Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

California State University at Bakersfield Athletics

Next Event

Mark Nessia/Mark Nessia Photography

Baseball

CSUB Lands in Hawaii for Weekend Series

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - The CSU Bakersfield baseball team will look to carry its momentum from a four-game sweep of Fairleigh Dickinson last weekend into this weekend's four-game series with future Big West opponent Hawaii, which will begin tomorrow night at 8:35 p.m. PST.  

Weekend Recap
CSUB is coming off a four-game sweep of Fairleigh Dickinson, outscoring the Knights 43-12 in 36 innings.  The Roadrunners hit .358 for the series and had an OPS of .933.  Jake Ortega, Noah Barba and Nick Grossman all hit .500 or better over the course of the four games.  Barba was unstoppable out of the leadoff spot, scoring nine times on .500 hitting with two doubles.  Ortega was 8-for-13 with a pair of walks and drove in a career-high three runs on Monday.  Grossman blasted his first career home run on Sunday over the right field fence for CSUB's first grand slam since Sergio Robles hit one in the conference opener last season.  

On the mound, CSUB had a team ERA of just 1.75. Edgar Barclay and Darius Vines both had at least 10 strikeouts in their starts and Ethan Skuija, Roman Angelo and Davonte Butler all threw at least three innings without allowing an earned run.  The bullpen was especially impressive, allowing just two earned runs in 14 innings.    

The Roadrunners played back-to-back series at home after starting on the road the first two weekend.  CSUB won seven out of eight during the stretch, including the final seven in a row, which is the longest home winning streak since the 2013 season.  The four-game sweep was the first since the `Runners beat Portland four straight times in 2017.  In the series finale against FDU, CSUB scored 17 runs on 16 hits.  The 17 runs are the fifth-most in school history and the most since scoring 19 against Northern Colorado on May 3, 2014.  It is the first time that CSUB has been .500 since going 2-2 on the opening weekend.  

Series History
Hawaii and CSUB opened the all-time series last season at Hardt Field, with the Roadrunners claiming the first game.  CSUB beat the Rainbow Warriors 4-3 behind a solid pitching performance by Isaac Meza.  Meza allowed just one run and scattered five hits in five innings pitched to earn his first victory of the season.  Isaiah Moten allowed a run in relief and Davonte Butler and Kyle King held Hawaii scoreless over the final three innings.  King tossed the ninth to earn his second save of the year.  

Luis Martinez hit home runs in the second and the fourth innings to power the CSUB offense.  Ethan Lopez also hit a home run and Logan Pouelsen doubled to put Hawaii on the scoreboard.  

Scouting the Rainbow Warriors
Hawaii dropped three out of four against Portland to start the season and then earned a split with Iowa in the following series.  The Rainbow Warriors won the final game against the Hawkeyes, swept Longwood and defeated Oregon in the series opener for a six-game winning streak.  The Ducks rebounded though and won the final three games of the series.  Hawaii has played all 16 games at Les Murakami Stadium so far this season.  

Dylan Thomas has been dominant on the mound, but was not named in this weekend's starting rotation.  Thomas is 2-1 with a 1.42 ERA and has 27 strikeouts in just 19 innings pitched.  Out of the bullpen, Colin Ashworth has two wins and a 1.80 ERA in five appearances.  As a team, Hawii has a 4.44 ERA.  

In the batter's box, Hawaii has a .272 average.  Maaki Yamazaki leads the squad with a .333 average, adding four doubles and 12 knocked in.  Alex Baeza has an OPS of .989 and leads the team in slugging percentage.  Baeza has four home runs and 18 RBI in just 16 games.  He has also scored 15 runs already this year.

Pitching Matchups
Thursday: Roman Angelo (2-1, 2.65 ERA) vs. Li'i Pontes (1-1, 3.57 ERA)
Freshman Roman Angelo will make his first career start to begin the series in Hawaii.  The Bakersfield native has already made six appearances out of the bullpen this year.  After a tough start to career, in which he gave up three earned runs in 2.1 innings pitched against Pepperdine, the freshman has allowed just two earned runs in 14.2 innings.  He has earned the win in his last two outings.  Angelo tossed 4.2 innings and allowed one run against Santa Clara and followed it up with a three-inning performance against Fairleigh Dickinson in which he did not allow a hit.  

Friday: Darius Vines (2-1, 3.00 ERA) vs. Jeremy Wu-Yelland (1-0, 2.70 ERA)
Vines has been a model of consistency since throwing on a blue and gold uniform this season.  The junior has gone exactly 6.0 innings in all four of his starts.  He has also been a strikeout machine.  Vines has struck out 36 batters in just 24 innings pitched and leads the Western Athletic Conference and ranks 18th in the nation in the category.  His 13.50 strikeouts per nine innings pitched also tops the WAC.  In his last start against Fairleigh Dickinson, he allowed a two-run home run in the first inning and then fired five straight scoreless frames.  He also recorded 10 strikeouts for the second straight start.  

Saturday Ethan Skuija (1-1, 1.50 ERA) vs. Dominic DeMiero (1-0, 2.38 ERA)
Coming off one of just four complete games in college baseball this season, Skuija was effective but shaky against Fairleigh Dickinson.  The junior allowed four hits in four innings of work and walked three, but did not give up an earned run.  He also struck out seven and ranks second in the league behind Vines with 34 on the season.  His 1.50 ERA ranks fourth in the WAC and he is holding opposing hitters to just a .207 average.  

