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Bakersfield Continues Big West Play at UC San Diego

Bakersfield, Calif. - Winners of five of their last six, CSU Bakersfield continues an eight-game road swing with four games at fellow Big West newcomer, UC San Diego, this weekend in La Jolla, Calif. The Roadrunners, picked to finish last in the conference at the beginning of the season, now sit comfortably in a tie for third place with an 8-4 league mark and an 11-8 overall record.

The Roadrunners took three of four in Hawai'i, scoring 20 runs in the series, and are now hitting a league-best .305 as a team, with 50 extra base hits, including 12 home runs in 19 games. Bakersfield's average jumped to .322 in conference play.

Nine `Runners are hitting at least .296 in league games, led by senior Evan Berkey who's batting .474, best in conference, with six doubles, three home runs and 11 RBI in 10 Big West games to date.

Fellow seniors Tyler Jorgensen, Eric Charles and Nick Grossman are hitting .389, .359 and .333, respectively, while sophomore Jacen Roberson is hitting .313 with a 1.081 on-base plus slugging percentage.

Catchers Cody Holtz and Angel Saldivar are a combined 14-41, with seven hits a piece.

Bakersfield has outscored its opponents 39-24 in their last six games.

A key factor in the team's series hot start in Big West Series has been the development of the CSUB pitching staff, which has received significant contributions from both the starting rotation and the bullpen in recent weeks. The `Runners have pitched to a 4.50 earned run average over their last 12 games, all conference outings.

Starters Art Joven and Aaron Charles both went six innings in wins at Hawai'i, allowing just two and one earned runs, respectively, while Noah Cordova, Cody Tucker and Ethan Skuija all made a significant impact on wins over the Rainbow Warriors out of the pen.

Cordova and Tucker each pitched three innings of one hit ball to earn saves against UH. Skuija worked in relief in the series finale, tossing 5.1 innings and striking out eight for his first win of the season.

Bakersfield will look for its third Big West series win, in four attempts, at UCSD, in the first ever meetings between the two schools.

SCOUTING THE TRITONS        
UC San Diego has lost three straight series, against league heavyweights Long Beach State, UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara, after opening conference play taking three of four from Cal Poly. The Tritons are 9-19 overall and 6-10 in Big West action.

UCSD is hitting just .248 as a team and are led by Michael Fuhrman, who's slashing .344/.500/.541 with three home runs. Senior Anthony Luchetti is hitting .315 with six doubles. The Tritons have showcased power up and down the line-up, hitting 21 bombs as a club.

They've also allowed 21 long balls, and a .316 opponents batting average to go with a staff ERA of 7.09. UCSB scored 50 runs, including 15 in each of the first three games, to win last weekend's series with the Tritons.

Starting pitchers Cameron Leonard (6.29 ERA), Brandon Weed (7.67) and Aren Alvarez (10.32) have struggled in the first half of the year. Noah Conlon will also start for the Triton's this weekend, as UCSD sends four right-handers to the bump against Bakersfield. The `Runners are hitting .317 against righties in 2021.  

Sophomore lefty Izaak Martinez (1.56) is the team's top option out of the pen, making nine appearances thus far.

JUST LIKE RIDING A BIKE        
Sophomore Jacen Roberson hit for the first cycle in CSUB program history when he finished game three against UC Davis 4-for-5, with three runs scored and six RBI. Roberson doubled in the first inning, hit a grand slam home run in the second, tripled in the sixth and singled in the eighth to make history. The Bakersfield native drove in the GW RBI in both of CSUB's wins over UC Davis.

CHASING A TRIPLE CROWN            
Senior Evan Berkey leads the Big West in conference hitting with a .474 average against league opponents. He also ranks second in conference play with an .868 slugging percentage and third with a .512 on-base average. The La Quinta, Calif., native has a double in five straight games and at least one extra-base hit in seven consecutive outings.

Berkey and Tyler Jorgensen rank third and fourth among Big West hitters in overall batting average at .400 and .397, respectively. Jorgensen also ranks 12th in the NCAA w/ 1.63 hits per game.

EXTENDED RELIEF            
Noah Cordova, Cody Tucker and Ethan Skuija were dominant out of the bullpen for Bakersfield in three wins at Hawai'i. Cordova and Tucker each tossed three, one-hit innings to earn saves in games one and two, respectively, while Skuija struck out eight over 5.1 innings to earn his first win of the season.

CLOSING IN            
Head Coach Jeremy Beard is closing in on 100 wins as the head coach at CSU Bakersfield. Beard has coached the `Runners since the start of the 2017 season, averaging more than 25 wins over his first three seasons in Bakersfield. The pandemic cut short the 2020 season, slowing his pursuit of triple digit victories, but the `Runners have won five of six giving him 93 wins in his CSUB tenure.

THEY'RE GOING STREAKING           
Four Roadrunners enter the UC San Diego series with on-base streaks of at least ten games. Tyler Jorgensen leads the pack, reaching base at least once in 16 consecutive outings. Evan Berkey, Nick Grossman and Angel Saldivar have each reached in 10-straight. Berkey has a hit in all 10 games of his streak, the longest current hitting streak on the team.

SUNDAY FUNDAY          
Bakersfield beat Hawai'i 7-4 on April 18, improving to 5-0, this season, on Sunday in series finales. Junior Roman Angelo has been CSUB's Sunday starter this season, pitching to a 3.71 earned run average and a .267 average against. Angelo is just 1-0 this season, but he has kept the `Runners in the game in all five starts fueling the team's Sunday success. Angelo surpassed the 100.0 inning plateau in his start at UH on Apr. 18.

