Saturday, March 12 -- vs. UC Riverside (Riverside, Calif.), 6:00 p.m.
ESPN+  |  Live Stats  |  Tickets

Saturday, March 13 -- vs. UC Riverside (Riverside, Calif.), 1:00 p.m.
ESPN+  |  Live Stats  |  Tickets


• Social Media:  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram
• Game Day Information:  Riverside Sports Complex  |  Ticket Information

Bakersfield, Calif. - Despite flashing obvious talent in all three phases of the game, CSU Bakersfield enters the conference season still looking to play its best baseball. The Roadrunners will look to put all three phases together as they open Big West play this weekend, in a three-game series at UC Riverside's Riverside Sports Complex, beginning with game one, Friday, Mar. 18 at 6:00 p.m. The two schools will also play single games on Saturday, Mar. 19, at 6:00 p.m. and Sunday, Mar. 20, at 1:00 p.m. 

Bakersfield and Riverside will meet in a Big West opening series for the second-consecutive season. In 2021, the Roadrunners won three of four games played at Hardt Field to win their inaugural series as members of the Big West Conference. The Highlanders still lead the all-time series between the two schools 17-12, including a 12-6 mark in games played in Bakersfield. CSUB holds a narrow 6-5 advantage in contests played in Riverside. 

The Roadrunners are 5-10 after dropping the final two games of a three-game series at Pacific, while UC Riverside enters the weekend with just one win in fourteen games this season. The Highlanders were swept in series against Fresno State, UCLA and Portland, while dropping three of four against Saint Mary's and a single game against Washington. 

All three games of the weekend series will be streamed live on ESPNPlus.


ROADRUNNER QUICK PITCHES...

STANDOUT STARTERS
CSUB starting pitchers have combined for a 3.62 ERA, after allowing just three earned runs in a three game series at Pacific. Bakersfield starters have lasted at least five innings in nine of the team's 15 starts (60%), after managing to do so in just 16 of 43 starts during the 2021 campaign (37%).

Friday night hurler, Benji Caggianelli, boasts the 5th best ERA in the league at 1.77 and has limited opponents to a .137 average against. Adrian Santa Cruz doesn't have the innings to qualify in the conference ERA race, but would sit fourth with his 1.23 mark, while Kellen O'Connor slipped against the Tigers but still sits 19th with a 4.74 ERA. Jaykob Acosta, who's made one start this season is 15th with a 3.78 ERA.

Caggianelli also ranks second in the conference in strikeouts (31) and strikeouts per nine innings (13.7).

HOME IS AT HARDT
CSUB boasts a 33-game home schedule in 2022, including nine home series and four individual midweek opponents. Five of those series are against Big West opponents Cal State Fullerton, Hawai'i, UC San Diego, Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara, later in the year.

21 home games remain, with season tickets and single-game tickets for all CSUB home contests available for purchase on GoRunners.com/Tickets or by calling 661.654.BLUE.

CSUB was 12-12 at Hardt Field last season, winning key Big West series against UC Riverside and Cal Poly, while splitting with UC Davis.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH
Catcher Bailey Seeger leads all qualifying Bakersfield hitters with a .371 batting average this season. Seeger, who nearly missed the entire season due to injury, is 13-for-35 with a pair of doubles and seven RBI in 11 games, 10 starts.

GOING DEEP
Jashia Morrissey connected for his first career home run in the series finale with Pacific, igniting a CSUB rally that saw the `Runners go from three down to four ahead over two innings. Morrissey is the fifth `Runner to hit his first Bakersfield home run this season. CSUB returned just one of the 23 home runs they hit in the 2021 season. That one long ball was off the bat of catcher Angel Saldivar.

RICE KEEPS REACHING
Third baseman Evan Rice enters this weekend's series having reached base in each of his 12 games this season, including at least one base hit in 10 of 12 outings. Rice missed the first three games of the season, but hasn't missed a beat since returning to the top of the Roadrunner line-up against Kansas State.

MILLER'S MULTI-HIT EFFORTS
Junior AJ Miller is 14-for his last-31 since homering against Fresno State, after starting the season with just three hits in his first 25 at bats. Miller's red-hot run at the plate includes four multi-hit outings, and three games with three hits.

PUTTING THE TEAM FIRST
Bakersfield ranks among the top-85 in both sacrifice bunts and sacrifice flies. The Roadrunners are 85th nationally and sixth in the Big West in sacrifice bunts with 6, including a pair from both Aaron Casillas and Tyler Vargas. James Bell has two sacrifice flies to lead the `Runners, who rank 51st in the nation with eight total.

DOUBLE TROUBLE
Aaron Casillas leads CSUB with six doubles in the first 15 games of the season, matching his career total entering this season - a span of 55 games from 2020 to 2021.

TWIN KILLINGS
Bakersfield ranks among the national leaders in double plays (10th) and double plays per game (11th) this season, turning 15 twin killings in 15 games for an even 1.00 per contest. Both numbers are second in the Big West, behind Hawai'i. New Mexico ranks first nationally in both categories, with 21  in 15 games (1.40 per game).

