Friday, March 18
Riverside, Calif.
6 PM
California Baptist University
vs
Yale
Photo by: Zac Zeman zaczeman.com
BASE PREVIEW: Lancers Set to Host Ivy League Favorite Yale This Weekend
3/15/2022 12:59:00 PM | Baseball
RIVERSIDE – California Baptist University baseball will set back up shop at Totman Stadium this weekend for a three-game, non-conference series versus Yale.
The Lancers have won four of their last five games, including a 2-1 Western Athletic Conference series victory at Utah Valley and one-off wins at CSU Bakersfield, and most recently at home against UNLV (10-7) on Monday. It has boosted CBU's record to 11-4 this season.
CBU will take a break from WAC play this week to take on a quality Yale team that has won or shared two of the last three Ivy League titles and was picked as the preseason favorite in the league yet again in 2022.
EARLY LOOK AT THE NUMBERS
CBU enters this week hitting .300, slugging .458 and maintaining a .404 on-base percentage as a team. A total of six of the Lancers' regular starters are hitting above .300: Jake Skipworth (.455), Michael Carpentier (.450), David Martin (.394), Harrison Spohn (.379), Chad Castillo (.368) and Russell Stevenson (.316).
As a pitching staff, CBU maintains a 4.02 earned-run average, 1.38 WHIP and .253 batting average against. Jared Villalobos has emerged as the most effective reliever to date with a team-high eight appearances. He has a 1.17 ERA, 0.85 WHIP and .164 BAA over 15.1 innings pitched. Fellow relievers Ryan Silva and Liam Rocha have also yet to allow runs over multiple relief appearances/innings this year, while Seth Mattox has a 1.80 ERA and .067 BAA over five appearances and innings.
HOT STREAKS
Skipworth is off to one of the best starts to a season any Lancer has ever had. He has a base hit in all 15 games this year, which is tied for the fifth-longest hitting streak in CBU's NCAA era (2014-22). Overall, he is hitting .455, slugging .691 and maintaining a .500 on-base percentage, with 25 hits, seven doubles, 18 RBI and 12 runs score this year. Russell Stevenson and Chad Castillo each have hitting streaks of nine and seven games, respectively.
WHERE CBU'S 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. Forty wins are a new single-season high for CBU in the D-I era after it won 35 games in 2019. The Lancers are 86-40 over their first three full years in Division I (2019, 2021-22), which is already the ninth most wins by a program in its first three full D-I seasons.
Overall, CBU has gone 93-48 in Division I seasons. Its win total is 14 games off top-10 standing 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' 65.9 winning percentage ranks first among transitioning D1 programs, with Stony Brook (64.7, 112-61); Florida Gulf Coast (63.1, 139-81) and Dallas Baptist (61.2, 139-88) being the only teams to win at least 110 games at 60-percent clip or higher.
SERIES INFORMATION
Opponent: Yale
Dates/Times: Friday, March 18 (6 p.m.); Saturday, March 19 (5 p.m.); Sunday, March 20 (12 p.m.)
Location: Riverside, Calif. (Totman Stadium)
Video: ESPN+: Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
Live Stats: StatBroadcast: Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
BULLDOGS AT A GLANCE
Yale comes into this week on a three-game winning streak that's boosted their record to 5-4 this season. Those five wins include impressive victories, including one over Auburn and two against Washington that earned them a four-game series split with the Huskies. Yale will play a mid-week game at home against Marist on Tuesday at 12 p.m. Pacific before it heads out to California.
The Bulldogs have hung their hat on their defense in recent years, as they led the nation in significant defensive categories the last two full seasons -- double plays per game in 2019 (1.32) and fielding percentage in 2018 (.985, which tied the NCAA record).
So far, Yale's pitching staff has been its strength with a 4.10 staff ERA, 1.24 WHIP and .206 batting average against. Mike Walsh (4.41 ERA), Grant Kipp (7.31) and Colton Shaw (3.18) are the three Bulldogs with multiple starts on the mound.
In the bullpen, there appear to be three go-to arms. Reid Esterly has made a team-high five appearances and has a 3.12 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, .226 BAA and a save, with 10 strikeouts to three walks over 8.2 innings pitched. Mick Kelley has been the most versatile arm, though, as he's logged 11.2 innings pitched over four appearances and sports a 0.77 ERA, 0.86 WHIP and .167 BAA. Mark Capell (4.70 ERA, .130 BAA) has the other save for Yale and a 2-0 record over three appearances.
