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Daniel Carrizosa, Angel Saldivar
Mark Duffel

Baseball

`Runners Wrap Regular Season at UC Santa Barbara

Bakersfield, Calif. - The Roadrunners will make the trip to the coast and wrap up the regular season with a four-game Big West Conference series against UC Santa Barbara, beginning Friday, May 28th at 5:00 p.m. CSU Bakersfield currently sits in fifth place in the league standings, just three games out of third place and one game out of fourth, after being picked to finish last in the pre-season coaches' poll.

Bakersfield's pitching staff has stepped up down the stretch, despite facing four of the top offenses in the conference over the last four weeks.

Starting pitcher Aaron Charles has made 8 starts and thrown 41.2 innings, ranking fifth in the Big West with his 3.02 earned run average.

Right hander Roman Angelo is the lone Roadrunner to make a start in all 10 of the team's series this season. He boasts a team-high 51.2 innings pitched to go with a 4.01 ERA and a .249 opponents' batting average.

The CSUB bullpen has been exceptional, pitching to a 2.51 ERA over the past three series in 56.1 total innings. On the season, `Runner relievers have 12 wins, a 4.39 ERA and just 162 hits allowed in 180.1 innings pitched.

Freshman Jack Lee has taken ownership of the closer's roll, racking up four saves on the year and allowing just a single earned run over his last 14.1 innings pitched.

Offensively, upperclassmen Tyler Jorgensen, Evan Berkey and Nick Grossman continue to lead the charge for the `Runners.

Jorgensen collected his 17th multiple-hit outing of the season in the finale with UC Irvine. The senior from Gilbert, Ariz., is hitting a team-best .357 with seven doubles and four home runs this season.

Berkey ranks in the top-10 in the Big West in all three slash categories, with his .346/.444/.543 line, to go with nine doubles, a pair of triples and four round trippers.

Grossman is third on the club with his .290 batting average and 21 runs driven in.

Jacen Roberson leads the team with seven home runs to go with a .523 slugging percentage, while Eric Charles ranks third in on-base percentage at .384.

The `Runners have dropped five straight to UCSB, dating back to Apr. 25, 2017, and trails the all-time series with the Gauchos 13-9.

SCOUTING THE GAUCHOS 
UC Santa Barbara enters the weekend on the heels of a four-game sweep at UC Riverside, pushing their record to 35-18 overall and 25-11 in conference play. The `Runners will look to play the role of spoiler, as the Gauchos sit three-games behind UCI in the race for the Big West title and remain in the mix for an at large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

UCSB is led by an elite pitching staff that features sophomore standouts Rodney Boone and Michael McGreevy. Both rank in the top five in the conference in starter ERA, at 2.41 and 2.94, respectively.

Overall, the Gauchos boast a 3.95 staff ERA and a league-high 10.39 strikeouts per nine innings.

At the plate, UCSB is led by freshman Zach Rodriguez who carries a .378 average to go with eight doubles and seven long balls.

First  baseman Broc Mortonsen is hitting .271 and is  tied for the conference lead with 13 home runs.

Three more Gauchos are hitting .333 or better, in Marcos Castanon, Jordan Sprinkle and Cole Cummings. All three have five home runs on the year, while Cummings also boasts a team-high 18 two-baggers.

SEVENTEEN, AGAIN!        
Tyler Jorgensen's three-hit effort in Sunday's loss to UC Irvine was his 17th multiple hit outing of the season, bringing his career total to 41 multi-hit efforts in 107 starts (38.3%).

He also leads the `Runners with multiple RBI in 10 contests this season.

SENIOR SLUGGER                    
Senior Evan  Berkey enters the UCSB series with a .543 slugging percentage, which ranks 7th in the Big West and would slot into third all-time at CSUB, just one point behind Jeremy Rodriguez' .544 in 2010. Jason Kudlock's .605 slugging percentage the same year is the program record.

SWEET RELIEF                    
The CSU Bakersfield bullpen has been exceptional over the past 12 games. In three series against Cal Poly, Long Beach State and UC Irvine, Roadrunner relievers have allowed just 16 earned runs in 56.1 innings pitched, good for a 2.51 ERA. The bullpen staff has garnered four wins and picked up four saves in that span.

EXTRA EFFORT                    
Two CSUB relievers pulled extra duty in the series with UC Irvine. Freshman Jack Lee became the first `Runner to make three appearances in a series against the Anteaters, tossing three innings without allowing a hit or a run. Lee struck out three and allowed just a single base runner to reach on a hit by pitch.

