CBU Hits Three Homers in 9-2 Win Over NM State

Friday, March 25

Las Cruces, N.M.

5 PM

California Baptist University

14-6, 3-4

NM State

10-9, 2-5

California Baptist

New Mexico State

Photo by: Zac Zeman zaczeman.com

CBU Hits Three Homers in 9-2 Win Over NM State

3/25/2022 8:07:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: Andrew Shortall, Director of Athletics Communications

LAS CRUCES – California Baptist University baseball's power surge continued in its Western Athletic Conference series opener at NM State on Friday.

The Lancers hit three home runs in a 9-2 win over the Aggies at Presley Askew Field, as they've now hit seven bombs over the last two games. CBU improves to 14-6 and 3-4 in the WAC, while NMSU drops to 10-9, 2-5. The series continues Saturday with first pitch at 4 p.m. Pacific and ends Sunday at 11 a.m.

🙌 𝘽𝘼𝘾𝙆-𝙏𝙊-𝘽𝘼𝘾𝙆 🙌

Chad Castillo joins the fun with his fourth home run of the season❗️ #LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/Axagd2MrT6
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) March 26, 2022

Harrison Spohn, Chad Castillo and Jake Skipworth each homered in the victory and were part of the Lancers' 1-2-3-4 hitters combining to hit 10-for-18 with seven runs batted in and seven more scored.

David Martin went 2-for-3 with three runs and two walks out of the leadoff spot. Spohn collected a career-high four hits, two runs, two RBI and two doubles as the No. 2 hitter, while Castillo was 2-for-5 with a career-high RBI at No. 3. Clean-up hitter Skipwroth was 2-for-5, as well.

🚀🚀🚀

Jake Skipworth hits CBU's third homer of the game, and it's an absolute no-doubter! #LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/zHkZeEmOpB
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) March 26, 2022

Not to be overlooked was CBU pitcher CJ Culpepper's third quality start this year. He threw a career-high 7.2 innings in which he gave up two runs on five hits, a walk and struck out four. He retired 12-straight batters at one point, with three-up, three-down innings in the third through fifth innings.

Jared Villalobos was sharp in relief, giving up just one walk and striking out two over the final 1.1 innings.

PLAY-BY-PLAY
CBU scored in the top of the first inning after a lead-off walk to Martin, a Spohn single and RBI grounder from Castillo. NM State tied the game with a solo homer in the second, but the Lancers hit back-to-back homers in the third on a two-run shot from Spohn and then a Castillo blast two pitches later. It gave CBU a 4-1 lead.

Castillo drove in his third and fourth runs of the game with a two-run single that scored Martin (walk) and Spohn (double) in the fifth to make it a 6-1 cushion. The Aggies got a run back in the seventh, but the Lancers added to their advantage with three runs in the eighth.

Skipworth led off the frame with his homer, while Ulises Caballero hit a two-run double that scored Mitchel Simon and Marty Munoz (single).

Ulises Caballero keeps the offense rolling 🔄🔄🔄 #LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/oL1fxwPPCn
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) March 26, 2022

CONFERENCE OUTLOOK
CBU's win broke a three-way tie for fourth place in the WAC West Division standings with NMSU (2-5) and Sacramento State (2-4). Grand Canyon leads the division with an undefeated 6-0 conference record, while Seattle U (5-2) and Dixie State (6-4) are in second and third. It's tight the rest of the way with Utah Valley (2-7) also holding two conference wins in seventh. GCU and Sacramento State were set to start their WAC series Friday night in Sacramento.