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Jassen Oliver
Mark Duffel

Baseball

Roadrunners Open WAC Season at NM State

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – The CSU Bakersfield baseball team will start the 2019 Western Athletic Conference season on Friday when it takes on reigning WAC Tournament champion New Mexico State in Las Cruces at 5:00 p.m. PST.
 
Weekend Recap
CSUB won the final three games against Hawaii to win its third straight weekend series after winning just four series all of last season.  The `Runners took the final three games against Santa Clara, swept Fairleigh Dickinson and won three straight against the Rainbow Warriors.  The Roadrunners have won 10 of their last 12 games heading into Western Athletic Conference play. 
 
The Roadrunners could've easily gone to Hawaii and came back with a sweep.  CSUB led 4-1 in the series opener in the bottom of the eighth inning, but allowed a six-spot in the eighth to fall 7-4.  Freshman Roman Angelo, who will move back to the bullpen for this weekend's series, made his first career start in the opener.  Angelo was pulled after giving up a leadoff single in the eighth inning, but struck out six and allowed just five hits and two earned runs.  CSUB received tremendous starting pitching all weekend and got four straight quality starts.  In a testament to how good it was, Ethan Skuija had the shortest outing (6.1 innings) and gave up the most runs (3).  The four pitchers struck out 28 batters in 29.1 innings pitched and had just a 1.84 ERA. 
 
At the plate, Noah Barba continued to provide great at-bats from the leadoff spot.  The senior outfielder is riding a 13-game hitting streak and he has reached base safely in 15 consecutive games.  For the series, he had a team-high six hits and scored four times, while hitting .353.  After missing the Fairleigh Dickinson series with an injury, Evan Berkey had a solid series in his return to the lineup.  The second baseman stole a pair of bases, knocked in three runs and hit .313. 
 
Series History
NM State swept CSUB last season at Hardt Field, winning all three games by a combined score of 23-8.  The Aggies won the first two games by matching 9-3 scores, before earning a 5-2 win in the series finale.  CSUB was trailing just 4-3 in the eighth in the series opener, but lefty reliever Kyle King allowed four runs and the Aggies blew open a close game.  Game two was scoreless until the fifth inning when NM State finally got to starter Naithen Dewsnap and scored five runs in the frame.  The Aggies added three more in the sixth and another in the seventh to lead 9-0.  WAC Pitcher of the Year Jonathan Groff was dominant, pitching eight shutout innings and allowing just four hits.  NM State took control of the final game of the series with five runs in the first two innings against Davonte Butler and cruised to the sweep. 
 
All-time, the Aggies lead the series 12-9-1 and hold a 2-3-1 mark on their home field.  This season, NM State is 14-2 on their home turf.
 
Scouting the Aggies
NM State was picked to finish second in the WAC this season and finished just one point behind Grand Canyon in the preseason poll for the top spot.  Last season, the Aggies won the WAC Tournament, advanced to the NCAA Regional and finished the season with a 40-22 overall record. 
 
The Aggies bring back a talented core of players with six making the Preseason All-WAC team.  Catcher Braden Williams, first baseman Caleb Henderson, second baseman Nick Gonzales and outfielder Tristen Carranza all made the team.  Brock Whittlesey was also recognized by the league's coaches and earned Preseason Pitcher of the Year honors. 
 
It will be a matchup of strengths this weekend: the CSUB starting pitching against a potent NM State lineup.  The Aggies lead the conference in nearly every offensive statistical category, but they also play solid defense and lead the conference in fielding percentage.  Currently, NM State leads the nation in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and runs scored.  Nick Gonzales has led the leads the conference and the country in batting average, hits, runs scored, RBI, slugging percentage and total bases, while ranking second in home runs. 
 
Pitching Matchups
Friday: Darius Vines (3-1, 2.61 ERA) vs. Brock Whittlesey (3-0, 4.50 ERA)
Vines has been mister consistency in CSUB's weekend rotation.  He has pitched at least six innings and struck out at least seven batters in all five of his starts to begin his CSUB career.  The junior has thrown over 100 pitches in three of his last four starts.  Last weekend at Hawaii, he fired a career-long seven innings and struck out eight to earn his second straight start.  Vines ranks in the top 10 in the conference in a number of statistical categories.  He leads the league in strikeouts with 44, is tied for fourth in innings pitched (31.), his opponent batting average (.214) ranks seventh and he is 10th in ERA (2.61).  Vines' 44 strikeouts are good for 14th in the country.   
 
