Davis, Calif. – Aaron Casillas and James Bell each homered as part of a ten-hit CSU Bakersfield attack, and the Roadrunners held on for a 9-7 victory over UC Davis, Saturday, in the second-game of a three-game Big West Conference series at Swimley Field at Dobbins Baseball Stadium in Davis, Calif. CSUB improves to 13-16 on the year and 6-2 in Big West play with the win and will play for its third-straight conference series win on Sunday afternoon.
"I'm proud of our guys and how we competed to bounce back from yesterday's loss," said CSUB Head Coach Jeremy Beard. "We're not playing our best baseball right now and probably could have taken advantage of a few more opportunities in the middle innings, but we found a way to win and that will be important for our team down the road."
The Roadrunners broke the game open in the top half of the fourth inning, when the first six batters of the inning all reached and scored to stake Bakersfield to an 8-2 lead. The big blow came with two outs when Casillas lifted his first career home run to straightaway left, driving in three. Angel Saldivar and Aaron Perez also had run-scoring singles in the frame.
Bell was 2-for-3 with a home run, scoring twice and driving in a pair to lead the Bakersfield attack. Nick Salas also had a pair of hits, while hitting out of the lead-off spot for the first time this season.
CSUB starter Kellen O'Connor picked up the wins, working six innings, allowing five runs and scattering eight hits. He struck out seven and did not walk a batter for the third-straight outing.
Reliever Kevin Altamirano earned the save, entering in the ninth inning with two runners on and none out before retiring all three Aggies he faced, including a pair of strikeouts.
UC Davis' Mark Wolbert was 4-for-5 with a home run and three runs scored.
HOW IT HAPPENED...
T1 | Bakersfield scored twice in the first when Jashia Morrissey pounded a two-out double into the left-centerfield gap to score Nick Salas for the game's first run. Morrissey came around to score on James Bell's RBI single one batter later.
B1 | The Aggies answered immediately for the second-straight game when Nick Leehey connected for his second home run of the season in the bottom of the first. Mark Wolbert scored on the play after reaching on a single.
T4 | The first six Roadrunners reached in the top of the fourth and all six scored. Angel Saldivar drove in a pair with a single to right and one more scored on Aaron Perez' RBI single through the left-side. Shortstop Aaron Casillas provided the big blow with a three-run home run to straight-away left.
T5 | James Bell jumped on a 1-0 fastball and belted a two-out solo home run over the fence in left to make it 9-2 Bakersfield.
B5 | UC Davis scored three times in the bottom of the fifth inning on a Nick Leehey ground rule double, a balk and a wild pitch.
B7 | Mark Wolbert homered for the second straight day, this time a solo shot out to left to make the score 9-6.
B9 | Nathan Peng drove in UC Davis' seventh run of the game with a floating single into the right-centerfield gap, but Altamirano entered with two on and none away and quickly retired all three batters he faced, including a pair of strikeouts.
NOTABLE...
• Bakersfield hit a pair of home runs for the fifth time this season, improving to 4-1 overall and 3-0 in league play when homering twice.
• James Bell is 5-for-6 through the first two games of the series with a double, a home run, three runs scored and a pair of runs driven in. Jashia Morrissey is 4-for-7 with three extra base hits, four runs scored and four RBI.
• CSUB starter Kellen O'Connor worked at least six innings for the third-straight start. He's 2-0 in that stretch with 21 strikeouts against no bases on balls.
• Aaron Casillas' home run was his first of the season and the first of his Roadrunner career. He's the sixth Roadrunner to belt his first career long ball this season, with the team's 20 home runs already the sixth-most in school single-season history, and just three shy of last season's full-year total.
ON DECK...
Bakersfield and UC Davis wrap up their three-game Big West Conference series on Sunday afternoon, with first pitch scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at Swimley Field at Dobbins Baseball Stadium in Davis, Calif. Right hander Adrian Santa Cruz will make his seventh start of the season, opposed by Aggie opener Andrew LaCour.
