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Softball

Four More Sign With CSUB Softball

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – The 2022 CSU Bakersfield softball roster continues to fill out as Crissy Buck-Ziegler, Head Coach of the Roadrunners, announced the addition of four more student-athletes to the squad.

Adding more experience to her team, Buck-Ziegler signed a pair of junior college teammates in Laela Minnich and Kirsten Martinez. The pair of California natives will return to their home state after time spent at Howard College in Texas.

"Laela is going to bring power to our lineup," Buck-Ziegler said of Minnich. "She is a grinder who can play multiple positions for us and comes in ready to get after the Big West."
 
Minnich is an incoming junior utility with a diverse set of skills. In her two abbreviated seasons at Howard, Minnich helped the Hawks to a 54-8 record (.871). The native of Vista, Calif. got off to a hot start as a freshman in 2020, batting .425 while smacking 10 home runs in just 20 games. As a sophomore, Minnich continued her hot hitting with an impressive stat line: .433 batting average, 25 home runs, 11 doubles, 65 RBI, 54 runs, 1.057 slugging percentage.

"Kirsten is a bulldog on the mound," was Buck-Ziegler's description of Martinez. "She is a Valley kid who loves to gut it out. Her focus on the mound and determination will bring great depth to our pitching rotation."
 
Martinez hails from Dinuba, Calif., just 90 miles north of Bakersfield. She will come to CSUB after two seasons in the circle for Howard. As a freshman, Martinez tallied an 8-2 record with seven complete games. The righty posted a 3.75 ERA over 56.0 innings pitched in 2020 and saw improvement this past season as a sophomore. Martinez went 19-3 in 2021, striking out 108 batters in 120.2 innings while finishing with a 2.61 ERA.

Buck-Ziegler welcomed another junior college transfer to the team in Maya Williams, who spent the past two seasons at College of Southern Idaho: "Maya keeps getting better. Watching her develop at Southern Idaho, she fits our program well. She has the drive to get after wherever we need her defensively. Offensively, she can be clutch for us."
 
This past year, Williams hit .413, posted a .500 on-base percentage, and slugged .720. the 5-foot-11 infielder's two-year statistics at CSI featured 71 hits including 16 doubles and 17 home runs, 66 RBI, and 59 runs.

The final `Runner in this quartet is the only incoming freshman, Tayler Thomas, who received comparisons from Buck-Ziegler to some notable former `Runners: "Tayler reminds me of alumni Julea Cavazos and Kaylynn Burt in the outfield. She has the mentality that no flyball will drop in the outfield."
 
A native of San Diego, Thomas is set to graduate from Steele Canyon High School this weekend before becoming a `Runner. Including a pair of abbreviated seasons, Thomas boasts 93 games of prep experience. The outfielder posted a career batting average of .358 while hitting .416 in her senior season. Thomas recorded 98 hits, 40 RBI, and 49 runs in her four years at Steele Canyon.

~GoRunners.com~
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