Lancers Steal PacWest Opener

Friday, March 2

Riverside, Calif.

5:00 PM

California Baptist University

8-3, 1-0

Holy Names

4-6, 0-1

Holy Names

California Baptist

Photo by: Conner Schuh

Lancers Steal PacWest Opener

3/2/2018 8:12:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: Andrew Shortall, Asst. Sports Information Director

RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- Playing through light showers, California Baptist University scored six runs in the seventh and eighth innings to defeat Holy Names 7-4 in both teams' PacWest opener at Totman Stadium on Friday night.

Angel Delgado nailed down the save in the top of the ninth after being summoned out of the bullpen with two Hawks on and one out. The redshirt senior transfer from Riverside City College struck out both batters he faced -- the final one on a 3-2 count -- to end the game.

"My mindset was to keep it small, a single-pitch focus," Delgado said. "Focus on getting the first guy out and then getting the next one."

The 13th-ranked Lancers improve to 8-3, 1-0 in the conference and Holy Names drops to 4-6, 0-1. The four-game series continues with a nine-and-seven-inning doubleheader beginning at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday and then concludes with a 6 p.m. game Monday.

"We are always coming back, we are never giving up," Delgado said. "We have been down in previous games, but we stay up, trust in our pitching to get outs and everyone is behind us."

CBU only had four hits in the game, but took advantage of Holy Names' defense to the tune of three errors and seven stolen bases to secure the win. It ties an NCAA-era (2014-18) high for stolen bases in a game by CBU, as it last stole seven bases versus the Hawks on April 6, 2017.

The Lancers scored the first run of the game in the fifth. Luke Navigato led the offense with three walks, two stolen bases and three runs scored. Billy Rockefeller, Ryan Williams and Andrew Bash all had hits and stolen bases in the win.

The Lancers used a small-ball approach to score the first run of the game in the fifth. Navigato was walked to lead off the inning and then moved to third on a wild pitch and stolen base. Angelo Capolupo scored him with a suicide squeeze bunt.

Holy Names came back and took a 2-1 advantage with a pair of runs in the seventh, but it was a short-lived lead. The Lancers pushed across three runs in the bottom half of the inning on three hits, two of which were infield singles.

Bash started the threat with a one-out double down the left field line. Navigato then drew a walk and a well-executed double steal put both runners in scoring position. A wild pitch scored Bash and a pinch-hit infield single to shortstop from DJ Porter plated Navigato.

Antonio Jimenez came on to run for Porter and then quickly stole second. Rockefeller then chopped an infield single to first base and some heads up base running from Jimenez gave CBU a 4-2 lead going into the eighth.

A scoreless eighth inning on the mound from Jacob McCarvel allowed CBU's offense to build on its lead in the bottom half of the eighth. Ryan Mota coaxed a full-count, two-out walk and then came all the way around to score on a wild pitch and error on the same play.

Consecutive walks to Bash and Navigato had the Lancers threatening right away. Both runners moved into scoring position on a wild pitch and then a rundown gone wrong for the Hawks led to a throwing error and two more CBU runs for a 7-2 lead.

Those insurance runs came in handy, as Holy Names led off the top of the ninth with two singles. Both those runners came around to score, but Delgado nailed down the save when summoned with one out and two on. He struck out the two batters he faced to end the game in CBU's favor.

Justin Montgomery threw the first five innings on the mound for CBU, allowing three hits, three walks and struck out six. Matt Amrhein picked up his first win of the year after retiring his one batter for the final out in the top of the seventh.

Check out CBULancers on Facebook for the full post-game interview with Delgado: