Riverside, Calif. – James Bell and AJ Miller homered and combined for eight RBI, leading CSU Bakersfield in a 9-3 series opening win over Big West rival UC Riverside, Friday night at the Riverside Sports Complex. Starting pitcher Benji Caggianelli earned his first win as a Roadrunner, tossing five shutout innings as CSUB improved to 6-10 overall and 1-0 in conference play.
"We did a little bit of everything well tonight and it was nice to see all three aspects of our game come together tonight," said CSUB Head Coach Jeremy Beard. "We hit well, pitched well and defended and we took confident approaches in the batters box and on the mound."
The Roadrunners pounded out twelve hits and walked eight more times, scoring three times in each of the second, fourth and six innings.
Bell finished 2-for-4 with a walk, a double, a home run and five RBI. Miller was 1-for-2, including a long home run over the batters' eye in right-center field. Evan Rice (2-for-3) and Aaron Casillas (4-for-5) also had multi-hit efforts for Bakersfield.
Caggianelli struck out four and scattered five hits over five scoreless innings to earn his first career win.
Riverside centerfielder Andrew Gamez was 3-for-4 with an RBI. Eric Marrujo took the loss for the Highlanders, falling to 0-3.
HOW IT HAPPENED...
T2 | James Bell sat on a first-pitch slider and belted a two-out, three-run homer into right-center field to put Bakersfield on the board. Aaron Casillas and Evan Rice scored on the play after each reached on a single.
T4 | Bell struck again in the fourth, driving a ringing double into the gap in left-center field with the bases loaded to score Jashia Morrissey and Casillas. One batter later AJ Miller connected for a sacrifice fly to drive in Rice and make it 6-0 Bakersfield.
T6 | Miller hit his third, and perhaps Bakersfield's longest, home run of the season when he jumped on a fastball and deposited it well over the elevated centerfield batters' eye to plate a pair. Casillas reached on an RBI single to third base to cap the sixth-inning scoring.
B7 | UCR rallied for three runs in the seventh on a base on balls and four seeing eye singles. Andrew Gamez put the Highlanders on the board with his third hit of the day, a single to right field. A second run came across on a wild pitch, before Joey Nicolai picked up an RBI on a ground out to second base.
NOTABLE...
• James Bell and AJ Miller homered in the same game for the second time this season and remain tied for the team lead with three home runs on the year. The tandem also homered in a Friday night win over Pacific.
• Bell entered the night leading CSUB hitters with eight RBI. He added five more Friday, the most in a single game for a Roadrunner since Jacen Roberson drove in six as part of his cycle against UC Davis on April 10, 2021.
• Benji Caggianelli pitched through the fifth inning for the fourth time in five starts this season, allowing just five hits and striking out four, the fewest he's fanned all season. Caggianelli won for the first time in a CSUB uniform, but the Roadrunners were victorious for the fourth time in his five starts.
• Aaron Casillas is the second Bakersfield hitter to collect four hits in a game this season. Casillas finished the day with a career best four hits in five at bats. Catcher Bailey Seeger was 4-for-4 against Fresno State.
• Evan Rice reached base in five of his six plate appearances, singling twice, walk on two occasions and reaching on a hit by pitch in the fourth. Rice came around to score three of CSUB's nine runs.
• Bakersfield hitters walked seven times and tied a season low with just three strikeouts. CSUB's nine runs scored were a season high.
ON DECK...
The Roadrunner and Highlanders will meet in game two of this weekend's three-game series at the Riverside Sports Plex on Saturday night at 6 p.m. Left-hander Kellen O'Connor gets the start for Bakersfield, opposed by UCR right-hander Tyler Frazier.