Sunday: Edgar Barclay (2-1, 2.53 ERA) vs. TBA
Barclay had his best performance as a Roadrunner in his last start against Fairleigh Dickinson.  The junior from Hilo, Hawaii tossed a career-high seven innings and struck out a season-best 11 hitters.  Barclay began the season with two impressive performances out of the bullpen, tossing a combined 3.1 innings without allowing a hit against Cal and Ball State.  He earned the save against the Golden Bears and the win against the Cardinals.  For the year, he has posted a strikeout to walk ratio of 7.25:1 to lead the WAC and rank 55th in the country.  He's also holding opposing hitters to just a .210 average and is tied for third in the conference with 29 Ks.  

He Gone
The Roadrunner pitching staff has done one thing better than any other team in the WAC so far this season and that is striking out opposing hitters.  So far this year, CSUB has struck out 178 hitters to lead conference.  UTRGV has 161 strikeouts as a team to rank second.  At the quarter mark of the season, the `Runners are on pace to shatter the school's all-time record.  CSUB's record is 386 set back in 2010.  Last season, the `Runners were second in school history with 377 Ks.  As a team, CSUB ranks 35th in the nation in strikeouts per nine innings at 10.2.  

Three starters have done the bulk of the work for the Roadrunners.  Friday's starter Darius Vines has struck out 36 batters in 24 innings of work and Saturday's starter Ethan Skuija has put down 34 in 24 innings.  Sunday starter Edgar Barlcay leads the team and the WAC in strikeout to walk ratio at 7.25:1.  He also has 29 Ks so far this year.  In the nation, Vines ranks 18th, Skuija 26th and Barclay 69th in strikeouts.   Mike McCarthy holds CSUB single-season record in strikeouts at 116.  

Barba, Ortega on Fire
Seniors Jake Ortega and Noah Barba have sparked a struggling CSUB offense.  Barba has reached base safely in 11 straight games and is riding a nine-game hitting streak.  The outfielder/third baseman leads the team with 13 runs scored and is second on the squad with a .429 on-base percentage.  After struggling to start the year, Barba has seen his average rise to .294 and his OPS climb to .802. 

Ortega has led the team the entre year both offensively and defensively.  The All-WAC catcher is the only Roadrunner in the regular lineup with a batting average over .300 (.435) and an OPS of over .820 (1.077).  He leads the team in hits (20) and is tied for the team high in RBI (9).  He has also been hit by five pitches and walked six times.  Defensively, he has managed a new pitching staff that has a 3.61 ERA and has thrown out seven of 19 potential base stealers.  

Ortega, Moten and Middle Infielders Crack Career Ranks
Seniors Jake Ortega and Isaiah Moten are making their way up the career rankings after just three-plus seasons as a Roadrunner.  Ortega is fifth all-time with 631 putouts.  Barring something unforseen, he will move into fourth place this weekend.  He needs just seven more putouts to pass Soloman Williams (637).  Moten has seen time as a starter and a reliever on the mound, but has racked up 63 appearances in his career, which is fourth in CSUB history.  Moten will need six more appearances to reach third on the all-time list.  Hayden Carter, Garrett Nimmo and Spenser Messmore are the only pitchers in school history to throw more often than Moten.  

In a little over one year at CSUB, Daniel Carrizosa and Evan Berkey rank 10th and 11th in career assists.  Berkey began his freshman season at shortstop and Carrizosa started last season at third base.  Both players have moved over one spot to shortstop and second, respectively and are one of the top double play duos in the conference.  
Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

Garrett Nimmo

#33 Garrett Nimmo

P
6' 0"
Senior
Luis Martinez

#16 Luis Martinez

INF
5' 11"
Senior
R/R
Noah Barba

#2 Noah Barba

3B/OF
5' 11"
Senior
L/R
Evan Berkey

#4 Evan Berkey

SS
5' 10"
Sophomore
R/R
Davonté Butler

#15 Davonté Butler

RHP
6' 0"
Sophomore
R/R
Daniel Carrizosa

#5 Daniel Carrizosa

RHP/IF
6' 0"
Sophomore
R/R
Kyle King

#22 Kyle King

P
5' 10"
Redshirt Senior
L/L
Isaac Meza

#34 Isaac Meza

RHP
6' 4"
Junior
R/R
Isaiah Moten

#28 Isaiah Moten

RHP
6' 1"
Senior
R/R
Jake Ortega

#33 Jake Ortega

C
5' 10"
Senior
L/R

Players Mentioned

Garrett Nimmo

#33 Garrett Nimmo

6' 0"
Senior
P
Luis Martinez

#16 Luis Martinez

5' 11"
Senior
R/R
INF
Noah Barba

#2 Noah Barba

5' 11"
Senior
L/R
3B/OF
Evan Berkey

#4 Evan Berkey

5' 10"
Sophomore
R/R
SS
Davonté Butler

#15 Davonté Butler

6' 0"
Sophomore
R/R
RHP
Daniel Carrizosa

#5 Daniel Carrizosa

6' 0"
Sophomore
R/R
RHP/IF
Kyle King

#22 Kyle King

5' 10"
Redshirt Senior
L/L
P
Isaac Meza

#34 Isaac Meza

6' 4"
Junior
R/R
RHP
Isaiah Moten

#28 Isaiah Moten

6' 1"
Senior
R/R
RHP
Jake Ortega

#33 Jake Ortega

5' 10"
Senior
L/R
C
California State University at Bakersfield Athletics loading logo