Thursday, May 26
Riverside, Calif.
6 PM
California Baptist University
vs
UC Riverside
BASE PREVIEW: CBU Prepares to Close Out Season with Crosstown Showdown vs. UC Riverside
5/24/2022 2:50:00 PM | Baseball
RIVERSIDE – California Baptist University baseball will close out the 2022 season with the Crosstown Showdown, a three-game series with UC Riverside this weekend. It will be the second season in a row the two teams end the year against each other.
The Lancers are coming off a strong win over the University of Hawai'i that brought their record to 33-20 this season. CBU will look to win the series and reach the 35-win mark in all three of its full NCAA Division I seasons. UC Riverside has lost three-straight games to move to 8-42 this season.
CBU is looking to polish off one of the best-ever moves to NCAA Division I. During its transition to full membership, the Lancers have a 115-64 record. Its win total is ninth among D-I teams in transition since 1998, despite the 2020 season being canceled just 15 games in due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Lancers' 64.2 winning percentage ranks second among transitioning D1 programs. CBU is 108-56 over their first three full years in Division I (2019, 2021-22), which is already the third most wins by a program in its first three full D-I seasons and two games off the runner-up, Dallas Baptist (109-62).
SENIOR DAY
Saturday will be Senior Day at Totman Stadium for the Lancers' 10 seniors: Harrison Spohn, Ulises Caballero, Grady Tuohy, Ryan Silva, Brett Finnel, Trevor Cadd, Chad Castillo, Connor Clift, Russell Stevenson and Mason McGarvey. The Senior Day ceremony will take place approximately 15 minutes before first pitch,
This group has led the Lancers to one of the best-ever transitions to NCAA Division I. CBU has won 108 games over its first three full D-I seasons, which puts it in rare company when it comes to its D-I transition. Overall, the Lancers have gone 150-83 since 2018 and won back-to-back WAC Championships (2019 and 2021) and never finished outside the top-two in the WAC standings with these seniors.
ALL-WAC
Six Lancers earn 2022 All-Western Athletic Conference awards on Tuesday. The six Lancers were split evenly between the First and Second Teams. Harrison Spohn, David Martin and Chad Castillo made the First Team and Mitchel Simon, Russell Stevenson and CJ Culpepper secured Second Team honors.
It was the most difficult All-WAC Team to make to date for CBU, due to the addition of four new Texas teams and the creation of Southwest and West Divisions – all of which were combined into one all-conference team this season. Spohn took home the top honor this year, as he earned the WAC's first-ever Defender of the Year award, along with First Team and All-Defensive Team distinction.
SERIES NOTES
The 2019 season was the first time in 20 years UC Riverside and CBU played a countable game. The Highlanders have won 23 of the 32 games with the Lancers, although this is just the fourth official matchup between UCR and CBU in the Gary Adcock era, as the two had previously not met since 1999. California Baptist won three of four versus UCR in 2021. UCR has gone 12-5 against CBU on its home field and has gone 10-6 at Totman Stadium.
SERIES INFORMATION
Opponent: UC Riverside
Dates/Times: Thursday, May 26 (6 p.m.) at Totman Stadium; Friday, May 27 (6 p.m.) at Riverside Sports Complex; Saturday, May 28 (2 p.m.) at Totman Stadium
Live Stats: StatBroadcast: Game 1 | Game 3; Sidearm: Game 2
Video: ESPN+: Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
CBU Radio: Sidearm (Game 2 only)
HIGHLANDERS AT A GLANCE
UC Riverside is not to be taken lightly, as it has proven capable of taking games off top teams this season. The Highlanders have wins over Saint Mary's, Loyola Marymount, Cal Poly and UC Irvine this year. Head Coach Justin Johnson is back after he served as the interim head coach last year.
The Highlanders come into this week batting .227 and slugging .295 with a .313 on-base percentage. Dylan Orick has played in all 50 games this year and is hitting .242 with 14 doubles, 23 runs and 29 runs batted in. Jacob Badawi leads the team's regulars with a .261 batting average, while Andrew Rivas is also hitting .242.
There are four other standouts for UCR who hit at a high clip with a smaller sample size. Mason Grace leads the team with a .328 batting average in 58 at-bats, while Andrez Melendrez is not far off at .325. Jacob Shanks also hits .284 and Andrew Gamez is batting .273.
