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California State University at Bakersfield Athletics

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Angel Saldivar
9
UC Riverside UCR 2-6, 0-1 BIGWEST
15
Winner CSUB CSUB 4-4, 1-0 BIGWEST
UC Riverside UCR
2-6, 0-1 BIGWEST
9
Final
15
CSUB CSUB
4-4, 1-0 BIGWEST
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
UC Riverside UCR 0 0 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 8 2
CSUB CSUB 0 0 1 0 0 1 6 7 X 15 17 0

W: Tucker, Cody (1-1) L: Shamus Lyons (0-1)

Game Recap: Baseball |

`Runners Rally Past Highlanders

Bakersfield, Calif. – CSU Bakersfield batted around in the seventh and eighth innings, rallying from a 9-0 deficit to rout visiting UC Riverside 15-9, and winning for the first time as members of the Big West Conference. The Roadrunners have won three straight to improve to 4-4 overall, and 1-0 in conference play.   

The Roadrunners scored 13 times in their final two at bats Friday, taking the lead for good on a two-RBI double from first-baseman Tyler Jorgensen. The senior from Gilbert, Ariz., finished 2-for-6, raising his season average to .406.  

Catcher Angel Saldivar was 3-for-4, including a key two-run, seventh-inning triple that pulled CSUB within a run. He also plated a run with an RBI groundout in the sixth.   

Evan Berkey, Jashia Morrissey and Nick Grossman also had multi-hit outings. Berkey's sixth-inning home run made it 9-3 and ignited the CSUB rally.  

Junior Cody Tucker pitched in relief of starter Jack Lee and picked up the win. Tucker threw 5.2 innings, allowing just four hits and three earned runs.  

Shamus Lyons took the loss for UCR. Bakersfield jumped on the righty reliever for six hits, including two doubles and a triple to score seven times over an inning and a third.  

Dylan Orick and Joey Nicolai each drove in three for the Highlanders.  

The two teams are back in action Saturday, for a double header beginning at noon. Aaron Charles will start the opener for CSUB, while Tucker Juline is expected to pitch for UCR.  

HOW IT HAPPENED… 
* UCR scored nine times in the third inning, on six hits, two walks and a pair of hit batters. The big blows came off the bats of Orick and Nicolai. Orick made it 4-0 when he tripled down the right-field line, before Nicolai connected on a three-run home run over the fence in right. Ely Stuart and Travis Bohall had RBI hits in the inning, while Taylor Juline opened the scoring, earning an RBI when he was hit by a Lee fastball.  

* The `Runners got one back in the bottom of the inning. Sophomore catcher Angel Saldivar led off with a long double into the right center field gap and came around to score on a one-out single by third-baseman Daniel Carrizosa.   

* Bakersfield made it 9-2 in the sixth, when Aaron Casillas reached on a lead-off error and scored on Saldivar's ground ball.    

* Berkey's lead-off home run in the seventh ignited the CSUB line-up. Six of the next seven batters reached base as the `Runners closed the gap to 9-8. Morrissey, Jorgensen, CJ Rivers and Saldivar had hits in the inning, with Saldivar's two-run triple the final blow. Jorgensen, Rivers and Grossman also had RBI in a frame that saw 10 men come to the plate.  

* The `Runners batted around again in the eighth, this time sending 12 hitters to the dish. Morrissey led off with a sharp double into right-center field. After a Roberson walk, Jorgensen connected for a two-run double, lifting CSUB into the lead. Bakersfield was far from done. They'd score five more times in the inning, including on an RBI double from Jo Stevens, the first hit and RBI of his career.  

* Senior Davonte Butler made his first appearance of the season, working a scoreless ninth.  
 
NOTABLE… 
* Jorgensen has driven in the winning run in two of Bakersfield's last three games. He's hitting .406/.441/.594 this season, with three doubles, a home run and nine RBI.  
* Stevens is the 6th `Runner to collect his first career knock already this season.  
* Morrissey finished 3-for-5, lifting his average to .286 with the first multi-hit game of his career.  
* Saldivar's three runs batted in were a career high.  
* The `Runners scored 15 or more runs for the first time since 2019, when they scored 16 in a win over Northern Colorado on April 22.  
* CSUB pounded out 17 hits, matching their season high from a 10-9 win over Pacific.  
* Bakersfield had five doubles on the night, their most since hitting six two-baggers against UTRGV on May 11, 2019.  
* Today's win was CSUB's third in their final at bat this season.  
 
QUOTABLE…  

Head Coach Jeremy Beard
On the team's response to falling behind early…  
"We responded well to some adversity tonight. Falling behind 9-0, it would have been easy to fold up our tent, but our guys have come so far and they just won't do that. We continued to play every pitch and that was the key, because you never know when you'll score your runs." 

On Cody Tucker keeping Bakersfield in the game…  
"The one inning got away from us. I don't think Jack pitched poorly, he just walked a couple guys before that big hit. Cody came in and kept us in the game with a great performance. He kept them at nine and surrounded that inning with a bunch of zeroes, giving our hitters a chance to do their jobs and get us back into the game."  

On the team's offensive approach…  
"Our offense is coming on strong and really understands what we're trying to do. We have a lot of guys that can come in and out of the line-up and step in situationally. Right now we believe in our ability to put up runs and that showed with our explosiveness tonight."  
 
Sophomore Catcher Angel Saldivar 
On the team's response to a 9-0 deficit…  
"Coach always tells us to take one pitch at a time and we did that tonight. The momentum wasn't there in the beginning, but we pushed through, kept the faith in each other and stuck to our approach. Guys were willing to do what it took to come back."  

On his 3-for-4 effort at the plate… 
"I wasn't trying to do to much tonight, I just wanted to stick to my approach and trust my eyes and my hands. We fell behind early, so I was trying to see as many pitches as I could to help us get going and get to the bullpen. I was able to get some good pitches and put my barrel on them."  

On Tucker's performance out of the pen… 
"Cody has worked hard all year. He had some tough breaks in that first inning with the wind and contact on some good pitches, but we regrouped in the dugout and focused on slowing down and executing each pitch."
 
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