POWER SURGE              
After hitting just two home runs during a 14-game, 2020 campaign, the `Runners have already connected for 12 in 19 games this season.  Jacen Roberson and Evan Berkey lead the club with  three long balls on the year, while Tyler Jorgensen  and Nick Grossman each have a pair.

CENTURY CLUB      
CSUB pitchers Davonte Butler (102) and Ethan Skuija (112) each struck out the 100th batter of their careers in the series with UC Davis. Seniors Art Joven (86) and Aaron Charles (80) are closing in on the 100 K threshold.

COME BACK KIDS      
In just 19 games, and with only 11 wins, the `Runners have already posted five victories when trailing in the sixth inning or later. The most notable was a Mar. 19, come from behind win over UC Riverside, when CSUB rallied from down 9-0 to win 15-9.

QUALITY NOT QUANTITY      
Redshirt senior Aaron Charles has made three starts this season, totaling 16.2 IP and allowing just four earned runs, giving him a 2.16 ERA as a starter.

Charles has a 2.45 ERA in 20.0 IP this season to rank 4th in the Big West in lowest overall earned run average.

WILD WILD WEST      
The 2021 season is CSUB's first as a member of the Big West Conference, one of the elite leagues in all of college baseball. The `Runners are currently 8-4 in conference play, sitting in third-place behind just UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara. Bakersfield won its first-ever Big West series with a 3-1 advantage over UC Riverside. 

THEY COME FROM THE LAND DOWN UNDER          
Freshmen Jack Lee and Jo Stevens are the first non-North American student-athletes to suit up for CSUB Baseball. Lee and Stevens hail from Australia, where they were teammates on the country's 2019 U-18 WBSC Team.

Stevens became the first non-North American to appear in, and subsequently start, a game for CSUB, while Lee made became the first non-North American to appear on the mound for the `Runners, when he made his debut on Mar. 6.

RED DAWN                 
Outfielder Damian Henderson signed with the Cincinnati Reds following a stand-out 2020 season in Bakersfield. Henderson led the `Runners in nearly all offensive categories last season. He is the 23rd Roadrunner to sign a professional contract after his collegiate playing career, and the third as a free-agent, in the program's 12-year history.

THE MASTERS        
Three `Runners are taking graduate level courses this year. Seniors Noah Cordova (Environmental Resource Management) and Eric Charles (Kinesiology) are both taking advantage of the NCAA's COVID-related eligibility ruling and returned this season to begin pursuit of their master's degrees. Classmate Kenny Johnson (Psychology) graduated early and is also working towards his master's.

LOCAL BOYS  MAKE GOOD          
Eight Roadrunners hail from the city of Bakersfield, representing six local high schools, including one set of high school teammates in Stockdale's Cory Blackburn and Eli Brum. Newcomers Art Joven and Nick Salas each attended Highland, but did not play together. Additionally, Roman Angelo (Bakersfield Christian), Aaron Charles (Ridgeview),  Jacen Roberson (Garces Memorial), Kobe Silva (Frontier) are all local products.

WELCOME BACK   
Limited fans are now welcome at Hardt Field for all CSUB home games. Each student-athlete is allowed two passes for family and friends on game day, while a small number of CSUB student tickets are available through a reservation request system on GoRunners.com. At this time, general admission ticketing is not open directly to the public.

CARBON CUTOUTS      
While attendance remains limited for CSUB home games this season, the Bakersfield community has ensured that Hardt Field will be sold out in spirit, purchasing more than 800 fan cutouts to be displayed in the Hardt Field grandstand this season. For more information on purchasing a cutout of your own, visit www.gorunners.com/cutouts.

WATCH & LISTEN        
All 28 Roadrunner home games will be carried live on local radio (101.1 FM / 1230 AM) and available online at www.bakersfieldespn.com. Additionally, all CSUB home contests will be live streamed on WATCHESPN & the ESPN APP.
 
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Players Mentioned

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
Aaron Charles

#25 Aaron Charles

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

#8 Eric Charles

OF
6' 0"
Senior
L/L
Noah Cordova

#33 Noah Cordova

RHP
6' 5"
Senior
R/R
Nick Grossman

#3 Nick Grossman

OF
6' 0"
Senior
L/R
Damian Henderson

#22 Damian Henderson

OF
6' 1"
Junior
L/L
Kenny Johnson

#35 Kenny Johnson

RHP
6' 2"
Redshirt Junior
R/R
Tyler Jorgensen

#10 Tyler Jorgensen

INF
6' 2"
Senior
L/R
Jacen Roberson

#16 Jacen Roberson

OF
6' 1"
Redshirt Freshman
L/L
Angel Saldivar

#31 Angel Saldivar

C
5' 9"
Redshirt Freshman
R/R

Players Mentioned

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
Aaron Charles

#25 Aaron Charles

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

#8 Eric Charles

6' 0"
Senior
L/L
OF
Noah Cordova

#33 Noah Cordova

6' 5"
Senior
R/R
RHP
Nick Grossman

#3 Nick Grossman

6' 0"
Senior
L/R
OF
Damian Henderson

#22 Damian Henderson

6' 1"
Junior
L/L
OF
Kenny Johnson

#35 Kenny Johnson

6' 2"
Redshirt Junior
R/R
RHP
Tyler Jorgensen

#10 Tyler Jorgensen

6' 2"
Senior
L/R
INF
Jacen Roberson

#16 Jacen Roberson

6' 1"
Redshirt Freshman
L/L
OF
Angel Saldivar

#31 Angel Saldivar

5' 9"
Redshirt Freshman
R/R
C
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