithen Dewsnap

P
6' 4"
Senior
R/R
Steven Gee

#37 Steven Gee

P
6' 3"
Redshirt Senior
R/R
Isaac Meza

#34 Isaac Meza

P
6' 4"
Sophomore
R/R
Jake Ortega

#33 Jake Ortega

C/INF
5' 10"
Junior
L/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

Players Mentioned

Max Carter

#8 Max Carter

5' 11"
Senior
INF/P
Mahlik Jones

#10 Mahlik Jones

6' 4"
Senior
INF/P
David Metzgar

#15 David Metzgar

5' 8"
Senior
INF
Alec Daily

#5 Alec Daily

6' 3"
Redshirt Senior
L/L
P/1B
Naithen Dewsnap

#22 Naithen Dewsnap

6' 4"
Senior
R/R
P
Steven Gee

#37 Steven Gee

6' 3"
Redshirt Senior
R/R
P
Isaac Meza

#34 Isaac Meza

6' 4"
Sophomore
R/R
P
Jake Ortega

#33 Jake Ortega

5' 10"
Junior
L/R
C/INF
Mark Pena

#30 Mark Pena

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

#7 Andrew Penner

5' 11"
Senior
R/R
C/OF
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