BENJI'S BREAKOUT
Benji Caggianelli ranks among the best pitchers in the country through four starts, posting top-50 statistical results in hits per nine innings (41st. 4.43), strikeouts (48th, 31) and strikeouts per nine innings (38th, 13.72). All three numbers place him second among Big West hurlers.

SWEET SIXTEEN

CSUB pitchers Cody Tucker, Gabe Ulloa, Matt Comnos and Davonte Butler combined for 16 strikeouts in a 10-6 loss versus Oakland. That total was the most in a single game since the Roadrunners fanned 16 Northern Colorado hitters on April 18, 2019. Ironically, Bakersfield lost that game too, falling to the Bears 9-7 in ten innings. Butler pitched in both games, striking out two batters in each outing.

EXIT POLLING
CSU Bakersfield was picked to finish eighth in the Pre-Season Big West Conference Coaches' Poll, as voted on by the league's head coaches. The Roadrunners finished with 35 points, sandwiched in a middle of the pack that also includes Cal State Fullerton, Hawai'i, CSUN and UC San Diego. Long Beach State, UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly are among the pre-season favorites, while UC Riverside and UC Davis found themselves at the bottom of the poll.

CSUB was picked to finish dead last in 2021, before spending most of the season in the top four. The `Runners stumbled at the finish and ended up in seventh place a season ago.

GRADUATE STUDENTS
Three Bakersfield scholar-athletes are working towards graduate degrees during the 2021-22 school year. Fifth-year seniors Kevin Altamirano, Daniel Carrizosa and Kenny Johnson are all taking advantage of COVID eligibility to pursue advanced degrees.

TEAMMATES AGAIN
James Bell and AJ Miller both signed with the University of Oregon out of high school and were teammates with the Ducks during the COVID shortened 2020 season. Bell played one season in Eugene and another at Fresno City College before joining the Roadrunners, while Miller spent three seasons at Oregon.

Newcomers Evan Rice and Adrian Santa Cruz were teammates at Phoenix College, leading the Bears to the NJCAA Division II World Series in 2021.

Benji Caggianelli and Gabe Ulloa played together at Bakersfield College in each of the last two seasons.

Four sets of `Runners were high school teammates. Andrew Allanson and Tyler Vargas played together at Quartz Hill High School in Lancaster, Calif., while Matt Kurata and DJ Massey competed at Gahr High School in Cerritos, Calif., Nick Salas and AJ Cleveland played at Highland High School in Bakersfield, Calif., and Aaron Casillas and Michael Pollard were teammates at Mission Viejo High School in Mission Viejo, Calif.

LOCAL BOY MAKES GOOD
Bakersfield native and three-year Roadrunner outfielder Jacen Roberson became the 21st CSUB baseball player selected in the Major League Baseball Draft when he was chosen by the Arizona Diamondbacks with the 468th choice in the 16th Round. Roberson hit .282 with 10 doubles, three triples and seven home runs last season, earning All-Big West Honorable Mention honors.


SCOUTING THE OPPONENT(S)...

• UC RIVERSIDE: UC Riverside enters the weekend series with a record of 1-13, following a three-game series sweep at the hands of visiting Portland. The Highlanders lone win of the season came on Mar. 6, in the finale of a four-game set against Saint Mary's at the Riverside Sports Complex. UCR has been outscored 126-49 in 14 games this season.

The Highlanders are hitting just .211 as a team to date, with a .313 on-base percentage, 16 doubles and four home runs. Andrew Rivas leads the club with a .325 batting average and a .372 on-base average, while slugging a pair of doubles and one home run. Joey Nicolai is hitting .283 on the year, after hitting .302 in 2021.

UCR's team earned run average is 9.15, with Sergio Ramirez leading the way out of the bullpen. Ramirez has not allowed an earned run in six appearances and 8.0 innings pitched. No other Riverside hurler has an ERA under 4.15. Taylor Frazier has made four starts for the Highlanders, posting a 6.32 ERA in 15.2 innings pitched, striking out nine and walking 13, with a .311 opponents' batting average. Joey Magrisi has made three starts this season.
 

LAST TIME OUT...

Bakersfield breezed to an 8-5 opening night victory over Pacific, but lost late leads in games two and three to drop the series with the Tigers, two games to one, at Klein Family Field in Stockton, Calif. The Roadrunners averaged nine hits per contest and scored nearly six runs per game, but fanned 25 times in the series and struggled to find timely hits with runners in scoring position. CSUB allowed just four earned runs through the first two contests, but surrendered six in the series finale, while committing eight errors over three games. 

2022 Overall Statistics


NEXT WEEK...

Following their three-game set in Riverside, the Roadrunners (5-10, 0-0 Big West) return home for a single-game with Pepperdine and their final non-conference series of the season with Utah Valley, as part of an eight-game home stand at Hardt Field on the campus of CSU Bakersfield. CSUB and Pepperdine will meet for the first time since the 2019 season opener, while the Roadrunners and Utah Valley will reprise a series originally scheduled for 2021, but canceled due to COVID protocols within the Wolverine program. Tickets for upcoming CSUB home games can be purchased at GoRunners.com/Tickets or by calling 661.654.BLUE.