RIVERSIDE--- Liam Rocha had himself a night on the mound against the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Rebels in the opening series game. The junior earned a career-high 11 strikeouts, helping the Lancers take game one of the series 9-2. California Baptist improves to 20-18 on the season.
After Rocha sat down three Rebel batters in order in the first, CBU got on the board off a triple from
Josh Paino that scored
Shayne Simpson. Dusty Garcia extended the lead by two with his twelfth home run of the season in the third inning. UNLV tallied an unearned run in the third as well, but the Lancers were able to collect another three runs in the following inning.
Josiah Chavez picked up an RBI with a single down the left field line, while both
Michael Carpentier and
Mitchel Simon earned RBIs off two errors from the Rebels.
The Lancers continued their offensive domination into the seventh and eighth innings. Garcia crossed home plate after Paino reached on a Rebel error. The freshman
Nicholas Dumesnil picked up a single and an RBI in the seventh as well. Carpentier cleaned up the eighth with a solo home run for a 9-1 lead.
Four Lancers picked up a multiple-hit game, with Carpentier leading the pack with two hits, two RBI, and two runs. Garcia also collected two RBI off his homer as CBU ended the night with twelve hits off the Rebels.
Rocha earned the win after throwing a total of five innings, ending the evening with 11 Ks and only one walk. The Lancer pitching staff combined for 16 strikeouts on the night, breaking the previous single-game strikeout record in the Division I era at CBU.
California Baptist takes on the Rebels again on Saturday afternoon at 1:05 p.m. for the second game of the weekend series.
