ST. GEORGE, Utah --Â With how challenging its schedule has been, it has become a common statement but one that is now truer than ever. California Baptist University is entering its most important series of the season, as it ends its season-long, 12-game homestand with a trip to St. George, UT. The Red Storm is not only the hottest team in the PacWest with a 12-game winning streak and just one conference loss, but the NCAA Division II West Region after it jumped to No. 1 in the NCBWA region rankings Monday.
For the third week in a row, a Lancer received a PacWest Player of the Week award Monday with Brian Ruhm being named the conference Newcomer of the Week. The sophomore UC Davis transfer batted .500 (5-for-10) in the team's four-game sweep of Hawaii Hilo. He had four runs batted in, two doubles and a .700 slugging percentage on the week. It is the fourth PacWest weekly honor for CBU. Nathan Antoun was named the player of the week last week, while Jeremy McDonald and Tyson Miller have reaped conference Pitcher of the Week honors, as well. Â SERIES NOTESDixie State took over the series lead against CBU by winning three of four games at James W. Totman Stadium last season. The Lancers had the last laugh, though, ending the Red Storm's season with a 5-2 win during the 2014 NCAA Division II West Regional at UC San Diego. The last time the Lancers visited St. George they split the four-game set. DSU owns the longest winning streak in the series at four games starting in 2008 when the series first began. After CBU won the first game of the series, the Red Storm won four straight from 2008 to 2010. In 2012, the Lancers won three-straight games in a series.Â
A LOOK AT THE RED STORMDixie State is a top-10 defensive team in NCAA Division II, with its .975 fielding percentage ranking 10th in the division overall. The Red Storm are also the No. 1 team in the nation in sacrifice bunts, with 48 on the year, and sixth in sacrifice flies (24). Pitching wise, DSU ranks 14th in shutouts (4), 20th in WHIP (1.26), 21st in walks allowed per nine innings (2.73) and 29th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.63). Drew McLaughlin is No. 1 in the nation in sacrifice bunts (15) and sac bunts in a game (0.48). Red Storm closer Evan Parker ranks seventh in the nation in save, with eight on the year, a 1.80 ERA and .214 opposing batting average in 15 appearances. There is a lot of depth in Dixie State's pitching rotation, as Dylan File (2.27 ERA, five starts), Aaron Pope (2.52 ERA, seven starts), Tanner Howell (2.83 ERA, four starts), John Conquy (3.04 ERA, four starts) and Chance Abrath (3.51 ERA, four starts) each hold ERAs under 4.00 this year. Offensively, Tanner Morache (.392), Yuto Kata (.365), Kline (.352), McLaughlin (.327) and Donald Glover (.316) are all starters hitting over .300. PACWEST STANDINGSAs of 4/8/15| School | Conference Record | Overall Record | Streak |
| Dixie State | 19-1 | 24-8 | W12 |
| Point Loma | 16-4 | 29-7 | W16 |
| California Baptist | 12-4 | 20-14 | W6 |
| Azusa Pacific | 14-6 | 24-10 | L2 |
| Fresno Pacific | 8-12 | 20-14 | L6 |
| Hawaii Pacific | 9-15 | 13-18 | W1 |
| Holy Names | 6-14 | 15-21 | W2 |
| Academy of Art | 4-16 | 6-27 | L2 |
| Hawaii Hilo | 4-20 | 6-25 | L10 |
PLAYOFF PICTUREComing into the week, California Baptist University moved up in the top-10 NCAA Division II West Region rankings released by the NCBWA. With the Lancers sweep of Hawaii Hilo, they jumped from ninth to seventh in the unofficial poll. The Lancers trail Cal State L.A., which is tied for fifth in the poll, despite having won two of three of the Golden Eagles to open the year. Still, CBU has a chance to move way up with a good showing against Dixie State, the top-ranked team in the regional poll. The Lancers also have series left against Point Loma (4th) and Azusa Pacific (5th) to continue their push for their 11th playoff appearance in 12 seasons. RECORD WATCHQuite a bit of history was made by CBU in 2014 -- a program-best winning streak (24 games) after the team won its first 15 games of the year and last nine of 2013.
Gary Adcock also won his 400th win with the program and
Trevor Oaks became the new career leader in ERA (1.68) when he was drafted in the seventh round by the Los Angeles Dodgers after one season at CBU. More history is set to be made in 2015, with
Andy Crowley and
David Herd in position to do so at the plate and on the mound, respectively. Â Crowley is 135 at-bats, 42 runs, 35 hits and five triples shy of being the all-time record holder in those categories. Herd is seven wins, five complete games and less than 90 innings pitched away from history.
MULTIMEDIAVideo and live stat coverage will be provided by Dixie State for this week's series. The Red Storm charges $7.95 for video coverage through Southern Utah Live of each game, while offering free live stats on its website. FULL GAME NOTES
