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Arthur Smith

Baseball Written by James Tsitakis-Cecil

CSUB Baseball Opens Big West Competition at UCSB

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – After a historical start to the 2023 season, the Cal State Bakersfield baseball team has recently come up against heavy competition, facing off against two incredibly tough opponents in Stanford and Ohio State. The Roadrunners will be looking for a return to winning during their Big West opener at UC Santa Barbara before hosting Pacific for a single game next week.

This Weekend's Schedule:
  • at UC Santa Barbara
    • Friday, Mar. 17, 5:05 p.m.
    • Saturday, Mar. 18, 4:05 p.m.
    • Sunday, Mar. 19, 1:05 p.m.
  • vs Pacific
    • Monday, Mar. 20, 1:05 p.m.
`Runner Notes
  • CSUB is currently attempting to break a six-game losing streak after dropping series sweeps to No. 2 Stanford and a very good Ohio State squad.
  • Ryan Verdugo and Jeter Schuerman, CSUB's best starting pitchers, were unable to start after repeated delays due to the weather, hampering the team's pitching ability, needing to dig deeper into the rotation.
  • Despite rough moments during the series against the Buckeyes, Konnor Palmeira experienced a breakout. He batted a .455 average with 5 hits through the series.
  • Nick Salas is one of the NCAA's best at getting in scoring position, sitting at 14 walks over 15 games while leading the team in runs, crossing the plate 15 times so far this season.
  • UCSB is the conference opener, and more importantly a chance for the `Runners to get their first win in six years against the powerhouse Gauchos, as well as the first win in the last six games this season.
  • Cal State Bakersfield vs Pacific is quite an even matchup, with CSUB being down just one game in the all-time series. The `Runner pitching will need to be strong against Pacific's consistent bats.
Scouting the Gauchos
  • UC Santa Barbara (12-3, 0-0 BW) is led by eleventh-year Head Coach Andrew Checketts.
  • Sitting at 13th in NCAA D1 with a 2.84 team ERA and 17th with a 1.18 WHIP, UCSB is one of the toughest teams to find hits against.
  • The Gauchos also boast strong bats, with Ivan Brethowr and Aaron Parker both having five homers apiece, while Zander Darby is sitting at 8th in Division I with 8 doubles on the year.
  • These two foes closed out conference play in the final regular season series last year, with UC Santa Barbara sweeping the series across three games.
  • James Bell and AJ Miller had hits in each game, with Miller tying CSUB's single-season home runs mark in the final matchup of the series.
  • The 'Runners have dropped the last twelve contests against the Gauchos, with their last win coming during a single-game series in 2017 when CSUB was still in the WAC.
Scouting the Tigers
  • Pacific (5-8, 0-0 WCC) is led by third-year Head Coach Chris Rodriguez.
  • The Tigers have experienced a tough opening to the season, facing continual strong competition after beginning March with a 1-5 record. Since then, they swept New Mexico State and took one game against CSUN.
  • Despite the start, Pacific had a team batting average of .302, good for 55th in Division I, with the team being led by Ben Nemivant who has the 11th best individual average (.480). The team has four regular starters above .300 BA at the moment.
  • The first series between these foes was back in 2009, and they did not play again until twelve years later in 2021, in which the teams split a four-game series. This will be the third straight year that they have played.
  • Last season, Bakersfield took the first one of the three-game away series, but Pacific rallied for a close one-run win in the second before taking the third in a 10-7 hitting dual.
  • Through the series, James Bell had three RBI and Nick Salas put together an all-around effort with two hits, two RBI, and two walks. Bell and AJ Miller both hit home runs during the first game win.
How to Follow the `Runners
~GoRunners.com~
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Players Mentioned

James Bell

#19 James Bell

C/OF
6' 1"
Senior
R/R
AJ Miller

#10 AJ Miller

OF/1B
6' 2"
Senior
L/L
Nick Salas

#11 Nick Salas

INF
5' 9"
Junior
R/R
Ryan Verdugo

#46 Ryan Verdugo

RHP
6' 2"
Sophomore
R/R
Konnor Palmeira

#9 Konnor Palmeira

UT
Junior
R/R
Jeter Schuerman

#32 Jeter Schuerman

RHP
6' 1"
Sophomore
R/R

Players Mentioned

James Bell

#19 James Bell

6' 1"
Senior
R/R
C/OF
AJ Miller

#10 AJ Miller

6' 2"
Senior
L/L
OF/1B
Nick Salas

#11 Nick Salas

5' 9"
Junior
R/R
INF
Ryan Verdugo

#46 Ryan Verdugo

6' 2"
Sophomore
R/R
RHP
Konnor Palmeira

#9 Konnor Palmeira

Junior
R/R
UT
Jeter Schuerman

#32 Jeter Schuerman

6' 1"
Sophomore
R/R
RHP
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