Photo by: Reagan Lee
One For the Record Books - A Season in Review
7/28/2021 2:15:00 PM | Baseball
RIVERSIDE – California Baptist University baseball continued to show its right at home in NCAA Division I and the Western Athletic Conference with another incredible season in 2021.
The Lancers put together one of the best-ever transition seasons to Division I this year, as it won a share of the WAC regular-season championship and a total of 40 games. There was plenty of history made and awards earned along the way for this special group.
For the second opportunity in a row, CBU clinched a share of the WAC title with a win on the road on the final day of the conference season. The Lancers have now finished atop the league standings in both of their WAC seasons in which conference play took place (2019 and 2021).
CBU didn't stop there and won four of its final five games to secure its 40th victory of the season. The Lancers won over 70 percent of their games, with a 40-16 overall record, and over 80 percent of their conference contests at 29-7.
"Heading into a year with many questions and coming out of a year with many disappointments, we wanted to make sure we had a clear direction and path," Coach Gary Adcock said. "We wanted to reboot what we call 'The Lancer Way.' Attacking hitters, being efficient defenders, aggressive baserunners and good situational hitters were among some of the attributes we always had prided ourselves on as CBU baseball players. We wanted to get back to those things and do them better.
"Along the journey, we turned our focus on being thankful, magnifying our blessings over our disappointments and adopted Psalm 118 as our theme verse, 'Give thanks to the Lord for He is good; His love endures forever.'
"2021 was a tremendous season where the players, my staff, all our support staff, fans and family all came together and earned a share of the WAC – truly amazing!"
Forty wins tied for the eighth most in all of Division I at the end of the regular season on May 30. It was tied with the University of Arizona and UC Irvine for the most victories among West Coast teams in the regular season.
It all started with an impressive 2-1 series win over Pepperdine for CBU, with the Waves were ranked as high as 33rd to open 2021. The Lancers picked up impressive victories over storied programs like Cal and Cal State Fullerton, swept UC Davis and got the crosstown series win over UC Riverside in non-conference play, as well.
CBU did not lose any of its nine conference series in 2021, with five four-game sweeps (Northern Colorado, Tarleton State, Utah Valley, Seattle U and NM State); a 3-1 win at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and splits with Dixie State, Sacramento State and Grand Canyon.
WHERE THE TRANSITION RANKS
The Lancers are the second team to win 40 games in one of its first two full transition seasons to Division I out of 49 teams that have made the move since 1998. Dallas Baptist was the first team to win 40 games or more at 44 overall in 2004.
Forty wins are a new single-season high for CBU in the D-I era after it won 35 games in 2019. The Lancers have gone 75-35 over their first two full years in Division I (2019 and 2021), which is the second-most wins by a program in its first two full D-I seasons. Dallas Baptist (76-39) is the only team to win more than 75 games through its first two full Division I campaigns.
Overall, CBU has gone 82-44 in its first three D-I seasons. Its win total ranks ninth among first-year Division I teams since 1998, despite the 2020 season being canceled just 15 games in due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Lancers' 65.1 winning percentage over their first three D-I campaigns ranks third, behind Florida Gulf Coast (67.9, 2008-10) and Stony Brook (65.3, 2000-02).
HISTORY IN THE MAKING
Along with all the team success came a ton of historic individual performances for California Baptist in 2021. The Lancers set two new all-time single-season and career records on the year.
It all started with CJ Culpepper topping the program's single-season saves record. The freshman closer finished the year with 13 overall to well surpass the previous record of 10 set by Charlie Eckenrod in 2001.
That wasn't the only history to come from a Lancer reliever, as senior Jacob McCarvel tied CBU's single-season record for appearances with 26. Patrick Gonzales is the only other CBU pitcher to make 26 appearances in a season back in 2016.
Matt Amrhein took over CBU's all-time record for appearances with 84 in his career. It's three more than the previous record of 81 set by Kevin Johnson (2002-05).
John Glenn capped off the historic year by setting the program's career RBI record with 190 when all was said and done. Glenn became the all-time leader in a big moment, with two RBI in a 6-1 Lancer win over Grand Canyon in the WAC regular-season finale in Phoenix. It gave him 187 RBI, just one more than Aaron Seuss' 186 (2005-07).
