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Bakersfield, Calif. - Bakersfield continues a six-game road swing with a trip to Central California rival Cal Poly, after losing two of three games at CSUN a weekend ago. The Matadors sandwiched walk-off victories around a Roadrunner win dropping CSUB to 16-24 overall and 9-9 in Big West Conference play. Bakersfield now sits in a tie for seventh with UC San Diego, just two games behind third place Cal Poly.

The Roadrunner bats roared to life in games one and two at CSUN, while the team received strong starts on the mound in games one and three, providing more than a glimmer of optimism during a three game series that saw all three contests decided by a single run. CSUB hit .265 for the CSUN series with 11 extra-base hits, including five home runs. The 'Runners racked up 10 hits on Friday afternoon and 13 more on Saturday, before a stiff  westerly wind stifled the offense on Sunday.

Rightfielder AJ Miller set the pace with five hits in ten at bats, including a double and three home runs. Miller now leads the club with 12 doubles and nine homers this season, along with a robust slashline of .318/.392/.571/1.064. James Bell lifted his batting average up to .282 with five hits in the series, including a 4-for-5 effort in game two, that saw him score three runs and drive in four more. He also belted his fifth home run of the season in the opener. True freshman Cody Hendriks made consecutive starts on Saturday and Sunday, finishing the series with three hits in eight at bats, including a pair of doubles.

The Roadrunners are now hitting .262 on the year, with 70 doubles and 27 home runs. Jashia Morrissey is hitting .290 with 15 extra-base hits, while the catching tandem of Bailey Seeger and Angel Saldivar are hitting .329 and .280, respectively.

CSUB starters Adrian Santa Cruz, Kellen O'Connor and Jaykob Acosta combined to throw 14.0 innings and allow just 11 hits and four earned runs in the series. Roadrunner starting pitchers have now contributed a 4.66 earned run average over 164.1 innings of work this season. Bakersfield reliever Ryan Verdugo continued his strong season out of the CSUB pen, working 3.1 innings of one run ball to pick up his second career win.

The Roadrunners swept a four-game series with Cal Poly during the 2021 campaign, closing the gap in the all-time series between the two schools to 22-10.

ROADRUNNER QUICK PITCHES...

CAUGHT IN THE ACT
CSUB has cut down 48% of would be base stealers this season, best in the Big West Conference. Roadrunner catchers Angel Saldivar and Bailey Seeger have thrown out 50% and 30%, respectively, while CSUB pitchers have caught five more and picked off ten. Saldivar leads the league with his caught-stealing percentage, and has seen fewer and fewer stolen-base attempts as the season has progressed. Opponents have attempted just 30 steals since the start of conference play, successfully advancing just 14 times.

POWER SURGE
Bakersfield has slugged 27 home runs in 2022, the third highest single-season total in program history. This season's club trails only the first two editions of Roadrunner baseball - the 2009 inaugural roster belted 36 while the subsequent season saw a school record 42 long balls.

WALK THIS WAY
Bakersfield has also taken its bases on balls this season, walking 173 times, which already ranks 9th in program history. CSUB is on pace for a school record 230 walks this season. Conversely, Cal Poly pitchers have walked the fewest opponents in the Big West, allowing just 54 walks in 163 innings pitched.

SLUGGING FOR EXTRA BASES
CSUB has already accumulated 101 extra base hits through its first 40 games of the season, good for an average of 2.53 per game. Bakersfield has at least one extra base hit in 39 of their 40 games, and at least two in 30 contests. The 'Runners already have their third-highest single-season home run total and are just four doubles shy of cracking the single-season top-ten in that category.

MILLER TIME
CSUB right fielder AJ Miller delivered a home run in each game of the the CSUN series, with all three either tying the score or putting the 'Runners in the lead. Miller now has nine home runs, the second-highest single-season total in program history. He's tied with former slugger Martin Medina, who belted nine during the 2011 campaign. Medina also holds single season and career records for home runs with 12 during the 2010 season and 29 in his CSUB tenure.

