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California State University at Bakersfield Athletics

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Jake Ortega
Mark Duffel

Baseball

Baseball Back at WAC Tournament

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - The CSU Bakersfield baseball team seems to be peaking at the right time as it heads to its seventh straight Western Athletic Conference Tournament.  The `Runners have won their past two series including a victory over eventual WAC Champion UTRGV and nearly swept the Vaqueros at Hardt Field.  Bakersfield has earned the No. 5 seed in the six-team tournament and will open with No. 4 Grand Canyon on Wednesday afternoon.   
 
CSUB's offense has really come together in WAC play, hitting .292 as a team, which ranks third in the league.  The CSUB lineup features five hitters that have batting averages over .300 in conference action, led by Jesse Rowley at .427.  Rowley ranks second in the league in batting average and his .509 on-base percentage ranks fourth.   When combined with his .552 slugging percentage, the first baseman has an OPS of 1.061.  Daniel Carrizosa and Eric Charles have both risen their level of play when the games matter more.  Carrizosa is hitting just .250 on the season, but is batting an impressive .354 in WAC games.  Charles has settled into the No. 2 spot in the order, despite not getting his batting average over the Mendoza line until the last day of March.  Since that game against Seattle U, Charles is hitting .311 with eight walks and seven doubles. 
 
On the mound, a quartet of newcomers has provided the Roadrunners with some of the top arms in the entire league.  Noah Cordova and Roman Angelo have been on fire as of late.  After a tough start to the season, things began to turn around for Cordova during a start against Fresno State on March 27.  Since that outing against the Bulldogs, he has been CSUB's most effective pitcher with two wins and a 1.78 ERA in 25.1 innings pitched.  Angelo has allowed just three earned runs in the last 18 innings pitched.  He allowed Grand Canyon to score just one run in 4.2 innings at the beginning of the month before shutting out UTRGV over 7.1 innings.  He stuck out a career-high eight batters against the Vaqueros and is coming off a quality start against Chicago State in which he threw six innings and allowed two runs.  Edgar Barclay has been CSUB's most consistent starter and Darius Vines should have plenty of rest after skipping starts in two of the last three weeks.  The duo is 1-2 in strikeouts in the WAC and are second and third all-time in single-season school history. 
 
All-time, CSUB is 13-10 at the WAC Tournament with a championship coming in 2015.  Last year, the Roadrunners were shutout by New Mexico State in the opening game, but a tremendous pitching performance by Davonte Butler helped CSUB avoid elimination against Northern Colorado.  CSUB has won at least one game in all six tournament appearances and has won multiple games in four of those six previous seasons.  Sergio Robles is the only player on the CSUB roster to have earned All-Tournament Team honors.  He hit two home runs in the same game against Seattle U in 2017 to help the `Runners avoid elimination. 

The Roadrunners will be looking for some revenge in their opening game of the double-elimination tournament.  Grand Canyon swept Bakersfield in nearby Phoenix in a three-game series earlier this season, however CSUB held a lead in all three games.  The Lopes finished the WAC season at 18-9, just one game behind NM State, California Baptist and UTRGV for the regular season title.  The two teams will meet for a fourth time this season at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon.  
 
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Players Mentioned

Davonté Butler

#15 Davonté Butler

RHP
6' 0"
Sophomore
R/R
Daniel Carrizosa

#5 Daniel Carrizosa

RHP/IF
6' 0"
Sophomore
R/R
Sergio Robles

#6 Sergio Robles

1B/OF
6' 0"
Senior
R/R
Edgar Barclay

#26 Edgar Barclay

LHP
5' 10"
Junior
L/L
Noah Cordova

#32 Noah Cordova

RHP
6' 5"
Junior
R/R
Jesse Rowley

#1 Jesse Rowley

1B
6' 1"
Junior
L/R
Roman Angelo

#40 Roman Angelo

RHP
6' 4"
Freshman
R/R
Darius Vines

#24 Darius Vines

RHP
6' 1"
Junior
R/R
Eric Charles

#8 Eric Charles

OF
6' 0"
Junior
L/L

Players Mentioned

Davonté Butler

#15 Davonté Butler

6' 0"
Sophomore
R/R
RHP
Daniel Carrizosa

#5 Daniel Carrizosa

6' 0"
Sophomore
R/R
RHP/IF
Sergio Robles

#6 Sergio Robles

6' 0"
Senior
R/R
1B/OF
Edgar Barclay

#26 Edgar Barclay

5' 10"
Junior
L/L
LHP
Noah Cordova

#32 Noah Cordova

6' 5"
Junior
R/R
RHP
Jesse Rowley

#1 Jesse Rowley

6' 1"
Junior
L/R
1B
Roman Angelo

#40 Roman Angelo

6' 4"
Freshman
R/R
RHP
Darius Vines

#24 Darius Vines

6' 1"
Junior
R/R
RHP
Eric Charles

#8 Eric Charles

6' 0"
Junior
L/L
OF
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