The pitching staff has a 7.74 earned-run average, 1.88 WHIP and .316 batting-average against. Tyler Frazier is the constant in the starting rotation with 13 start this season, while Eric Marrujo ranks second with nine. Tucker Juline and Jeremiah Priddy each have made eight. Kyle Anderson has a team-high two saves, while Joey Magrisi and AJ Roldan each have one.
The Lancers are coming off a strong win over the University of Hawai'i that brought their record to 33-20 this season. CBU will look to win the series and reach the 35-win mark in all three of its full NCAA Division I seasons. UC Riverside has lost three-straight games to move to 8-42 this season.
CBU is looking to polish off one of the best-ever moves to NCAA Division I. During its transition to full membership, the Lancers have a 115-64 record. Its win total is ninth among D-I teams in transition since 1998, despite the 2020 season being canceled just 15 games in due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Lancers' 64.2 winning percentage ranks second among transitioning D1 programs. CBU is 108-56 over their first three full years in Division I (2019, 2021-22), which is already the third most wins by a program in its first three full D-I seasons and two games off the runner-up, Dallas Baptist (109-62).
SENIOR DAY
Saturday will be Senior Day at Totman Stadium for the Lancers' 10 seniors: Harrison Spohn, Ulises Caballero, Grady Tuohy, Ryan Silva, Brett Finnel, Trevor Cadd, Chad Castillo, Connor Clift, Russell Stevenson and Mason McGarvey. The Senior Day ceremony will take place approximately 15 minutes before first pitch,
This group has led the Lancers to one of the best-ever transitions to NCAA Division I. CBU has won 108 games over its first three full D-I seasons, which puts it in rare company when it comes to its D-I transition. Overall, the Lancers have gone 150-83 since 2018 and won back-to-back WAC Championships (2019 and 2021) and never finished outside the top-two in the WAC standings with these seniors.
ALL-WAC
Six Lancers earn 2022 All-Western Athletic Conference awards on Tuesday. The six Lancers were split evenly between the First and Second Teams. Harrison Spohn, David Martin and Chad Castillo made the First Team and Mitchel Simon, Russell Stevenson and CJ Culpepper secured Second Team honors.
It was the most difficult All-WAC Team to make to date for CBU, due to the addition of four new Texas teams and the creation of Southwest and West Divisions – all of which were combined into one all-conference team this season. Spohn took home the top honor this year, as he earned the WAC's first-ever Defender of the Year award, along with First Team and All-Defensive Team distinction.
SERIES NOTES
The 2019 season was the first time in 20 years UC Riverside and CBU played a countable game. The Highlanders have won 23 of the 32 games with the Lancers, although this is just the fourth official matchup between UCR and CBU in the Gary Adcock era, as the two had previously not met since 1999. California Baptist won three of four versus UCR in 2021. UCR has gone 12-5 against CBU on its home field and has gone 10-6 at Totman Stadium.
SERIES INFORMATION
Opponent: UC Riverside
Dates/Times: Thursday, May 26 (6 p.m.) at Totman Stadium; Friday, May 27 (6 p.m.) at Riverside Sports Complex; Saturday, May 28 (2 p.m.) at Totman Stadium
Live Stats: StatBroadcast: Game 1 | Game 3; Sidearm: Game 2
Video: ESPN+: Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
CBU Radio: Sidearm (Game 2 only)
HIGHLANDERS AT A GLANCE
UC Riverside is not to be taken lightly, as it has proven capable of taking games off top teams this season. The Highlanders have wins over Saint Mary's, Loyola Marymount, Cal Poly and UC Irvine this year. Head Coach Justin Johnson is back after he served as the interim head coach last year.
The Highlanders come into this week batting .227 and slugging .295 with a .313 on-base percentage. Dylan Orick has played in all 50 games this year and is hitting .242 with 14 doubles, 23 runs and 29 runs batted in. Jacob Badawi leads the team's regulars with a .261 batting average, while Andrew Rivas is also hitting .242.
There are four other standouts for UCR who hit at a high clip with a smaller sample size. Mason Grace leads the team with a .328 batting average in 58 at-bats, while Andrez Melendrez is not far off at .325. Jacob Shanks also hits .284 and Andrew Gamez is batting .273.
The pitching staff has a 7.74 earned-run average, 1.88 WHIP and .316 batting-average against. Tyler Frazier is the constant in the starting rotation with 13 start this season, while Eric Marrujo ranks second with nine. Tucker Juline and Jeremiah Priddy each have made eight. Kyle Anderson has a team-high two saves, while Joey Magrisi and AJ Roldan each have one.
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