RIVERSIDE – California Baptist University baseball closed out its Western Athletic Conference series versus Dixie State and its conference campaign on Saturday at Totman Stadium.
The Lancers battled back from a five-run deficit but could not hold off the Trailblazers in a 14-8 loss to Dixie State. CBU moves to 32-20 on the year and ends WAC play with an 18-12 record that's good for second place in the West Division. DSU ends the year with a 22-33, 14-16 record.
Chad Castillo led CBU with a 3-for-5 game that included four runs batted in. He set the program's NCAA-era record for RBI in a single season, as he now has 64 on the year. It topped the previous NCAA-era best of 61 from Andrew Bash in 2018, is the sixth most RBI in any CBU season and was the most from a Lancer since Sharif Othman's 67 in 2010.
Jake Skipworth not only picked up his second 10-game hitting streak this season, but homered for the third-straight game on Saturday to give him 10 on the year. He finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored.
PLAY-BY-PLAY
Dixie State got off to another strong start and held a 4-1 lead through three-and-a-half and extended its lead to 7-2 in the fifth on Saturday.
CBU got on the board in the bottom of the second inning on a pair of hits and walks. Skipworth drew a one-out walk to start and singles from
David Martin and
Mitchel Simon loaded the bases.
Grady Tuohy coaxed a full-count walk to score the run.
Skipworth then homered for the third game in a row in the fourth inning to cut CBU's deficit down to 4-2. The Trailblazers scored three-straight runs to push their lead to five, 7-2, but Castillo made things interesting with a three-run bomb in the seventh to bring the score to 7-5. The Trailblazers scored five runs in the eighth to take their largest lead of the game.
UP NEXT
The final week of the season will feature four more games for CBU. The Lancers will welcome the University of Hawaii to Riverside on Monday at 5 p.m. and then end the year with the Crosstown Showdown, a three-game series against UC Riverside (May 26-28).
California Baptist will host the series opener and finale versus UCR at Totman Stadium at 6 p.m. and 2 p.m., respectively, while the Highlanders will put on the middle game at the Riverside Sports Complex at 6 p.m. Saturday, May 28 will be Senior Day for 10 Lancers:
Harrison Spohn,
Ulises Caballero, Tuohy,
Ryan Silva,
Brett Finnel,
Trevor Cadd, Castillo,
Connor Clift,
Russell Stevenson and
Mason McGarvey.
GAME INFORMATION
Opponent: Hawai'i
Dates/Times: Monday, May 23 (5 p.m.)
Location: Riverside, Calif. (Totman Stadium)
Video: ESPN+
Live Stats: Statbroadcast
RAINBOW WARRIORS AT A GLANCE
Hawai'i went into its game at UC San Diego on Saturday with a 25-21 record and on a three-game winning streak. The team's strength has been limiting its opposition's offense. The Warriors entered last week ranked 30
th in all of NCAA Division I in double plays per game (0.84), 83
rd in earned-run average (4.83) and 92
nd in fielding percentage (.972). The pitchers also sport a 1.55 WHIP and a .274 batting average against.
Eight Warriors have at least one save this season, with Dalton Renne coming in with a team-high four. Buddie Pindel and Tai Atkins have two each, with Atkins leading the team with 24 appearances, while Pindel and Blaze Koali'i Pontes have both made 18.
Offensively, Hawai'i hits .271 as a team, with matching .374 slugging and on-base percentages. Seven Warriors are hitting above .280: Bronson Rivera (.346), Kyson Donahue (.320), Jordan Donahue (.305), Dallas Duarte (.293),
Matt Wong (.291), Stone Miyao (.286) and Cole Cabrera (.283).
Hawai'i ranks 14
th in sacrifice bunts (35), with Scotty Scott being the primary culprit with seven sacrifice bunts and 0.18 per game that rank 56
th and 31
st in Division I overall.