Chris Burica put together one of the best seasons of any starting pitcher in program history. He led all of NCAA Division I in the regular season with 104.1 innings pitched and maintained a 3.36 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 8-5 record in the process. He struck out 72 batters to just 18 walks and logged five complete games. The senior left hander put together eight quality starts and threw three shutouts against Cal, UTRGV and Utah Valley. He went at least seven innings in 11 of his 15 starts and through the eighth six times.
Damon Keith and Nick Plaia both put together lengthy hitting streaks of 16 and 15 games, respectively. Both ranked top-10 in CBU's modern era and top-five in the NCAA era and were the longest streaks since 2017.
Russell Stevenson ended the season with a bang, as he went 5-for-5 at the plate in the final game of the year, a 14-6 win at UC Riverside. It made Stevenson the fourth Lancer to record five hits in an NCAA-era game. It was just one hit off CBU's modern-era record for hits in a game. He was the first player with a five-hit game in Division I and the first Lancer to do it since A.J. David on March 12, 2016.
AWARDS SEASON
It was no shock to see the Lancers rewarded for all of their success in 2021, with a number of program bests and firsts coming when the postseason awards were rolled out.
A record eight Lancers were named All-WAC on the year, with CBU producing the conference's Player of the Year (Keith) and Freshman of the Year (Culpepper) for the first time in the WAC. Both earned First Team honors, while Burica, Glenn, Connor Clift and Bryan Pope made the Second Team. Chad Castillo and Harrison Spohn both received honorable mention from the WAC.
It started a run of awards for Culpepper, who was named a D-I Freshman All-American by the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA), along with an All-American Third Team Award from the NCBWA. It made him the first Lancer to be named to a D-I All-America Team that was not limited solely to freshmen.
Keith meanwhile became the first CBU player to earn a D-I All-West Region honor when the American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings picked him for their Second Team.
NEXT-LEVEL SUCCESS
CBU also added to its strong history of sending players to the next level in the offseason.
Keith was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers during the 2021 Major League Baseball Draft in the 18th round at 552 overall. It made Keith the 36th Lancer to ever be drafted, the 25th in Adcock's 18 years and the 13th top-20 rounder in program history. CBU has now had at least one player drafted in 11 of the last 12 years.
The lone exception over the last 12 years was 2020, when MLB condensed the draft down to five rounds in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. CBU did see one of its recruits, Kalai Rosario, drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the fifth round at 158 overall in 2020.
Pope also signed a contract with the St. Louis Cardinals to continue CBU's track record of moving pitchers into professional baseball. A total of 23 Lancer pitchers have signed on with MLB teams in Adcock's tenure. In all, CBU has produced 32 total MLB signees (25 draft picks, seven free-agent signings) in the last 18 years.
The Lancers are poised to have five players in minor league baseball this year after Andrew Bash signed on with the Toronto Blue Jays in June after an impressive showing with the Missoula PaddleHeads in the independent league.
Tyson Miller, the highest draft pick in CBU history (fourth round, 134th overall), is currently a member of the Texas Rangers' Triple-A affiliate, the Round Rock Express. Logan Rinehart and Bash have been assigned to the respective low-A affiliates of the Seattle Mariners and Blue Jays.
The Lancers put together one of the best-ever transition seasons to Division I this year, as it won a share of the WAC regular-season championship and a total of 40 games. There was plenty of history made and awards earned along the way for this special group.
For the second opportunity in a row, CBU clinched a share of the WAC title with a win on the road on the final day of the conference season. The Lancers have now finished atop the league standings in both of their WAC seasons in which conference play took place (2019 and 2021).
CBU didn't stop there and won four of its final five games to secure its 40th victory of the season. The Lancers won over 70 percent of their games, with a 40-16 overall record, and over 80 percent of their conference contests at 29-7.
BACK-TO-BACK. 🏆#LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/B7wDmMoMR0
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) May 22, 2021
"Heading into a year with many questions and coming out of a year with many disappointments, we wanted to make sure we had a clear direction and path," Coach Gary Adcock said. "We wanted to reboot what we call 'The Lancer Way.' Attacking hitters, being efficient defenders, aggressive baserunners and good situational hitters were among some of the attributes we always had prided ourselves on as CBU baseball players. We wanted to get back to those things and do them better.
"Along the journey, we turned our focus on being thankful, magnifying our blessings over our disappointments and adopted Psalm 118 as our theme verse, 'Give thanks to the Lord for He is good; His love endures forever.'
