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`Runners Hit the Road for Midweek Game at LMU



Bakersfield, Calif. - Following a series win over Washington State, the CSU Bakersfield baseball team will hit the road for the first time in 2020 when they head south to take on Loyola Marymount, Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. The Roadrunners will look to continue a strong start to the season that saw them out hit and out pitch the visiting Cougars in all three games. They'll also be looking for a bit of revenge after dropping both ends of a home and home series to LMU in 2019.

The `Runners were in both LMU games a season ago. The two teams were tied through six in Los Angeles on Apr. 2 and CSUB held a 9-6 lead after seven in Bakersfield on May 13.

Senior Tyler Jorgensen led CSUB with a 3-for-8 performance against the Lions a season ago, good for a .375 average while scoring three runs and driving in another. Junior Damian Henderson was 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI in Bakersfield's loss in Los Angeles, while Evan Berkey and Eric Charles each recorded two hits and two runs scored in the game at Hardt Field. Berkey also tripled and drove in three in the loss.

Across both games, Noah Cordova tossed 6.1 innings allowing just six hits and two earned runs to finish the season series with a 2.84 ERA. Cordova started the first game of the year between the two schools allowing two runs, one earned, over 5.0 innings pitched and striking out four.

After tomorrow's contest with the Lions, CSUB returns home for a weekend series with the University of San Francisco beginning on Friday at 6 p.m. The `Runners will play their next seven games at Hardt Field as Holy Cross comes to town the following weekend for a four-game set.

SCOUTING THE LIONS                   
Loyola Marymount opened the season with a series win against the University of Washington in Los Angeles. The Lions won the first two games of their season  by a combined score of 13-4, before falling 4-3 in the finale.

LMU had three individuals hit over .400 for the series, but managed just a .214 batting average as a team. Senior catcher Cooper Uhl led the way, hitting .615 and driving in three, while Trevin Esquerra and Cole Roberts hit .429 and .400, respectively. Esquerra also posted three RBI of his own.

The Lions' pitching staff limited UW hitters to just a .182 average and a .261 on-base percentage en route to a 1.67 ERA.

LMU stole nine bases on 12 attempts, running an average of four times per game. Uhl leads the team with three steals and a perfect percentage.

WASHINGTON STATE RECAP                     
The `Runners took two-of-three from visiting Washington State to close out the first weekend of play with a winning record for the first time since taking a series against CSUN in 2016.

Bakersfield dropped game one, after stranding ten men on base, but rebounded to win the final two games of the series. The `Runners out hit the Cougars in all three games and received excellent starting pitching and defense.

CSUB starters combined to throw 14 innings and allow just five hits and two earned runs, while the defense made only one error and currently leads the WAC with a .992 fielding percentage.

Freshman Jacen Roberson paced the offense with a monster debut against Washington State. Roberson hit .636 for the series and scored four times.

HOME COOKING                     
With the series win over the Cougars, CSUB moved its home series winning streak to eight. The `Runners won all six of their home series in 2019 and haven't lost a three or four game set in Bakersfield since dropping 2-of-3 to Grand Canyon on May 4-6 of 2018. The Antelopes needed extra-innings in an 8-5 rubber match victory to escape Hardt Field with the series win.

WALK THIS WAY                  
CSUB walked ten times in Sunday's finale with WSU, he most in a single game since Mar. 8 of 2018, in a game versus Fairleigh Dickinson (10 BB).

UP TO SPEED                    
Freshmen Jacen Roberson and Kobe Silva each reached base on three occasions in the team's opening day contest with Washington State. In the process they became the first `Runner freshman to reach three times in their collegiate debuts since Jeremy Rodriguez did so in 2009. Rodriguez hit the trifecta while competing in the very first baseball game in school history - an 8-7 loss to Saint Louis.

BUTLER HIGHLIGHTS SOLID STARTING PITCHING                     
Junior Davonte Butler capped off an impressive weekend of Roadrunner starting pitching when he tossed five scoreless innings, earning the win in the rubber match of CSUB's series with Wazzu. The outing was the 13th start of Butler's career and the first time he exited the game without having allowed a single run. The Hollister, Calif., native surrendered just two hits and a walk while throwing 77 pitches.

Butler's performance gave Bakersfield's starting arms a 1.29 earned run average for the series, with just two earned runs allowed over 14.0 innings pitched.

Senior Ethan Skuija went five innings in his season debut, allowing only one unearned run in the third. He limited the Cougars to just two hits, while striking out three.

Sophomore Roman Angelo allowed just one hit over four innings. All told, CSUB starters allowed an opponents batting average of just .114 over the first three games of the season.

HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE              
Crowds of more than 600 fans enjoyed all three of CSUB's season opening contests with Washington State. The `Runners drew more than 600 fans on just two occasions in 2019. The Crowd was rewarded for their turnout as Bakersfield took two from the Cougars, including a walk-off win off the bat of senior Eric Charles on Saturday.

GLOVE LOVE                 
Bakersfield leads the WAC in team defense through one weekend of action. The `Runners are fielding at a .992 clip, after making just a single error in 122 chances against the Cougars. Freshman SS Aaron Casillas led the team with a perfect FPCT while making 16 assists on the weekend. Junior Evan Berkey added ten helpers, while Roadrunner catcher Angel Saldivar gunned down 1-of-2 would be base stealers.

JORGENSEN EARNS PRE-SEASON ACCOLADES                     
Senior infielder Tyler Jorgensen has seen the pre-season accolades rolling in on his behalf. Jorgensen, a Second-Team All-WAC selection last season after hitting .375 in league play was selected by the conference's coaches as a First-Team Pre-Season selection this season.
Jorgensen was also honored as a Pre-Season All-Conference Selection by Perfect Game College and DI Baseball.

HOME IS AT HARDT                    
CSUB will play a grand total of 33 games at Hardt Field this season, including 15 against WAC opponents. The `Runners will play 10 of their first 11 games on campus, hosting series against Washington State, San Francisco and Holy Cross.

Later in the season, Bakersfield will host future Big West opponents UC Riverside (3 Games), Cal Poly (1), UC Santa Barbara (1) and Hawaii (1). CSUB will also host single games with Pepperdine and Loyola-Marymount this season.

PRE-SEASON WAC COACHES POLL                     
The Roadrunners were selected to finish sixth in the conferences pre-season poll as voted on by the league's head coaches.

Grand Canyon was the WAC's pre-season favorite, garnering two first place votes and totaling 73 points. Three other teams received at least two votes to win the conference this season, while Sacramento State led the league with four first-place tallies.

2020 Pre-Season Coaches Poll:
1    Grand Canyon (2)    73
2    Sacramento State (4)    71
3    NM State (2)    66
4    UT Rio Grande Valley (2)    55
    California Baptist     55
6    CSU Bakersfield    39
7    Seattle U    35
8    Utah Valley    29
9    Northern Colorado    18
10    Chicago State    9  

`RUNNERS RECEIVING VOTES                    
Bakersfield grabbed seven points in the season opening USA Today Coaches Poll. The `Runners seven-point total ranked them in a tie for 43rd in the nation with the University of Connecticut. CSUB was the lone WAC team to receive votes in the pre-season poll, but three future Big West received votes as well.

Oregon State (#25), UC Santa Barbara and UC Riverside make three 2020 opponents to receive votes in the poll.

HOME BOYS                     
Nine members of the CSU Bakersfield baseball team grew up or attended high school in the city of Bakersfield. The group represents six local high schools...

Roman Angelo    Bakersfield Christian HS
Cory Blackburn    Stockdale HS
Eli Brum    Stockdale HS
Aaron Charles    Ridgeview HS
Gabriel Garcia    Bakersfield Christian HS
Austin Puskaric    Frontier HS
Jacen Roberson    Garces Memorial HS
Kobe Silva    Frontier HS
Jared Toothman    Centennial HS

GLORY DAYS                     
Four pairs of `Runners attended High School together before playing for CSUB. Three of those pairs did so in Bakersfield.

Roman Angelo and Gabriel Garcia are both alums of Bakersfield Christian, while Cory Blackburn and Eli Brum each attended Stockdale High School, Austin Puskaric and Kobe Silva were classmates at Frontier High School.

Additionally, Tyler Jorgensen and Noah Cordova competed together at Mesquite High School in Gilbert, Arizona prior to enrolling at CSUB.

WE ARE FAMILY              
Over 30 alumni returned to CSUB for the team's annual alumni game this season, as the current edition of the Roadrunners bested their elder counterparts by a score of 4-2.

Five former `Runners still playing in affiliated professional baseball were among the alumni to return to Hardt Field on Feb. 1. Three of those five were 2019 draft picks, including Jake Ortega (NYM), Edgar Barclay (NYY) and Darius Vines (ATL). Mylz Jones, a 2013 draft pick of the Colorado Rockies and David Metzger a 2014 free-agent signing of the New York Yankees also attended.

A sixth professional, Oscar Sanay, was also in attendance. Sanay currently plays for Monclova of the Mexican League.

