UCF Black & Gold Classic

• The Roadrunners opened the 2025 season in Orlando, Florida taking on NC State, UCF, James Madison, Illinois, #12 Georgia
• Bakersfield displayed a competitiveness that we did not see last season.
  • CSUB dropped game one versus NC State by a score of 3-2, they took a 2-2 tie with a leadoff home run to open the 7th inning
  • Bakersfield beat James Madison 2-0 for their first win of the year and holding JMU to just two hits
    • Maalia Cherry and Hannah Garcia both had RBI singles to left field
    • JMU was a 31-win team last season finishing 69th in RPI and just four years removed from their College World Series appearance; they were picked to finish fifth in the Sun Belt Conference
  • CSUB took on Illinois and was down 3-2 till the Fighting Illini rallied for a five-run fifth inning
  • The `Runners matched up with Illinois again the next day and shut them out 4-0
    • A Maalia Cherry double and Logan-Ray Gaspar triple gave the Roadrunners and early 1-0 lead, followed by a Kaia Johnson single to left field to plate Gaspar making it 2-0
    • The win over Illinois was Bakersfield’s first victory over a B1G team since 2010 (Iowa) and their first win over a power five team since 2013 (Oregon State)
  • CSUB went down early 1-0 to the Bulldogs
    • Kaia Johnson doubled in the top of the second inning moving Karissa Munsey to third, but Bakersfield would leave the bases loaded
    • Maya Ramirez was relieved after four innings holding the Bulldogs two runs with two runners on when she departed
    • Georgia broke the game open in the fifth inning, plating six runs to end the game via the run rule
• Junior transfer Bailee Bustos was stellar over the weekend giving up just one run in 22.1 innings of work
  • Bustos became the first Roadrunner to pitch a complete game shutout in their first start
  • She sports a 0.31 ERA through four appearances and two starts as well as tossing two complete games, both being shutouts
• Kaia Johnson picked up right where she left off in 2024, going a perfect 4-for-4 when stealing and wrapping up the weekend with a .364 batting average (5-for-12) with an RBI, a run, and a double versus #12 Georgia

• Cal State Bakersfield hosted the first of four-straight home wrestling duals on Sunday, Feb. 9, welcoming Air Force to the Icardo Center.
• CSUB has returned to national recognition with four `Runners recently recognized by FloWrestling in the national rankings at some point this season: Richard Castro-Sandoval (125), Gerrit Nijenhuis (174), AJ Ferrari (197), and Jake Andrews (32).
• FloWrestling ranked Cal State Bakersfield #25 as a team coming into this weekend while InterMat had the Roadrunners at #27.
• Former NCAA Champion AJ Ferrari is ranked the #13 Pound-for-Pound wrestler in the country by FloWrestling, which also ranks him #3 in the 197-pound weight class. InterMat and The Open Mat agree on the #3 ranking.
• Ferrari is a perfect 12-0 on the season and has won 32-straight collegiate matches.
• Bakersfield native Jake Andrews is now 18-2 on the season. The `Runner heavyweight won the Pac-12 Wrestler of the Week honor on Nov. 26 and he is nationally ranked as high as #18 (The Open Mat).
• Senior Gerrit Nijenhuis (184) earned his fourth win against ranked opponents this year. 
   

CSUB vs. Air Force

• The Roadrunners were shorthanded for the second-straight week as #3 AJ Ferrari was unavailable to compete in the 197-pound bout due to injury.
• CSUB found itself facing an early deficit, trailing Air Force 17-3 at the midway point.
• Richard Castro-Sandoval (125) opened the match with a 6-3 decision over Nico Tocci.
• Bakersfield's 125-pounder has now won 6 of his last 7 matches.
• CSUB got back in the win column when Guillermo Escobedo (165) earned a 4-2 decision over Logan Fowler.
• An Air Force Tech Fall at 174 pounds all but sealed the match for the Falcons, who led 24-6 at that point.
• Gerrit Nijenhuis (184) posted a thrilling victory, earning the bout-winning takedown with 5 seconds remaining.
• His 6-5 win over #31 Gage Musser was Nijenhuis' fourth against a ranked foe this season.
• Jake Andrews (285) closed out the match with another nailbiter, posting a 4-1 sudden victory against Antonio Ramos.
• Andrews improved to 18-2 on the season and is 4-0 in bouts that have gone to overtime.
• The `Runners will be home for the remainder of February, hosting three more events in a busy month.
• Join the `Runners for their next home dual, Feb. 16, a tri-dual against North Dakota State and Little Rock. Get your tickets now at GoRunners.com/Tickets
• Schedule & Linkss