The Lancers have won four of their last five games, including a 2-1 Western Athletic Conference series victory at Utah Valley and one-off wins at CSU Bakersfield, and most recently at home against UNLV (10-7) on Monday. It has boosted CBU's record to 11-4 this season.
CBU will take a break from WAC play this week to take on a quality Yale team that has won or shared two of the last three Ivy League titles and was picked as the preseason favorite in the league yet again in 2022.
EARLY LOOK AT THE NUMBERS
CBU enters this week hitting .300, slugging .458 and maintaining a .404 on-base percentage as a team. A total of six of the Lancers' regular starters are hitting above .300: Jake Skipworth (.455), Michael Carpentier (.450), David Martin (.394), Harrison Spohn (.379), Chad Castillo (.368) and Russell Stevenson (.316).
As a pitching staff, CBU maintains a 4.02 earned-run average, 1.38 WHIP and .253 batting average against. Jared Villalobos has emerged as the most effective reliever to date with a team-high eight appearances. He has a 1.17 ERA, 0.85 WHIP and .164 BAA over 15.1 innings pitched. Fellow relievers Ryan Silva and Liam Rocha have also yet to allow runs over multiple relief appearances/innings this year, while Seth Mattox has a 1.80 ERA and .067 BAA over five appearances and innings.
HOT STREAKS
Skipworth is off to one of the best starts to a season any Lancer has ever had. He has a base hit in all 15 games this year, which is tied for the fifth-longest hitting streak in CBU's NCAA era (2014-22). Overall, he is hitting .455, slugging .691 and maintaining a .500 on-base percentage, with 25 hits, seven doubles, 18 RBI and 12 runs score this year. Russell Stevenson and Chad Castillo each have hitting streaks of nine and seven games, respectively.
WHERE CBU'S 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. Forty wins are a new single-season high for CBU in the D-I era after it won 35 games in 2019. The Lancers are 86-40 over their first three full years in Division I (2019, 2021-22), which is already the ninth most wins by a program in its first three full D-I seasons.
Overall, CBU has gone 93-48 in Division I seasons. Its win total is 14 games off top-10 standing 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' 65.9 winning percentage ranks first among transitioning D1 programs, with Stony Brook (64.7, 112-61); Florida Gulf Coast (63.1, 139-81) and Dallas Baptist (61.2, 139-88) being the only teams to win at least 110 games at 60-percent clip or higher.
SERIES INFORMATION
Opponent: Yale
Dates/Times: Friday, March 18 (6 p.m.); Saturday, March 19 (5 p.m.); Sunday, March 20 (12 p.m.)
Location: Riverside, Calif. (Totman Stadium)
Video: ESPN+: Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
Live Stats: StatBroadcast: Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
BULLDOGS AT A GLANCE
Yale comes into this week on a three-game winning streak that's boosted their record to 5-4 this season. Those five wins include impressive victories, including one over Auburn and two against Washington that earned them a four-game series split with the Huskies. Yale will play a mid-week game at home against Marist on Tuesday at 12 p.m. Pacific before it heads out to California.
The Bulldogs have hung their hat on their defense in recent years, as they led the nation in significant defensive categories the last two full seasons -- double plays per game in 2019 (1.32) and fielding percentage in 2018 (.985, which tied the NCAA record).
So far, Yale's pitching staff has been its strength with a 4.10 staff ERA, 1.24 WHIP and .206 batting average against. Mike Walsh (4.41 ERA), Grant Kipp (7.31) and Colton Shaw (3.18) are the three Bulldogs with multiple starts on the mound.
In the bullpen, there appear to be three go-to arms. Reid Esterly has made a team-high five appearances and has a 3.12 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, .226 BAA and a save, with 10 strikeouts to three walks over 8.2 innings pitched. Mick Kelley has been the most versatile arm, though, as he's logged 11.2 innings pitched over four appearances and sports a 0.77 ERA, 0.86 WHIP and .167 BAA. Mark Capell (4.70 ERA, .130 BAA) has the other save for Yale and a 2-0 record over three appearances.
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