"2021 was a tremendous season where the players, my staff, all our support staff, fans and family all came together and earned a share of the WAC – truly amazing!"
Forty wins tied for the eighth most in all of Division I at the end of the regular season on May 30. It was tied with the University of Arizona and UC Irvine for the most victories among West Coast teams in the regular season.
It's a 🏆 party! pic.twitter.com/7pM29zqsE4
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) May 23, 2021
It all started with an impressive 2-1 series win over Pepperdine for CBU, with the Waves were ranked as high as 33rd to open 2021. The Lancers picked up impressive victories over storied programs like Cal and Cal State Fullerton, swept UC Davis and got the crosstown series win over UC Riverside in non-conference play, as well.
CBU did not lose any of its nine conference series in 2021, with five four-game sweeps (Northern Colorado, Tarleton State, Utah Valley, Seattle U and NM State); a 3-1 win at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and splits with Dixie State, Sacramento State and Grand Canyon.
WHERE THE TRANSITION RANKS
The Lancers are the second team to win 40 games in one of its first two full transition seasons to Division I out of 49 teams that have made the move since 1998. Dallas Baptist was the first team to win 40 games or more at 44 overall in 2004.
Forty wins are a new single-season high for CBU in the D-I era after it won 35 games in 2019. The Lancers have gone 75-35 over their first two full years in Division I (2019 and 2021), which is the second-most wins by a program in its first two full D-I seasons. Dallas Baptist (76-39) is the only team to win more than 75 games through its first two full Division I campaigns.
💥 4⃣0⃣ 💥
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) June 11, 2021
CBU continued one of the best-ever transitions to NCAA Division I in 2021. The Lancers were one of three West Coast @NCAACWS schools to win 40 games this regular season. #LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/sCZ4KSoYtk
Overall, CBU has gone 82-44 in its first three D-I seasons. Its win total ranks ninth among first-year Division I teams since 1998, despite the 2020 season being canceled just 15 games in due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Lancers' 65.1 winning percentage over their first three D-I campaigns ranks third, behind Florida Gulf Coast (67.9, 2008-10) and Stony Brook (65.3, 2000-02).
HISTORY IN THE MAKING
Along with all the team success came a ton of historic individual performances for California Baptist in 2021. The Lancers set two new all-time single-season and career records on the year.
It all started with CJ Culpepper topping the program's single-season saves record. The freshman closer finished the year with 13 overall to well surpass the previous record of 10 set by Charlie Eckenrod in 2001.
That wasn't the only history to come from a Lancer reliever, as senior Jacob McCarvel tied CBU's single-season record for appearances with 26. Patrick Gonzales is the only other CBU pitcher to make 26 appearances in a season back in 2016.
🚨𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗗 𝗔𝗟𝗘𝗥𝗧🚨
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) May 29, 2021
Senior Jacob McCarvel made his 26th appearance this year today. It ties CBU's single-season record for pitching appearances first set by Patrick Gonzales in 2016. McCarvel's 58 career appearances rank top-10 for the Lancers all time. #LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/nqR1685HKo
Matt Amrhein took over CBU's all-time record for appearances with 84 in his career. It's three more than the previous record of 81 set by Kevin Johnson (2002-05).
🚨 𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐃 🚨
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) May 16, 2021
With today's start, Matt Amrhein has broken CBU's all-time career record for appearances with 82‼️ #LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/hGd20KM6l7
John Glenn capped off the historic year by setting the program's career RBI record with 190 when all was said and done. Glenn became the all-time leader in a big moment, with two RBI in a 6-1 Lancer win over Grand Canyon in the WAC regular-season finale in Phoenix. It gave him 187 RBI, just one more than Aaron Seuss' 186 (2005-07).
🚨 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
Chris Burica put together one of the best seasons of any starting pitcher in program history. He led all of NCAA Division I in the regular season with 104.1 innings pitched and maintained a 3.36 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 8-5 record in the process. He struck out 72 batters to just 18 walks and logged five complete games. The senior left hander put together eight quality starts and threw three shutouts against Cal, UTRGV and Utah Valley. He went at least seven innings in 11 of his 15 starts and through the eighth six times.
