Saturday, May 8
Riverside, Calif.
1 PM
California Baptist University
30-12, 18-12
6
vs
1
Sacramento State
27-17, 22-4
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Sacramento State
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
1
6
0
California Baptist
2
0
3
0
0
1
X
6
12
0
Photo by: Andrew Shortall
CBU Sweeps Doubleheader with Sacramento State to Secure 30-Win Season
5/8/2021 8:28:00 PM | Baseball
RIVERSIDE – A doubleheader sweep of Sacramento State kept California Baptist University baseball alone on top of the Western Athletic Conference standings on Saturday. It also secured the Lancers' second-straight 30-plus win season as an NCAA Division I program.
CBU got after the Hornets' ace pitcher to win game one, 6-1, and then pulled out a crazy extra-inning, walk-off win, 7-6, in Saturday's finale at Totman Stadium. The Lancers improve to 31-12 overall and 23-4 in the WAC, while Sac State slides to 27-18, 18-13. The series will come to an end with a noon game on Sunday back at Totman Stadium.
Ulises Caballero was the hero as he delivered a walk-off RBI single in the 10th inning of the final game. He finished the day going 4-for-5 with a double.
John Glenn and Chad Castillo both went 4-for-7 on the day, as well, with Glenn picking up two RBI and scoring twice. Mitchel Simon (3-for-8), Harrison Spohn (3-for-9) and Damon Keith (3-for-9) each had three hits, while Nick Plaia added two more.
Plaia and Keith both had a hit in both games to extend their hitting streaks to 14 games. It's tied with Andy Crowley (2014) for the seventh longest hitting streak in CBU's NCAA era.
WAC STANDINGS UPDATE
Grand Canyon kept pace with CBU by sweeping its home doubleheader with Dixie State on Saturday. It keeps the Lancers a game ahead of the Lopes at 23-4 in conference play, while GCU is 22-5. Sacramento State is still in third place at 18-13.
WHERE CBU'S TRANSITION RANKS
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 out of 49 teams who have made the move to D-I since 1998.
The Lancers' 31 wins this year are tied for the sixth most by a second-year D-I program over that time span. CBU has gone 65-32 in its first two full D-I seasons (2019 and 2021), which are the fourth most wins by a program in its first two full D-I seasons.
GETTING AFTER THE ACE
CBU got to Sacramento State's ace pitcher Scott Randall early and often to secure the game-one win. The Lancers chased Randall, who is a strong candidate for the WAC Pitcher of the Year, after the third inning.
Randall has been one of the best pitchers not only in the WAC but the entire country this year. He came into the game with a 6-1 record, 2.62 ERA and 10.88 strikeouts per nine innings average, with 79 strikeouts to just five walks over 65.1 innings to lead the nation in strikeout-to-walk ratio (15.50).
The Lancers touched up Randall to the tune of eight hits, five earned runs and a walk over his three innings. It was the most runs Randall allowed in a game and the first time he did not make it through the fifth inning this season.
Glenn was a perfect 3-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored, while Chad Castillo was 2-for-2 in game one. Spohn and Keith were both 2-for-4 in the game, with Spohn adding two RBI, as well.
CBU wasted no time with a two-run first inning. Keith led off the inning with a single and Glenn doubled him home. A sacrifice bunt then setup an RBI single from Spohn.
Three more runs came around in the third. Glenn and Castillo got things going with one-out singles, which led into three-straight RBI singles from Spohn, Plaia and Russell Stevenson for a 5-0 lead.
CBU managed to keep Sac State's offense in check in the game. Bryan Pope stranded two runners on base in the first, left the bases loaded in the fourth and Jacob McCarvel held the Hornets to one run in the fifth, as the Lancers left them loaded again in the fifth.
Pope gave the Lancers a good start in game one. He danced out of danger all day and held Sacramento State's strong offense to one run on six hits, three walks and six strikeouts over 4.2 innings.
McCarvel continued his run of dominance and earned his third save of the season and second in as many series. The junior did not allow a base runner and struck out a pair over the final 2.1 innings. It marked the fourth-straight appearance McCarvel has not allowed a base runner.
