Lancers' Win Ties Them for First in WAC

Thursday, May 16

Las Cruces, N.M.

5:05 PM

California Baptist University

34-19, 18-7

NM State

36-14, 18-7

California Baptist

New Mexico State

Photo by: Andrew Shortall

Lancers' Win Ties Them for First in WAC

5/16/2019 9:33:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: Andrew Shortall, Director of Athletics Communications

LAS CRUCES, N.M. – With two games left in the season, California Baptist University put itself in a tie for first place in the Western Athletic Conference standings with a 5-3 win on the road at New Mexico State.

A three-run first inning and solid pitching performance from three of the Lancers' go-to arms were crucial in the victory over the Aggies, who are the reigning WAC Tournament champions and came into the day alone in first place, at Presley Askew Field.

The Lancers had an 11-8 advantage in hits over NM State, one of the best offenses in the country. Andrew Bash went 3-for-5 with two runs batted in, while Nick Plaia and Ryan Mota both went 2-for-4. Mota was 2-for-4 with two RBI, two runs scored, a double and two-run homer that proved to be the difference in the fifth inning.

Oh, you want a run❓ Here's two❗️

Ryan Mota CRUSHES a two-run homer to left center to increase CBU's lead to 5-1 over NM State in the top of the fifth. Chad Castillo drew a leadoff walk in the inning in which there are now no outs and two on.#LanceUp pic.twitter.com/7o8JVPCvst
— CBU Baseball (@CBUbaseball) May 17, 2019

It was a bend-but-don't-break game from CBU's pitching staff. NM State put runners in scoring position in the five of nine innings, but only scored in two frames. Logan Rinehart, Matt Mogollon and Matt Amrhein combined to hold an Aggies team averaging an NCAA Division I best 11.7 runs a game overall and 13.2 at home to just three.

Rinehart improved to 9-0 on the mound this year, which ranks third in the WAC this year and is tied for the second most in an NCAA-era season at CBU. Amrhein recorded his sixth save of the year, which is top-three in the WAC, by throwing the final 2.1 shutout innings.

👍

Matt Amrhein works a scoreless eighth inning, stranding two Aggies on the bases while facing NM State's 9-1-2-3-4 hitters. He also logged his first strikeout of the inning.#LanceUp pic.twitter.com/w44GmjF24g
— CBU Baseball (@CBUbaseball) May 17, 2019

It was the fewest runs scored by NM State in a home conference game since a 6-2 loss to Sacramento State on March 31, 2018, with 18 games being played since then. Entering tonight's contest, the Aggies were held to three or fewer runs in home conference games just five times since 2016 (48 games played).

CBU improves to 34-19 overall and 18-7 in the WAC, while NMSU drops to 36-14, 18-7. The series continues on Friday at 1:05 p.m., with the series finale scheduled for 11:05 a.m. on Saturday.

The Aggies last won the WAC regular-season title in 2012, but are the reigning WAC Tournament champions and were one of the favorites to win the crown again this year. NMSU is also currently receiving votes in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association's Top-30 rankings.

There is plenty of scoreboard watching going around the WAC in the final week of the regular season. The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley defeated Utah Valley 2-1 on Thursday to improve to 32-19, 17-8 in the WAC. Grand Canyon and Sacramento State's game, which was still going at the conclusion of CBU's, will have a big impact on the chase for the conference title.

A GCU win will put the Lopes in a three-way tie for first with the Lancers and Aggies. A Sacramento State win would create a three-way tie for third place in the league between the Hornets, Lopes and Vaqueros.

CBU got off to a great start on Thursday, with three runs on four hits in the top of the first inning. Luke Navigato led off the game with a single and then a Mota double and walk to John Glenn loaded the bases with one out.

Bash drove in two runs with a bouncer up the middle past a diving shortstop, and then Nick Plaia added another clutch two-out RBI single to make it 3-0.

Here's a look back at Andrew Bash's bases-loaded, two-run single up the middle in the top of the first that got CBU on the board.#LanceUp pic.twitter.com/H3fSoIPDZM
— CBU Baseball (@CBUbaseball) May 17, 2019

Two free passes and a two-out single got NM State a run back in the bottom of the second inning. Mota then stretched the Lancers' lead to four with a two-out homer in the fifth after a leadoff walk to Chad Castillo.

NMSU cut its deficit in half with two runs in the sixth. Mogollon came up big in relief for CBU, coming out of the bullpen with runners and the corners and one out. He struck out the first batter he faced and then left two Aggies in scoring position on a fly ball to right.

Mogollon logged 1.1 scoreless innings, despite a hit and two walks, and struck out two. Amrhein was called upon in a big situation on Thursday, coming on to pitch with two outs and the bases loaded.

Amrhein worked ahead in the count and then got a 2-2 unassisted grounder to third to strand all three runners and keep CBU's 5-3 lead intact. In the eighth, Amrhein retired the first two batters he faced and then worked his way through the heart of the Aggies order to strand two runners on base with a pop-up to first. He gave up a two-out single before shutting the door on the Aggies in the ninth.

📢📢 HUGE WIN 📢📢

CBU defeats New Mexico State, 5-3, in the first game of this @WACsports series to create a two-way tie (for now) in the conference standings. Matt Amrhein records his sixth save of the year by throwing the final two shutout innings.#LanceUp pic.twitter.com/FzTGRNWjCr
— CBU Baseball (@CBUbaseball) May 17, 2019

Rinehart logged his seventh-straight win of the year by limiting the damage of five hits and five walks to just three runs. He also struck out four over 5.1 innings.

Although his streak of six-straight quality starts ended, Rinehart was still solid against the top offense in the WAC and perhaps the best in the country. NM State also came into the game leading all of Division I with a team .363 batting average, 635 hits, .477 on-base percentage and .594 slugging percentage.

CBU's 34 wins this year are tied for the third most by a team in its first season in NCAA Division I out of 40 teams who have made the move since 1998. Dallas Baptist holds the record for wins in its first D-I year at 44 back in 2004, while Florida Gulf Coast is second with 38 back in 2008 and North Florida's 34 in 2006 are tied with the Lancers for third. FGCU is the only first-year program to win a regular season conference championship as they earned the Atlantic Sun title 11 years ago.