California Baptist University
37-15, 29-7
Grand Canyon
36-19-1, 29-7
Baseball Locks Up Share of WAC Regular Season Championship In Second-Straight Opportunity
5/22/2021 4:15:00 PM | Baseball
PHOENIX – California Baptist University baseball made history in more ways than one in its Western Athletic Conference season finale at Grand Canyon on Saturday.
The Lancers defeated the 29th-ranked Lopes 6-1 at Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark to clinch themselves a share of the regular-season WAC title for the second opportunity in a row. John Glenn also became CBU's all-time leader for runs batted in to add to the historic day.
Lancer Nation, we did it. 🏆#LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/VyMYL9dYBy
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) May 22, 2021
CBU has now finished atop the league standings in both of its seasons in the WAC where conference play took place. The Lancers won a share of the regular-season crown on the final day of the season in 2019, as well, and conference competition was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
BACK-TO-BACK. 🏆#LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/B7wDmMoMR0
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) May 22, 2021
All WAC season long, the Lancers never lost a conference series in 2021. CBU swept five of its four-game series, won another and split three others.
It gives the Lancers a 37-15 overall record and 29-7 mark in conference play. It snaps GCU's seven consecutive wins in the WAC this season, as the Lopes end the regular season at 36-19, 29-7 to share the conference title with CBU.
🚨 𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗗 🚨
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) May 22, 2021
John Glenn just became CBU's new career RBI leader with #️⃣1️⃣8️⃣7️⃣❗️He is the first Lancer to break an all-time record on offense since 2016. #LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/XqENK9n6I9
Glenn picked up two RBI in the game, with a sacrifice fly and a no-doubt solo homer on Saturday. The Lancers outhit the Lopes 10-7 on the day. Ulises Caballero (3-for-4) had a team-high three hits and matched Glenn with two RBI. Mitchel Simon also went 2-for-4 with an RBI and run scored.
Jacob McCarvel earned the win on the mound with an epic relief appearance. He came on in relief after one out in the top of the first. He threw seven incredible innings and was not charged with a run, as he limited GCU to five hits, no walks and struck out three. It shattered his previous longest career appearance was 3.2 innings last weekend in New Mexico.
HOW ABOUT JACOB MCCARVEL⁉️
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) May 22, 2021
He throws seven innings in relief and is charged with just five hits, no runs, no walks and three strikeouts.
It shatters the previous longest pitching appearance of his career, which was 3.2 innings last week in New Mexico.#LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/bcZhIx7ver
GLENN BECOMES ALL-TIME RBI LEADER
Glenn came into the game tied with Aaron Seuss (2005-07) for CBU's all-time career record for runs batted in, with 186. He broke that tie Saturday to become the first Lancer to break a major career offensive record since 2016.
We proudly name this 𝑱𝒐𝒉𝒏 𝑮𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒏 𝑫𝒂𝒚
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) May 22, 2021
The senior picks up career RBI #️⃣1️⃣8️⃣8️⃣ with home run #️⃣3️⃣0️⃣‼️#LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/ExpxYv39fB
After having his senior season cut short in 2020, Glenn returned for another run with the Lancers and was looking to set as much history as possible before his career comes to a close. He is not far off two other all-time records, as he ranks second in program history with 844 at-bats (24 off the lead) and 413 total bases (13 off the lead).
The first baseman also ranks third in hits (274), seventh in doubles (46), eighth in home runs (30) all time all time. In the NCAA era, Glenn is the career leader in hits, RBI, doubles, total bases, at-bats, games played (224) and games started (214) and ranks second in homers and runs (142).
WHERE THE TRANSITION RANKS
Saturday's win gave CBU the most victories of a team in its second full NCAA Division I season out of 49 teams that have made the move since 1998. The Lancers 37 wins surpass Florida Gulf Coast for that honor, as the Eagles previously held that mark after their 36-18 season in 2009.
Thirty-seven wins are a new single-season high for CBU in the D-I era after it won 35 games in its 2019 debut season. The Lancers have gone 72-35 in their first two full D-I seasons (2019 and 2021), which are the third most wins by a program in its first two full D-I seasons.
Dallas Baptist (76-39) and Florida Gulf Coast (74-33) are the only two teams with more wins through their first two full Division I campaigns out of 49 teams who have made the move to D-I since 1998.
CBU went 35-20 and won a share of the WAC title in its first Division I season in 2019 and had the 2020 campaign cut short after 15 games due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Lancers' 35 wins ranked third for a first-first year D-I program.
PLAY-BY-PLAY
GCU got on the board in the bottom of the first but the early move to the bullpen for McCarvel limited the damage and paid off big time for Coach Gary Adcock.
McCarvel was called upon with two runners in scoring position and one out in the first and held the Lopes to just the one run.
CBU went on to score five-straight runs. The Lancers got their offense cooking and took a 2-1 lead in the third inning. Singles from Caballero, Simon and a walk to Marty Munoz loaded the bases with no outs.
Damon Keith drove in the Lancers' first run with a groundout to third and Glenn gave CBU the 2-1 lead with a sacrifice fly to center field.
Mitchel Simon things 🤷♂️
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) May 22, 2021
Give the man a 6⃣ game hitting streak, 6⃣ hits and 3⃣ RBI this weekend
#LanceUp⚔ pic.twitter.com/5tUKvcBjDJ
Two more CBU runs scored in the fourth. A Harrison Spohn single and error put two on with no outs. Consecutive RBI singles from Caballero and Simon gave the Lancers a 4-1 cushion.
Glenn may have broken the career RBI record with his 187th on the sacrifice fly in the third, but he wasn't done yet. The senior crushed a no-doubt homer in the fifth to give CBU a 5-1 advantage. The Lancers capped the scoring with another insurance run on Caballero's second RBI single of the game in the eighth inning.
Ulises Caballero is having himself a day, picking up his third hit and second RBI by any means necessary.#LanceUp⚔ pic.twitter.com/CgXfyBIGXF
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) May 22, 2021
UP NEXT
The Lancers will close out their season with a Crosstown Showdown, as they will play UC Riverside in a four-game, home-away series starting next Thursday, May 27 at 6 p.m. at the Riverside Sports Complex.
CBU will host games two and three in a doubleheader Friday starting at 3 p.m. at Totman Stadium, which will also serve as Senior Day. The finale will be played back at the Highlander's home field Saturday at 6 p.m.
Championship gear available now exclusively at https://t.co/99eC2KmHSS!
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) May 23, 2021
🛍 https://t.co/QounXlmz1L#LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/4FDrl81tWH
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: McCarvel, Jacob (5-1)
L: Barnes, Zach (5-6)
Batting:
HR: Glenn, John 1
RBI: Keith, Damon 1 ; Glenn, John 2 ; Caballero, Ulises 2 ; Simon, Mitchel 1
SH: Clift, Connor 1
SF: Glenn, John 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Glenn, John 1 ; Castillo, Chad 1 ; Spohn, Harrison 1 ; Plaia, Nick 1 ; Caballero, Ulises 1 ; Simon, Mitchel 1
Batting:
2B: Wilson, Jacob 1
RBI: Buries, Elijah 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Ortiz, Channy 1
CS: Buries, Elijah 1