A WIN WORTH WAITING FOR
Sacramento State jumped out to a 3-0 lead through four innings in game two. The Lancers chipped away at the lead and eventually took a 6-3 lead after scoring twice in the fifth, seventh and eighth innings.
Mitchel Simon led off the fifth inning with a single and a Caballero double put two runners in scoring position with one out. Stevenson landed the big blow of the inning with a pinch-hit, two-run single up the middle to cut the deficit to one run, 3-2.
A two-out rally in the seventh inning gave CBU the lead, 4-3. Garret Ostrander came through in the clutch with a pinch-hit RBI double and Keith scored him with a single down the third base line. A two-run homer from Simon gave the Lancers a 6-3 cushion and they needed every bit of it.
The Hornets took advantage of an error to come all the way back to tie the game in the ninth, 6-6. Matt Amrhein ended the threat as he stranded two runners on base by retiring three of the four batters he faced in relief in the inning.
CBU was unable to score in the ninth, which brought the international tiebreaker rule into play in the 10th. Per conference rule, a runner started the inning on second base. Amrhein stranded him at third thanks to a pair of strikeouts and failed squeeze bunt.
The Lancers loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the 10th, thanks to the international tiebreaker rule, a walk to Plaia and intentional walk to Michael Carpentier. Caballero fell down 0-2 in the final at-bat but then smoked a hot shot down the third base line to score the winning run and end the game.
Amrhein earned the win to improve to 5-0 this season after he gave up just two hits, struck out three and was not charged with a run over the final two innings. William St. Marseille also threw a scoreless 1.2 innings in relief in what was his second collegiate appearance.
CBU got after the Hornets' ace pitcher to win game one, 6-1, and then pulled out a crazy extra-inning, walk-off win, 7-6, in Saturday's finale at Totman Stadium. The Lancers improve to 31-12 overall and 23-4 in the WAC, while Sac State slides to 27-18, 18-13. The series will come to an end with a noon game on Sunday back at Totman Stadium.
Ulises Caballero was the hero as he delivered a walk-off RBI single in the 10th inning of the final game. He finished the day going 4-for-5 with a double.
WALK ME OFF, ULISES CABALLERO‼️#LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/faTtvZtHzC
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) May 9, 2021
John Glenn and Chad Castillo both went 4-for-7 on the day, as well, with Glenn picking up two RBI and scoring twice. Mitchel Simon (3-for-8), Harrison Spohn (3-for-9) and Damon Keith (3-for-9) each had three hits, while Nick Plaia added two more.
Plaia and Keith both had a hit in both games to extend their hitting streaks to 14 games. It's tied with Andy Crowley (2014) for the seventh longest hitting streak in CBU's NCAA era.
WAC STANDINGS UPDATE
Grand Canyon kept pace with CBU by sweeping its home doubleheader with Dixie State on Saturday. It keeps the Lancers a game ahead of the Lopes at 23-4 in conference play, while GCU is 22-5. Sacramento State is still in third place at 18-13.
WHERE CBU'S TRANSITION RANKS
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 out of 49 teams who have made the move to D-I since 1998.
The Lancers' 31 wins this year are tied for the sixth most by a second-year D-I program over that time span. CBU has gone 65-32 in its first two full D-I seasons (2019 and 2021), which are the fourth most wins by a program in its first two full D-I seasons.
GETTING AFTER THE ACE
CBU got to Sacramento State's ace pitcher Scott Randall early and often to secure the game-one win. The Lancers chased Randall, who is a strong candidate for the WAC Pitcher of the Year, after the third inning.
Randall has been one of the best pitchers not only in the WAC but the entire country this year. He came into the game with a 6-1 record, 2.62 ERA and 10.88 strikeouts per nine innings average, with 79 strikeouts to just five walks over 65.1 innings to lead the nation in strikeout-to-walk ratio (15.50).
The Lancers touched up Randall to the tune of eight hits, five earned runs and a walk over his three innings. It was the most runs Randall allowed in a game and the first time he did not make it through the fifth inning this season.
Glenn was a perfect 3-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored, while Chad Castillo was 2-for-2 in game one. Spohn and Keith were both 2-for-4 in the game, with Spohn adding two RBI, as well.
🙌 5-0 CBU 🙌
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) May 8, 2021
RBI singles from Harrison Spohn, Nick Plaia and Russell Stevenson drive in 3️⃣ more Lancer runs. #LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/hVpoyKr1Fd
CBU wasted no time with a two-run first inning. Keith led off the inning with a single and Glenn doubled him home. A sacrifice bunt then setup an RBI single from Spohn.
Three more runs came around in the third. Glenn and Castillo got things going with one-out singles, which led into three-straight RBI singles from Spohn, Plaia and Russell Stevenson for a 5-0 lead.
GETTING GOING EARLY 👏
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) May 8, 2021
It's 2-0 Lancers through one after RBIs from John Glenn and Harrison Spohn.#LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/fwLtdISw5w
CBU managed to keep Sac State's offense in check in the game. Bryan Pope stranded two runners on base in the first, left the bases loaded in the fourth and Jacob McCarvel held the Hornets to one run in the fifth, as the Lancers left them loaded again in the fifth.
Pope gave the Lancers a good start in game one. He danced out of danger all day and held Sacramento State's strong offense to one run on six hits, three walks and six strikeouts over 4.2 innings.
McCarvel continued his run of dominance and earned his third save of the season and second in as many series. The junior did not allow a base runner and struck out a pair over the final 2.1 innings. It marked the fourth-straight appearance McCarvel has not allowed a base runner.
A WIN WORTH WAITING FOR
Sacramento State jumped out to a 3-0 lead through four innings in game two. The Lancers chipped away at the lead and eventually took a 6-3 lead after scoring twice in the fifth, seventh and eighth innings.
Mitchel Simon led off the fifth inning with a single and a Caballero double put two runners in scoring position with one out. Stevenson landed the big blow of the inning with a pinch-hit, two-run single up the middle to cut the deficit to one run, 3-2.
RALLY TIME ⏰
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) May 9, 2021
CBU takes its first lead of the game in the seventh inning, 4-3, on an RBI double from Garret Ostrander and Damon Keith RBI single. #LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/ZWVjR6F3oj
A two-out rally in the seventh inning gave CBU the lead, 4-3. Garret Ostrander came through in the clutch with a pinch-hit RBI double and Keith scored him with a single down the third base line. A two-run homer from Simon gave the Lancers a 6-3 cushion and they needed every bit of it.
CBU HOME RUN CELEBRATIONS ARE ONE OF A KIND 💯 #LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/wvGfWN08Ym
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) May 9, 2021
The Hornets took advantage of an error to come all the way back to tie the game in the ninth, 6-6. Matt Amrhein ended the threat as he stranded two runners on base by retiring three of the four batters he faced in relief in the inning.
CBU was unable to score in the ninth, which brought the international tiebreaker rule into play in the 10th. Per conference rule, a runner started the inning on second base. Amrhein stranded him at third thanks to a pair of strikeouts and failed squeeze bunt.
The Lancers loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the 10th, thanks to the international tiebreaker rule, a walk to Plaia and intentional walk to Michael Carpentier. Caballero fell down 0-2 in the final at-bat but then smoked a hot shot down the third base line to score the winning run and end the game.
Amrhein earned the win to improve to 5-0 this season after he gave up just two hits, struck out three and was not charged with a run over the final two innings. William St. Marseille also threw a scoreless 1.2 innings in relief in what was his second collegiate appearance.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Pope, Bryan (7-4)
L: Randall, Scott (6-2)
S: McCarvel, Jacob (3)
Batting:
2B: Walstad, Ryan 1
RBI: Smith, Matt 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Doyle, Trevor 1
CS: Iwasa, Nick 1
HBP: Iwasa, Nick 1 ; Gonzalez, Chris 1
Batting:
2B: Glenn, John 1
RBI: Glenn, John 2 ; Spohn, Harrison 2 ; Plaia, Nick 1 ; Stevenson, Russell 1
SH: Castillo, Chad 1 ; Munoz, Marty 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Keith, Damon 1 ; Glenn, John 2 ; Castillo, Chad 1 ; Spohn, Harrison 1 ; Simon, Mitchel 1
SB: Spohn, Harrison 1
CS: Spohn, Harrison 1 ; Stevenson, Russell 1
HBP: Castillo, Chad 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
2
H
3
RBI
2
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
2
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
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