BIG WEST BOUND                  
2020 is the final season in the Western Athletic Conference for CSU Bakersfield. Next season the Roadrunners will move to one of the better baseball conferences in America when they join the Big West.

CSUB will play nine games against future conference opponents this season, including a three-game set with UC Riverside at Hardt Field on Mar. 13-16.

HOT STOVE SEASON                  
The Roadrunner baseball team held its annual Hot Stove Dinner on Jan. 17 at the Bakersfield Fair Grounds. This season's guest was Los Angeles Dodgers All-Star Max Muncy.

The event has grown into an incredible showcase of communicty support and was again a huge success in 2020. Previous guests of honor have included Orel Hersheiser, Tommy Lasorda, Clay Bellinger, Aaron Hicks and Dusty Baker.

`RUNNERS IN THE DRAFT               
Twenty CSU Bakersfield baseball players have been heard their name called in the MLB Amateur Draft during the program's eleven year history.

That number includes three `Runners from the 2019 team. Darius Vines, Edgar Barclay and Jake Ortega were selected by the Atlanta Braves, the New York Yankees and the New York Mets, respectively.

Vines, a junior pitcher, became the highest draft pick in school history when Atlanta chose him in the seventh round with pick #217.

Another pitcher, Barclay was chosen in the 15th round at pick #465, while catcher Jake Ortega went in round 28 and 838th overall.

CSUB MEDIA SCHEDULE                
Twenty-one of CSUB's 33 home games will be broadcast on the WAC Digital Network, with play-by-play duties being handled for the third year in a row by Jason Galvin.

An additional 25 games will air live on ESPN Bakersfield (101.1 FM / 1230 AM) in conjunction with Learfield Audio. Daniel Gillman, the former voice of Purdue Volleyball will serve as the voice of CSUB Baseball on the radio.  

A full schedule of CSUB radio and TV broadcasts is available on www.gorunners.com.

SEASON TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE                 
Season Tickets for CSU Bakersfield can be purchased by calling 654-Blue or online at www.gorunners.com/tickets. Plans begin at just $190.00 for all 33 home games and will reduce in price on a sliding scale as the season progresses.
 
Half-season plans and 8-game flex plans are also available. The Half-season plan allows fans to purchase 16 games and choose from two options, the Weekend Plan or the Big Game plan, while the 8-game flex plan offers fans their choice of any eight home contests.
 
Groups of 15+ or 50+ can also contact the CSUB Ticket Office for discounted tickets when arranged at least 24 hours in advance.
 
Single-game tickets are also available at this time.
 
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Players Mentioned

Jared Toothman

#7 Jared Toothman

OF
6' 2"
Redshirt Sophomore
R/R
Jake Ortega

#33 Jake Ortega

C
5' 10"
Senior
L/R
Edgar Barclay

#26 Edgar Barclay

LHP
5' 10"
Junior
L/L
Darius Vines

#24 Darius Vines

RHP
6' 1"
Junior
R/R
Roman Angelo

#40 Roman Angelo

RHP
6' 4"
Sophomore
R/R
Evan Berkey

#1 Evan Berkey

IF
5' 11"
Junior
R/R
Cory Blackburn

#11 Cory Blackburn

OF
5' 10"
Redshirt Freshman
R/R
Davonté Butler

#15 Davonté Butler

RHP
6' 0"
Junior
R/R
Aaron Charles

#25 Aaron Charles

RHP
6' 5"
Redshirt Junior
R/R
Eric Charles

#8 Eric Charles

OF
6' 0"
Senior
L/L

Players Mentioned

Jared Toothman

#7 Jared Toothman

6' 2"
Redshirt Sophomore
R/R
OF
Jake Ortega

#33 Jake Ortega

5' 10"
Senior
L/R
C
Edgar Barclay

#26 Edgar Barclay

5' 10"
Junior
L/L
LHP
Darius Vines

#24 Darius Vines

6' 1"
Junior
R/R
RHP
Roman Angelo

#40 Roman Angelo

6' 4"
Sophomore
R/R
RHP
Evan Berkey

#1 Evan Berkey

5' 11"
Junior
R/R
IF
Cory Blackburn

#11 Cory Blackburn

5' 10"
Redshirt Freshman
R/R
OF
Davonté Butler

#15 Davonté Butler

6' 0"
Junior
R/R
RHP
Aaron Charles

#25 Aaron Charles

6' 5"
Redshirt Junior
R/R
RHP
Eric Charles

#8 Eric Charles

6' 0"
Senior
L/L
OF
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