Thursday, April 1
Edinburg, Texas
4 PM
California Baptist University
at
UT Rio Grande Valley
BASE PREVIEW: CBU Takes Its Undefeated WAC Record on the Road for the First Time in 2021 For Series at UTRGV
3/30/2021 9:06:00 AM | Baseball
EDINBURG – California Baptist University baseball will take its undefeated Western Athletic Conference record on the road for the first time this season for a four-game series at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.
The Lancers come into the week in first place in the WAC standings at 15-6 overall and 8-0 in the conference. CBU has won 13 of its last 15 games and is coming off series sweeps at home over Northern Colorado and Tarleton State in conference play.
The Vaqueros are 12-12, 4-4 in the WAC for fifth place in the league standings. UTRGV last dropped a tightly-contest series on the road Dallas Baptist. This will be its first home WAC series of the year. The Vaqueros opened conference competition with series splits on the road at Grand Canyon and Dixie State.
UTRGV got the series win the first time it faced CBU back in Edinburg in 2019. The Lancers won the series opener, 6-3, but the Vaqueros won the final two games on scores of 9-1 and 7-3. It was one of two WAC series CBU did not win in 2019, with the other being a home set with Sacramento State.
GLENN NAMED WAC HITTER OF THE WEEK
John Glenn was named the Western Athletic Conference Hitter of the Week after a strong series for in CBU's home sweep of Tarleton State. It is the second-ever WAC Hitter of the Week award for the Lancers after Nick Plaia secured the first in program history on March 20, 2020.
Glenn hit .357 (5-for-14) and slugged .786 with two home runs, eight runs batted in and three runs scored on the week. His best game came in the series opener when he went 2-for-4 with three RBI, two runs scored and homered. It brought his season batting average to .291, his slugging percentage to .494 and his RBI total to 18 RBI on the year.
BURICA'S BRINGING IT
Chris Burica has been on an incredible run of late, as he settles into the role of CBU's ace pitcher. He has thrown at least through the seventh inning in his last five starts, and recorded the Lancers' first complete-game shutout of the NCAA Division I era two weeks ago at Cal.
He's won his last four starts to improve his season record to 4-1. He ranks first in the WAC with 42.1 innings pitched, which is 3.1 more than the next conference pitcher. His four wins this season are also in a six-way tie for the WAC lead with Sacramento State's Scott Randall and Brady Rodriguez, UTRGV's Colten Davis, NM State's Chris Jefferson, Grand Canyon's Carter Young. His 39 strikeouts this season rank fourth in the conference.
This most recent outing lowered his season ERA to 2.34, his WHIP to 0.85 and his opposing batting average to .200. His 10 strikeouts against Tarleton State last Friday were six off the Lancers' modern-era record and three off the Division I era record.
CULPEPPER'S RECORD PACE
Closer CJ Culpepper ran his season saves total to seven, with two saves in the series with Tarleton State. It is tied for the NCAA Division I record this season, with Southern Miss' Garrett Ramsey, Miami's Carson Palmquist and Stanford's Zach Grech. He is already tied for the fourth most in any CBU season, and just three off the season record of 10 set by Charlie Eckenrod in 2001. Caleb Dirks holds the Lancers' NCAA-era record for saves in a season at eight from back in 2014.
SERIES INFORMATION
Opponent: The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Dates/Times: Thursday, April 1 (4 p.m.); Friday, April 2 (11 a.m.); Saturday, April 3 (10 a.m.)
Location: Edinburg, Texas (UTRGV Baseball Stadium)
Live Stats: Sidearm
Video: WAC Digital Network – Game 1 | Games 2-3 | Game 4
UTRGV AT A GLANCE
The Vaqueros are .500 across the board (12-12, 4-4) but have played a tough schedule this year, with three games against Baylor, four-game series at the University of Washington, Dallas Baptist and a one-off game against 10th-ranked Texas. UTRGV won two of three games against Baylor and got a win against Washington and DBU.
UT Rio Grande Valley has been led by its offense so far, as it comes into this week hitting .271 and slugging .418. As a pitching staff, the Vaqueros have a 5.16 ERA, 1.62 WHIP and .272 opposing batting average. Defensively, the team has maintained a .960 fielding percentage but may have a weakness at catcher. The Vaqueros have given up 48 stolen bases on 56 attempts, while only managing to steal eight bases on 16 ties themselves.
Freddy Rojas Jr. and Christian Sepulveda come in leading the offense. Rojas has been named a Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week the last two weeks. He comes in hitting a team-high .370 (20-for-54) and slugging .796 with six homers, five doubles, 15 RBI and 11 runs scored. He ranks fourth in the WAC in batting average and third in home runs.
Sepulveda has played and started every game so far and is batting .359 (28-78) with a team-high 18 RBI. Diego Ramirez (.340) and RJ Ochoa (.326) are also hitting over .320 this year.