ACOSTA DOING BUSINESS
After having his start pushed back to Sunday, right-handed pitcher Jaykob Acosta delivered a career long performance in a narrow loss to CSUN. Acosta worked 7.0 innings, scattering five hits and four walks and allowing just a pair of earned runs. He ranks 5th in the Big West Conference in earned run average (3.11) and 7th in batting average against (.241) over 55.0 innings.

SAVING GRACE
Ryan Verdugo has quickly and quietly developed into on of CSUB's most dependable bullpen arms. Verdugo has posted a 4.66 ERA this season, including just three earned runs in his last 10.1 innings of action. Verdugo worked 3.1 innings last Saturday against CSUN, picking up his second win of the year to go with three saves.

CAREER YEAR
Not to be outdone, Bakersfield graduate student Kevin Altamirano has posted the best earned run average of his Roadrunner career this season with his team-leading mark of 2.12. Altamirano has fanned 19 batters in 17.2 innings pitched and limited opposing hitters to a .242 average.Altamirano pitched just 14.0 combined innings during the 2020 and 2021 campaigns.

A GRAND OLE TIME
Andrew Allanson became the first player in CSUB history to hit a pair of grand slams in a single game, and drove in a program record eight RBI in a loss to Pepperdine. Allanson hit one grand slam from each side of the plate, a feat accomplished just once in MLB history (Bill Mueller, Red Sox, 2003). He has 7 home runs in 2022, tied for the fifth most in CSUB single-season history. He needs one more to move into a T-3rd and two more to move into a T-2nd. Martin Medina holds the `Runner record with 12 in 2010.

BIG WEST SLUGGERS
CSUB centerfielder Jashia Morrissey was named Big West Player of the Week on Monday, Mar. 21, after a standout performance in a series sweep of UC Riverside. Morrissey was 6-for-8, with five walks, a triple, a home run, five runs scored and four RBI. Andrew Allanson made it consecutive weekly honors for Roadrunner sluggers, when he captured the Player of the Week award on Mar. 28. Allanson started his week with a pair of grand slams and eight RBI against Pepperdine, before homering three more times and driving in eight more in a series split with Utah Valley.

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. Nine 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.

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)...

• Cal Poly: Cal Poly has lost six-straight games, including a series sweep last weekend at home against league-leading UC Santa Barbara and a Tuesday night loss to Fresno State. The Mustangs are now 24-20 overall and second in the Big West with an 11-7 league mark. CP is led by standout draft prospect, shortstop Brooks Lee, who leads the team with a .364 average, 19 doubles, nine home runs and 40 runs driven in. The Mustangs are hitting .237 as a team 91 doubles and 33 homers. RHP Drew Thorpe is a Big West Pitcher of the Year candidate, sporting a 2.57 ERA and a .173 average against.

LAST TIME OUT...

The Roadrunners hedropped a hard-fought series at CSUN that saw all three games decided by just a single run. Bakersfield blew a late lead on Friday, before holding on for an 8-7 on Saturday afternoon to set up a Sunday rubbermatch. Starter Jaykob Acosta gave the 'Runners a career long 7.0 innings pitched and AJ Miller tied the game in the top of the ninth inning with a leadoff home run, but CSUN walked off in the bottom half with a line drive home run from Mason Le, taking the game and the series. 

2022 Overall Statistics


NEXT WEEK...

Bakersfield returns home to the friendly confines of Kern County, welcoming Long Beach State to Hardt Field for the first time as conference rivals for a crucial three-game Big West series to kick off the stretch run. The Dirtbags are 18-25 on the year, with a 7-11 league mark resting them two games behind CSUB with 12 to play. The Long Beach State series is sponsored by Dignity Health, with tickets available for purchase on GoRunners.com/tickets. The first 250 fans through the gates for Saturday's game will receive series four of CSUB's 2022 Player Card Giveaway.