CBU Locks Up Series Win Over NM State with 11-0 Victory

Saturday, May 7

Riverside, Calif.

5 PM

California Baptist University

28-15, 14-9

NM State

18-25, 8-15

New Mexico State

California Baptist

Photo by: Andrew Shortall

CBU Locks Up Series Win Over NM State with 11-0 Victory

5/7/2022 7:39:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: Andrew Shortall, Director of Athletics Communications

RIVERSIDE – California Baptist University baseball locked up the Western athletic Conference series victory over NM State with an 11-0, run-rule victory in game two.

The Lancers got a seven-inning shutout and career-high 12 strikeouts from starting pitcher CJ Culpepper and hit three homers in the win over the Aggies Saturday at Totman Stadium. CBU improves to 28-15 this season and 14-9 in the WAC, while NMSU drops to 18-25, 8-15.

HAVE YOURSELF A DAY, CJ!

Culpepper throws the first complete game and shutout of his career. His 12 strikeouts were also a career high and tied for fourth most in a single game in CBU's NCAA era and eighth in the modern era. #LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/drq5Yez5G4
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) May 8, 2022

Culpepper allowed just three hits and did not issue a walk in one of his finest starts as a Lancer. His 12 strikeouts were tied for the eighth most in a single game of CBU's modern era and for fourth most in the NCAA era. He had at least one strikeout in every inning and multiple strikeouts in the first four frames, including three in the third.

7⃣ STRIKEOUTS
3⃣ INNINGS

CJ CULPEPPER IS 🔒 IN#LanceUp⚔ pic.twitter.com/o9zp7KQnBq
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) May 8, 2022

Offensively, CBU had 13 hits in the game and saw five players finish with multiple. Chad Castillo ended the day 3-for-4 with two runs scored and a run batted in, while Russell Stevenson (three RBI), Jake Skipworth (three RBI), Mitchel Simon (two RBI) and Harrison Spohn each had two hits.

𝙈𝙄𝙏𝘾𝙃𝙀𝙇 𝙎𝙄𝙈𝙊𝙉 𝙃𝘼𝙎 𝙇𝙀𝙁𝙏 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝘽𝙐𝙄𝙇𝘿𝙄𝙉𝙂 🚀#LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/NgTj8FmDVC
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) May 8, 2022

PLAY-BY-PLAY
CBU scored two runs on a two-out rally in the bottom of the first. The Aggies retired the first two batters, but singles from Castillo and Simon set the table for a two-run single from Stevenson.

2️⃣3️⃣ doubles for Harrison Spohn
5️⃣0️⃣ RBI for Chad Castillo#LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/z3NREkI6Ch
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) May 8, 2022

Spohn hit his 23^rd double of the season to lead off the third and then came around to scored on Castillo's RBI single to make it 4-0. An RBI single from Stevenson and three-run homer from Skipworth made it 7-0 in the fifth.

Jake Skipworth sends the full-count pitch outta here for his seventh homer of the season. #LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/Em1CXc6Iva
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) May 8, 2022

Two-run bombs from Mitchel Simon in the sixth and Grady Tuohy in the seventh helped CBU end the game on the WAC's 10-run mercy rule.

𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗗𝗬 𝗧𝗨𝗢𝗛𝗬 💣

He goes 449 feet to dead center on an exit velocity of 106 to end this game early!#LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/PmaZlxThDY
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) May 8, 2022

UP NEXT
The series comes to an end Sunday at noon back at Totman Stadium. The Lancers will then making their final extended road trip of the season, with a game at the University of San Diego on Tuesday, May 10 at 6 p.m., a WAC series at Seattle U (May 13-15) and a mid-week game at the University of Washington (May 17).