🎴♠️🎴
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) May 25, 2021
Ace pitcher Chris Burica has made the All-WAC Second Team. He's led the WAC in innings pitched (98.2), logged 8️⃣ quality starts, 5️⃣ complete games and 3️⃣ shutouts in 1️⃣4️⃣ starts this year. #LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/O8xJIxhXpO
Damon Keith and Nick Plaia both put together lengthy hitting streaks of 16 and 15 games, respectively. Both ranked top-10 in CBU's modern era and top-five in the NCAA era and were the longest streaks since 2017.
Russell Stevenson ended the season with a bang, as he went 5-for-5 at the plate in the final game of the year, a 14-6 win at UC Riverside. It made Stevenson the fourth Lancer to record five hits in an NCAA-era game. It was just one hit off CBU's modern-era record for hits in a game. He was the first player with a five-hit game in Division I and the first Lancer to do it since A.J. David on March 12, 2016.
🔥🔥🔥
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) May 29, 2021
Russell Stevenson ends his season with a 5-for-5 game. He's the first Lancer with a 5️⃣ hit game in the Division I era, the fourth with a 5️⃣ hit game in NCAA era and just one off CBU's modern-era record for hits in a game. #LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/0tDzt1OT0z
AWARDS SEASON
It was no shock to see the Lancers rewarded for all of their success in 2021, with a number of program bests and firsts coming when the postseason awards were rolled out.
A record eight Lancers were named All-WAC on the year, with CBU producing the conference's Player of the Year (Keith) and Freshman of the Year (Culpepper) for the first time in the WAC. Both earned First Team honors, while Burica, Glenn, Connor Clift and Bryan Pope made the Second Team. Chad Castillo and Harrison Spohn both received honorable mention from the WAC.
🇺🇸 The awards just keep on coming 🇺🇸
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) June 17, 2021
Congratulations to CJ Culpepper on being named to the @NCBWA NCAA Division I All-America Third Team. #LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/7AJJ8bA9jL
It started a run of awards for Culpepper, who was named a D-I Freshman All-American by the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA), along with an All-American Third Team Award from the NCBWA. It made him the first Lancer to be named to a D-I All-America Team that was not limited solely to freshmen.
Keith meanwhile became the first CBU player to earn a D-I All-West Region honor when the American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings picked him for their Second Team.
𝘈 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 👏
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) June 16, 2021
Congratulations to Damon Keith on being voted to the @ABCA1945 NCAA Division I All-West Region Second Team. #LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/vsx28FhAgN
NEXT-LEVEL SUCCESS
CBU also added to its strong history of sending players to the next level in the offseason.
Keith was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers during the 2021 Major League Baseball Draft in the 18th round at 552 overall. It made Keith the 36th Lancer to ever be drafted, the 25th in Adcock's 18 years and the 13th top-20 rounder in program history. CBU has now had at least one player drafted in 11 of the last 12 years.
🚨 DRAFTED 🚨
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) July 13, 2021
Congratulations to Damon Keith on being drafted by the @Dodgers in the 18th round at 552 overall. The 2021 @WACsports Player of the Year is the 13th top-20 rounder in CBU history.#LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/q42RQBALeb
The lone exception over the last 12 years was 2020, when MLB condensed the draft down to five rounds in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. CBU did see one of its recruits, Kalai Rosario, drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the fifth round at 158 overall in 2020.
Pope also signed a contract with the St. Louis Cardinals to continue CBU's track record of moving pitchers into professional baseball. A total of 23 Lancer pitchers have signed on with MLB teams in Adcock's tenure. In all, CBU has produced 32 total MLB signees (25 draft picks, seven free-agent signings) in the last 18 years.
𝑺𝑰𝑮𝑵𝑬𝑫 ✍️
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) July 14, 2021
Congratulations to Bryan Pope on signing a free-agent deal with the @Cardinals. He's the 23rd Lancer pitcher to sign an @MLB deal in Coach Gary Adcock's 18 years. #LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/siz5OH10ED
The Lancers are poised to have five players in minor league baseball this year after Andrew Bash signed on with the Toronto Blue Jays in June after an impressive showing with the Missoula PaddleHeads in the independent league.
Tyson Miller, the highest draft pick in CBU history (fourth round, 134th overall), is currently a member of the Texas Rangers' Triple-A affiliate, the Round Rock Express. Logan Rinehart and Bash have been assigned to the respective low-A affiliates of the Seattle Mariners and Blue Jays.
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