Saturday: Ethan Skuija (2-1, 2.08 ERA) vs. Justin Dehn (3-1, 5.11 ERA)
Skuija had a bounce-back effort against Hawaii last Saturday.  After throwing only four innings against Fairleigh Dickinson, the junior right-hander tossed 6.1 innings and scattered six hits to earn his second win of the season.  Skuija also ranks in the top 10 in most pitching categories in the WAC.  His 2.08 ERA is eighth, while he ranks third behind Vines and Edgar Barclay in strikeouts with 38.  He's holding opposing hitters to just a .219 batting average and is tied for sixth in the league with 30.1 innings pitched.  Skuija was named the WAC Pitcher of the Week after he tossed a complete game against Santa Clara to earn his first victory as a Roadrunner. 
 
Sunday: Edgar Barclay (3-1, 1.78 ERA) vs. Chance Hroch (5-0, 1.91 ERA)
The reigning WAC Pitcher of the Week will remain CSUB's Sunday starter.  Barclay began the year in the bullpen, but has been dominant in a starting role.  In last week's start against Hawaii he threw a complete game, one-hit shutout to beat the Rainbow Warriors.  The junior also struck out a career-high 11 batters and retired the first 17 batters he faced.  His WHIP this season is a paltry 0.79, which is 30th in the entire country and is just behind Seattle U's Jake Prizinia (0.74) for tops in the league.  Barclay also ranks second in the league in opposing batting average (.167) and strikeouts (39).  He's tied with Skuija for sixth in the league in innings pitched (30.1) and rates fifth in the league with a 1.78 ERA. 
 
He Gone
The Roadrunner pitching staff has done two thing better than any other team in the WAC so far this season and that is strike out more batters than any other team and hold opposing hitters to the lowest batting average.  So far this year, CSUB has struck out 210 hitters to lead conference.  Sacramento State has 180 strikeouts as a team to rank second.  The `Runners are on pace to shatter the school's all-time record of 386 set back in 2010.  Last season, CSUB was second in school history with 377 Ks.  As a team, CSUB ranks 38th in the nation in strikeouts per nine innings at 9.8. 
 
Three starters have done the bulk of the work for the Roadrunners.  Friday's starter Darius Vines has struck out 44 batters in 31 innings of work and Saturday's starter Ethan Skuija has put down 38 in 30.1 innings.  Sunday starter Edgar Barlcay ranks second in the conference at 39.  In the nation, Vines ranks 14th, Barclay 37th and Skuija 45th in strikeouts.   Mike McCarthy holds CSUB single-season record in strikeouts at 116. 
 
The Roadrunner pitching staff is also holding opposing hitters to just a .223 batting average.  CSUB has four of the top 10 pitchers in the conference in the category, led by Edgar Barclay at .167.  The single-season school record is .212 set by Michael McCarthy in 2011.     
 
Lineup Changes
Despite playing 22 non-conference games already this season, the Roadrunners are still tinkering with their lineup.  CSUB has used 21 different starting combinations so far this season in those 22 contests.  The `Runners have 19 newcomers to play with this season, which is tied for 10th in the entire country.  CSUB is still mixing and matching at the shortstop and left field positions.   The other position battles and the weekend rotation seem to be pretty ironed out. 
 
Ortega, Moten, Berkey and Carrizosa Crack Career Ranks
Seniors Jake Ortega and Isaiah Moten are making their way up the career rankings as their final season in blue and gold nears the halfway point.  Ortega is currently fourth all-time with 662 putouts.  The senior catcher has a long way to go to move into third.  Jeremy Rodriguez, now the bench coach for the Los Angeles Dodger Triple-A affiliate team, posted 902 over three seasons.
 
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, Evan Berkey and Daniel Carrizosa rank 10th and 11th in career assists, respectively.  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, and are one of the top double play duos in the conference. 
 
 
 
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Players Mentioned

Garrett Nimmo

#33 Garrett Nimmo

P
6' 0"
Senior
Naithen Dewsnap

#22 Naithen Dewsnap

P
6' 4"
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
Isaiah Moten

#28 Isaiah Moten

RHP
6' 1"
Senior
R/R
Jake Ortega

#33 Jake Ortega

C
5' 10"
Senior
L/R
Ethan Skuija

#37 Ethan Skuija

RHP
6' 3"
Junior
R/R

Players Mentioned

Garrett Nimmo

#33 Garrett Nimmo

6' 0"
Senior
P
Naithen Dewsnap

#22 Naithen Dewsnap

6' 4"
Senior
R/R
P
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
Isaiah Moten

#28 Isaiah Moten

6' 1"
Senior
R/R
RHP
Jake Ortega

#33 Jake Ortega

5' 10"
Senior
L/R
C
Ethan Skuija

#37 Ethan Skuija

6' 3"
Junior
R/R
RHP
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