12/16/2022 11:00:00 AM | Baseball
RIVERSIDE – California Baptist University baseball is coming off another incredible season in 2022, having gone 36-20 overall and 18-12 in a tough Western Athletic Conference, where the Lancers finished the regular season in second place in the West Division. This year will be different though, as the season will no longer stop at the end of the scheduled slate as the Lancers' will finally have the opportunity to play into late May with the WAC Tournament and into June should this year's squad reach the program's first-ever NCAA Division I Baseball Championships.
The 2023 season starts with one of the stiffest tests possible, taking on the national runners-up from a season ago in Oklahoma. The Lancers will face the Sooners in a three-game series (February 17-19) in Norman at L. Dale Mitchell Park. They will stick around the Sooner State for a single game against Oklahoma State on February 21.
Home action begins the following weekend (February 23-26) as CBU will host both Nevada and High Point at Totman Stadium. The Lancers will face each team twice over the long weekend, with all three squads playing four games. CBU will follow this with a single-game road trip to Tucson to take on the University of Arizona (February 28). The Wildcats made it to the NCAA Tournament in 2022, bowing out in the Coral Gables Regional to the eventual College World Series champions, Ole Miss.
Non-conference action continues as the Seton Hall Pirates make their way west for a four-game series (March 3-7). CBU's non-conference schedule includes home-and-away contests with a trio of Big West foes Long Beach State (March 14 & 28), UC Riverside (March 27 and April 11 & 18), Hawaii (April 25), and UC Santa Barbara (May 2 & 15). The Mountain West's Rebels of UNLV is the final non-conference series of the season (April 21-23), taking place in Las Vegas.
The Lancers' will open WAC play on the road with trips to UTRGV (March 10-12) and Stephen F. Austin (March 17-19). CBU will also visit NM State (April 6-8) and UT Arlington (May 5-7).
CBU will host five home WAC series, beginning with Seattle U (March 24-26). The Lancers are currently riding an eight-game win streak against the Redhawks that dates back to the 2019 season. Utah Tech (formerly Dixie State) rolls into town the following weekend (March 31-April 2) for a trio of games. The Trailblazers will open their season with 13 straight home contests, making their trek to Riverside just their third trip of the year.
Tarleton State visits Riverside for the second time, having been swept by the Lancers during its inaugural visit back in 2021. The Texans will return for a three-game series (April 14-16). Abilene Christian comes through next (April 28-30), taking in Totman Stadium for the first time. The Wildcats were middle-of-the-pack a season ago, finishing the year with a 30-29 record overall while also going 14-16 in WAC play.
The Lancers close out home play against Sacramento State (May 12-14). The Hornets hold a slight edge in the all-time series against the Lancers, having gone 6-4 against the Lancers since 2019. Â
The final regular season series will pit CBU against Grand Canyon (May 18-20) in Phoenix. These two teams split the regular season crown in 2021 and have historically always produced entertaining games, with the Lancers leading the all-time series 14-13 since 2005.