• Bakersfield’s losing streak continues, dropping both games this week
  • Both losses were by six points or less
• CJ Hardy led the `Runners in scoring this week with 39 points total
• The Roadrunners offense continues to score at a high rate averaging 74.1 points per game
  • Still the highest average by a Roadrunner squad since 2015-16 (72.9 PPG)

UCSB 81, CSUB 75

• The Roadrunners lost their third straight at home
  • During this four-game losing streak CSUB has dropped three games by nine points or less
• CJ Hardy finished the game with 19 points (7-10 FG, 3-4 3FG) while adding two steals and three rebounds to his final line
  • Jemel Jones and Corey Stephenson both scored in double figures on the night as well with 16 and 12 points each
• UC Santa Barbara shot an impressive 71.4% on the night and scoring 32 points in the paint
• Bakersfield forced the Gauchos to commit 16 turnovers which translated into 21 points
• The Roadrunners had a season low 20 rebounds on the night

CSUB 64, UCR 69

• Bakersfield went back on the road to take on the UC Riverside Highlanders
  • The two teams met just two weeks ago, where UCR snuck out of the Icardo with a four-point victory
• CJ Hardy led the Roadrunners with 20 points and grabbed seven rebounds
  • Was a perfect 5-5 from the free throw line
• UCR took their first lead of the game in the second; their largest lead was 7 points with just under two minutes to go in the game
• Hardy was fouled at the three-point line with 1:43 left and knocked down all three attempts to cut the Riverside lead to 63-59
• Jemel Jones then nailed a three-point field goal with 1:26 left to play making it just a one-point ball game
• The Roadrunners struggled in the second half, being outscored 33-23 and shooting 31% from the field
  • UCR’s bench came up big for them scoring 23 points in the second half

The Cal State Women’s Basketball team earned their first victory of the season in the Icardo Center, defeating UC Riverside in a thrilling game. The win came during Alumni Weekend, with a passionate crowd showing strong support for the Roadrunners. Marley Langi led the charge, setting a career-high with 23 points to propel CSUB to victory.

CSUB 40, UC Santa Barbara 51
• Bakersfield took an early lead to start the Big West weekend, dominating the first quarter with a ten-point advantage at multiple points.
• The team shot 41.18% in the first half, maintaining their lead through the second quarter.
• However, UC Santa Barbara began to mount a comeback in the second half.
• Melissa Secchiaroli continued her strong performance, leading the Roadrunners in points with 13.
• Ary Dizon contributed 12 points, seven rebounds, three blocks, and a steal, rounding out a solid individual effort.
• Despite their early success, Bakersfield struggled in the second half, scoring fewer than 10 points in both the third and fourth quarters, ultimately falling short.

CSUB 63, UC Riverside 58

• After trailing by just four points in the first quarter, the Roadrunners found themselves down by eight at halftime.
• By the half, CSUB picked up 18 more points, still down.
• Bakersfield had one of their best third quarter performance, scoring 24 points.
• The team came alive in the second half, outscoring the Highlanders 41-25 to claim a 63-58 victory.
• Marley Langi starred in the comeback, registering a career-high 23 points to lead CSUB to their first home win of the year.
• The redshirt junior guard shot 6-of-12 from the field, including 5-of-8 from three-point range, while also contributing five rebounds and four assists.
• Veterans Taylor Caldwell and Ary Dizon also played key roles in the win. Caldwell posted 10 points, seven rebounds, and four assists, while Dizon added 16 points, one rebound, and four assists.
• The well-rounded team effort secured the Roadrunners’ first Big West victory of the season at home.

CSUB @ UCR Soboba Spring Classic

• Bakersfield opened up the second half of their season in UCR’s Soboba Spring Classic
• The Roadrunners faced off against host UC Riverside, UC Irvine, CSUN, Cal State Fullerton, British Columbia, and Eastern Washington
• Nicole Whipple led the Roadrunners after round one, finishing with a 76 (+4) and then Iris Han improved by six strokes on day two with a 71 (-1)
• Through two rounds, Han found herself sitting just outside the top 10 at 13th on the leaderboard
  • She also was tied for second for most birdies through two rounds (8)
• Sarah Mutai was consistent over the weekend finding herself sitting in the mid 70s shooting all three rounds
  • She paced the `Runners over the 54-hole tournament with a score of 228 (+12), tying for 17th overall
• Bakersfield placed sixth of seven teams, closing out the weekend eight strokes ahead of Eastern Washington with a team total of 930 strokes