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Noah Cordova
Mark Duffel

Baseball

Baseball Returns for Four-Game Homestand

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – After back-to-back weekends on the road, the CSU Bakersfield baseball team will return home for four games in five days at Hardt Field.  The Roadrunners will entertain their valley rivals Fresno State tomorrow and welcome Seattle U on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  

Weekend Recap
CSUB opened the Western Athletic Conference slate last weekend in Las Cruces, N.M. against New Mexico State.  The Roadrunners won the opening game of the series against the Aggies 9-4 before dropping the final two contests and the series. 

The `Runner offense had one of the best days of the season in the opening game, drilling a season-high 17 hits and scoring nine runs.  Leading 6-4, CSUB blew open a close game with three runs in the top of the eighth inning to pull away from the Aggies at Presley Askew Field.  Entering the game, NM State was 14-2 on their home turf.  The visitors also got another solid effort out of starter Darius Vines.  The junior produced his sixth straight start of pitching at least six innings and have at least seven strikeouts. 

Saturday's game was one the Roadrunners wanted to put behind them as quickly as possible.  NM State scored in all six of their at-bats and defeated CSUB 23-1 in seven innings.  The game was shortened after seven because the Aggies were leading by more than 10 runs.  The loss snapped CSUB's four-game winning streak and Sunday's loss broke its streak of three consecutive series wins. 

On Sunday, the `Runners held a slim 8-7 edge over NM State heading into the bottom of the eighth inning, but the Aggies put up five runs to claim a 12-8 advantage and beat the Roadrunners 12-9 to win the opening Western Athletic Conference series of the season.  CSUB didn't go quietly in the ninth.  Ryan Koch and Sergio Robles started the inning with doubles to cut the lead to 12-9, but that would be all for the `Runners, and NM State survived the late push. The finale was a battle that featured four lead changes and the offense continued to keep the home team on edge, scoring in five of the first six innings and forcing them to use seven pitchers. 

For the series, shortstop Will Picketts was just 3-for-5 despite three starts, but was hit by a pitch twice and walked twice to put his on-base percentage at .778 over the three-game set.  Senior catcher Jake Ortega continued his torrid pace this spring with eight hits in 14 at-bats.  Noah Barba aided the effort with his first home run of the season on Sunday.  Over the three games, CSUB hit an impressive .317 with an OPS of .856.

Series History 
CSUB and Fresno State have met 26 times in the school's history with each team winning 13 times.  The Roadrunners and the Bulldogs met seven times in CSUB's inaugural season, which also happened to be the year after Fresno State won the national championship.  The `Runners took three games from the defending champs, including three of the last four.  CSUB is 8-2 all-time against Fresno State at Hardt Field. 
The last meeting between the two programs was back on March 1, 2016 in Fresno.  The Bulldogs won the game 6-4.  Sergio Robles struck out in his only at-bat, while Cole Valletta saw time in right field.  Isaiah Moten pitched two innings in relief of Max Carter and gave up two runs on two hits. 

Scouting the Bulldogs
Fresno State enters Hardt Field with a 10-7 overall record and a 2-4 mark in the Mountain West Conference.  In league action, the Bulldogs went 1-2 against UNLV and San Jose State, but do have a win over Tennessee on their resume.  The Volunteers were ranked No. 25 in the country at the time and have since risen to No. 23.  Wednesday's starter McCarthy Tatum has also been Fresno State's best hitter so far this season.  He has a .371 average with six doubles and 21 RBI.  As a team, the Bulldogs are batting .282 for the year.  The Bulldog pitching staff has a 4.20 ERA with 159 strikeouts in 152 innings. 

Pitching Matchup
McCarthy Tatum has thrown just three innings in two appearances so far this year and sports a 6.00 ERA.  Tatum's last appearance came against San Francisco on March 12.  He allowed two runs on four hits in two innings pitched.  In his first appearance of the season, he tossed a scoreless inning against Utah Valley.  Pitching for Roadrunners will be junior Noah Cordova.  Cordova has made six appearances in his first season in blue and gold, but has pitched just 3.1 innings and allowed four earned runs.  He has four strikeouts on the year, but has walked six batters. 

Wednesday's game with the Bulldogs will begin at 6:00 p.m. 
 
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Players Mentioned

Max Carter

#8 Max Carter

INF/P
5' 11"
Senior
Noah Barba

#2 Noah Barba

3B/OF
5' 11"
Senior
L/R
Ryan Koch

#23 Ryan Koch

C/1B
6' 1"
Senior
R/R
Isaiah Moten

#28 Isaiah Moten

RHP
6' 1"
Senior
R/R
Jake Ortega

#33 Jake Ortega

C
5' 10"
Senior
L/R
Sergio Robles

#6 Sergio Robles

1B/OF
6' 0"
Senior
R/R
Cole Valletta

#14 Cole Valletta

OF
6' 2"
Senior
R/R
Noah Cordova

#32 Noah Cordova

RHP
6' 5"
Junior
R/R
Will Picketts

#12 Will Picketts

INF
6' 0"
Junior
R/R
Darius Vines

#24 Darius Vines

RHP
6' 1"
Junior
R/R

Players Mentioned

Max Carter

#8 Max Carter

5' 11"
Senior
INF/P
Noah Barba

#2 Noah Barba

5' 11"
Senior
L/R
3B/OF
Ryan Koch

#23 Ryan Koch

6' 1"
Senior
R/R
C/1B
Isaiah Moten

#28 Isaiah Moten

6' 1"
Senior
R/R
RHP
Jake Ortega

#33 Jake Ortega

5' 10"
Senior
L/R
C
Sergio Robles

#6 Sergio Robles

6' 0"
Senior
R/R
1B/OF
Cole Valletta

#14 Cole Valletta

6' 2"
Senior
R/R
OF
Noah Cordova

#32 Noah Cordova

6' 5"
Junior
R/R
RHP
Will Picketts

#12 Will Picketts

6' 0"
Junior
R/R
INF
Darius Vines

#24 Darius Vines

6' 1"
Junior
R/R
RHP
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