BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – Fueled by three home runs and strong pitching, the Cal State Bakersfield baseball team evened its Big West-opening series with Cal State Fullerton Saturday night at Hardt Field. The Roadrunners raced past the Titans for a 9-3 victory, setting up a Sunday rubber match to decide the series.

CSUB broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the third inning on Evan Cloyd's team-high fourth homer of the season. The `Runners extended their lead to 4-1 the next inning when Nick Mascaro sent a pitch over the wall. With CSUB leading 4-3 in the sixth, Kanoa Morisaki's two-run blast was part of a five-run inning that saw Bakersfield pull ahead 9-3.

Shane McAlinden got the start on the mound, pitching 5 complete innings while allowing three runs and striking out four batters. His solid outing set up an opportunity for the `Runner bullpen to deliver, and it did just that, with Payton Pudenz (1 IP), Jeter Schuerman (1 IP), and Joe O'Regan (2 IP) combining for four scoreless inning to close the game.

Sunday's series finale kicks off at 1 p.m. (PT) at Hardt Field. Tickets are available online at GoRunners.com/Tickets, but kids 12 and under get free admission on Sundays and they can stick around to run the bases after the game as well.

~ GoRunners.com ~