Graduate student Noah Cordova became the first Bakersfield hurler to make a start and a relief appearance in the same series against UCI. Cordova started Friday' nights game, before coming out of the pen to toss 1.2 innings in the series finale.

CHASING 100                    
Three Roadrunner hurlers are chasing 100 career strikeouts heading into the season's finale weekend. Junior right-hander Roman Angelo is on the cusp of joining the CSUB century club, with 98 strikeouts in 126.1 IP.

Meanwhile, seniors Aaron Charles and Art Joven both enter the weekend with 94 and 90 career strikeouts, respectively.

CENTURY CLUB      
The series sweep of Cal Poly gave Head Coach Jeremy Beard the four victories he needed to reach 100 wins in his tenure 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. He has 24 more wins over the last two COVID abbreviated campaigns.

BACK-TO-BACK                    
Cody Holtz and Evan Berkey hit back-to-back home runs in the fifth inning of the series finale against the Mustangs. It was the first time that CSUB hitters went back-to-back since the program's inaugural season of 2009, when Stuart Smith and Martin Media turned the trick.

COME BACK KIDS        
The Roadrunners have come from behind all season long, grabbing eleven victories when its opponent scores first, including nine in Big West action, and winning seven times when trailing in the 6th inning or later.

ROMAN CANDLE                    
Roman Angelo's .233 career opponent's batting average is the best in school history, .017 points ahead of James Barragan's standard of .251. Angelo also produced the top single-season opponents' average in CSUB history when he dealt a .220 BAA (64.0 IP) as a freshman in 2019.

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.

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 17-15 and alone in 5th place, after being picked to finish last in the league's pre-season coaches poll.

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.

RED DAWN                 
Outfielder Damian Henderson signed with the Cincinnati Reds following a stand-out 2020 season in Bakersfield, becoming 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        
Fifth-year seniors Noah Cordova (Environmental Resource Management) and Eric Charles (Kinesiology), and true senior Kenny Johnson (Psychology) are all working on Master's Degrees this semester.

LOCAL BOYS  MAKE GOOD          
Eight Roadrunners hail from Bakersfield, representing six local high schools, including 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.

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

Damian Henderson

#22 Damian Henderson

OF
6' 1"
Junior
L/L
Roman Angelo

#40 Roman Angelo

RHP
6' 5"
Junior
R-R
Evan Berkey

#1 Evan Berkey

INF
5' 11"
Senior
R-R
Cory Blackburn

#26 Cory Blackburn

OF
5' 10"
Redshirt Sophomore
R-R
Eli Brum

#46 Eli Brum

C
5' 6"
Redshirt Freshman
R-R
Aaron Charles

#25 Aaron Charles

RHP
6' 5"
Senior
R-R
Eric Charles

#8 Eric Charles

OF
6' 0"
Redshirt Senior
L-L
Noah Cordova

#33 Noah Cordova

RHP
6' 6"
Redshirt Senior
R-R
Nick Grossman

#3 Nick Grossman

OF
6' 0"
Redshirt Senior
L-R
Cody Holtz

#23 Cody Holtz

C
6' 0"
Senior
R-R
Kenny Johnson

#35 Kenny Johnson

RHP
6' 3"
Senior
R-R
Tyler Jorgensen

#10 Tyler Jorgensen

INF
6' 2"
Redshirt Senior
L-R

Players Mentioned

Damian Henderson

#22 Damian Henderson

6' 1"
Junior
L/L
OF
Roman Angelo

#40 Roman Angelo

6' 5"
Junior
R-R
RHP
Evan Berkey

#1 Evan Berkey

5' 11"
Senior
R-R
INF
Cory Blackburn

#26 Cory Blackburn

5' 10"
Redshirt Sophomore
R-R
OF
Eli Brum

#46 Eli Brum

5' 6"
Redshirt Freshman
R-R
C
Aaron Charles

#25 Aaron Charles

6' 5"
Senior
R-R
RHP
Eric Charles

#8 Eric Charles

6' 0"
Redshirt Senior
L-L
OF
Noah Cordova

#33 Noah Cordova

6' 6"
Redshirt Senior
R-R
RHP
Nick Grossman

#3 Nick Grossman

6' 0"
Redshirt Senior
L-R
OF
Cody Holtz

#23 Cody Holtz

6' 0"
Senior
R-R
C
Kenny Johnson

#35 Kenny Johnson

6' 3"
Senior
R-R
RHP
Tyler Jorgensen

#10 Tyler Jorgensen

6' 2"
Redshirt Senior
L-R
INF
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