Starting pitching has been a strength for UTRGV, as well, this season. Kevin Stevens (4.59 ERA, 1.29 WHIP) is scheduled to start Thursday's game, while Max Balderrama Jr. (3.30, 1.10) will start game two, followed by Colten Davis (2.28, 1.31) and J.C. Ariza (3.23, 1.27). Davis is tied for the WAC lead in wins (four) this year.
The Lancers come into the week in first place in the WAC standings at 15-6 overall and 8-0 in the conference. CBU has won 13 of its last 15 games and is coming off series sweeps at home over Northern Colorado and Tarleton State in conference play.
The Vaqueros are 12-12, 4-4 in the WAC for fifth place in the league standings. UTRGV last dropped a tightly-contest series on the road Dallas Baptist. This will be its first home WAC series of the year. The Vaqueros opened conference competition with series splits on the road at Grand Canyon and Dixie State.
UTRGV got the series win the first time it faced CBU back in Edinburg in 2019. The Lancers won the series opener, 6-3, but the Vaqueros won the final two games on scores of 9-1 and 7-3. It was one of two WAC series CBU did not win in 2019, with the other being a home set with Sacramento State.
GLENN NAMED WAC HITTER OF THE WEEK
John Glenn was named the Western Athletic Conference Hitter of the Week after a strong series for in CBU's home sweep of Tarleton State. It is the second-ever WAC Hitter of the Week award for the Lancers after Nick Plaia secured the first in program history on March 20, 2020.
Glenn hit .357 (5-for-14) and slugged .786 with two home runs, eight runs batted in and three runs scored on the week. His best game came in the series opener when he went 2-for-4 with three RBI, two runs scored and homered. It brought his season batting average to .291, his slugging percentage to .494 and his RBI total to 18 RBI on the year.
BURICA'S BRINGING IT
Chris Burica has been on an incredible run of late, as he settles into the role of CBU's ace pitcher. He has thrown at least through the seventh inning in his last five starts, and recorded the Lancers' first complete-game shutout of the NCAA Division I era two weeks ago at Cal.
He's won his last four starts to improve his season record to 4-1. He ranks first in the WAC with 42.1 innings pitched, which is 3.1 more than the next conference pitcher. His four wins this season are also in a six-way tie for the WAC lead with Sacramento State's Scott Randall and Brady Rodriguez, UTRGV's Colten Davis, NM State's Chris Jefferson, Grand Canyon's Carter Young. His 39 strikeouts this season rank fourth in the conference.
This most recent outing lowered his season ERA to 2.34, his WHIP to 0.85 and his opposing batting average to .200. His 10 strikeouts against Tarleton State last Friday were six off the Lancers' modern-era record and three off the Division I era record.
CULPEPPER'S RECORD PACE
Closer CJ Culpepper ran his season saves total to seven, with two saves in the series with Tarleton State. It is tied for the NCAA Division I record this season, with Southern Miss' Garrett Ramsey, Miami's Carson Palmquist and Stanford's Zach Grech. He is already tied for the fourth most in any CBU season, and just three off the season record of 10 set by Charlie Eckenrod in 2001. Caleb Dirks holds the Lancers' NCAA-era record for saves in a season at eight from back in 2014.
SERIES INFORMATION
Opponent: The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Dates/Times: Thursday, April 1 (4 p.m.); Friday, April 2 (11 a.m.); Saturday, April 3 (10 a.m.)
Location: Edinburg, Texas (UTRGV Baseball Stadium)
Live Stats: Sidearm
Video: WAC Digital Network – Game 1 | Games 2-3 | Game 4
UTRGV AT A GLANCE
The Vaqueros are .500 across the board (12-12, 4-4) but have played a tough schedule this year, with three games against Baylor, four-game series at the University of Washington, Dallas Baptist and a one-off game against 10th-ranked Texas. UTRGV won two of three games against Baylor and got a win against Washington and DBU.
UT Rio Grande Valley has been led by its offense so far, as it comes into this week hitting .271 and slugging .418. As a pitching staff, the Vaqueros have a 5.16 ERA, 1.62 WHIP and .272 opposing batting average. Defensively, the team has maintained a .960 fielding percentage but may have a weakness at catcher. The Vaqueros have given up 48 stolen bases on 56 attempts, while only managing to steal eight bases on 16 ties themselves.
Freddy Rojas Jr. and Christian Sepulveda come in leading the offense. Rojas has been named a Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week the last two weeks. He comes in hitting a team-high .370 (20-for-54) and slugging .796 with six homers, five doubles, 15 RBI and 11 runs scored. He ranks fourth in the WAC in batting average and third in home runs.
Sepulveda has played and started every game so far and is batting .359 (28-78) with a team-high 18 RBI. Diego Ramirez (.340) and RJ Ochoa (.326) are also hitting over .320 this year.
Starting pitching has been a strength for UTRGV, as well, this season. Kevin Stevens (4.59 ERA, 1.29 WHIP) is scheduled to start Thursday's game, while Max Balderrama Jr. (3.30, 1.10) will start game two, followed by Colten Davis (2.28, 1.31) and J.C. Ariza (3.23, 1.27). Davis is tied for the WAC lead in wins (four) this year.
Players Mentioned
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