California Baptist University
University of Connecticut
BASE Preview: Lancers Welcome UCONN for the First Time in Program History for Weekend Series
3/14/2024 3:35:00 PM | Baseball
RIVERSIDE – The California Baptist baseball program will welcome the University of Connecticut this weekend during their Western Athletic Conference bye-week in a three-game series beginning on Friday evening. The Lancers enter the weekend on a four-game winning streak with a 12-5 overall record and are 3-0 in conference play. The Huskies come to Riverside with a 5-9 record and are coming off a major win against #22 UC Irvine (D1 Baseball) during a midweek match-up. UConn has been on the road for the last month and has yet to host its home opener or begin BIG EAST Conference play.
THE LANCERS AT A GLANCE
California Baptist is coming off its first-midweek win of the season after downing USC 3-2 on Wednesday evening. The win against the Trojans marks the first time California Baptist Athletics have beaten USC across the department. It also represents the first meeting between the baseball teams, thus also the first win for CBU baseball against Southern California, and the program's second PAC-12 win after beating California 7-0 in 2021.
It was the CBU pitching staff that impressed over the weekend during the Lancer's first WAC series sweep against Seattle U. True freshman Ryan Hetzler shined yet again in relief and picked up a pair of back-to-back wins, owning a .82 ERA across 11 innings of work for the Lancers this season. Michael Carpentier still sits at the top of the batting averages for CBU, clocking in with .400 and 28 hits on the season. Carpentier is ranked 22nd in the nation for hits and moved up to sixth in the nation with 10 doubles this season.
IMPRESSIVE PITCHING:
The Lancers have had a commanding presence from the mound this season and have the numbers to prove it. CBU clocked in with the eighth-lowest team ERA in the NCAA at 3.00 after their outing against USC on Tuesday evening. Gary Adcock's bullpen ERA has also made the rankings and currently sits at number one according to Friday Starters. Nathan Hemmerling, Seth Mattox, and Ryan Hetzler have majorly contributed to the lack of earned runs for the Lancers, earning a 1.99 ERA out of the bullpen.
SERIES INFORMATION
Opponent: UConn
Dates/Times: Friday, March 15th (6:00 p.m. PST); Saturday, March 16th (5:00 p.m. PST); Sunday, March 17th (2:00 p.m. PST)
Location: Riverside, CA (Totman Stadium)
Video: ESPN+: Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4
Live Stats: StatBroadcast: Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4
SERIES NOTES
This will be another first for the Lancers as the CBU baseball program has never competed against UConn on the diamond before. Regarding common opponents, one team both squads have played this season is UCI. The Lancers faced the Anteaters last week during their midweek game and fell to UCI in a tight 5-4 decision, while UConn snagged an impressive 5-0 ranked win and handed UCI their second loss this season.
THE HUSKIES AT A GLANCE
Don't be fooled by the Huskies' 5-9 record. UConn has opened its season against some of the top programs in the country, including three top-25-ranked programs. The squad's win against UCI is incredibly impressive, especially after limiting the Anteaters to just a pair of hits. Other notable wins this season from the Huskies include a mid-series dub against #23 Auburn (D1 Baseball) in Auburn, Alabama. UConn has been a consistently strong team the past few seasons and is coming off their fifth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance, as well as their third-straight BIG EAST regular season championship. The Huskies also finished their 2023 season 44-17 and recorded their second-straight 40-win regular season for the first time in program history.
Korey Morton and Ryan Daniels sit at the top of the batting stats for the Huskies. Morton leads the team with a .300 batting average and has collected 18 hits this year paired with five doubles. The senior also has a pair of home runs and eight RBI on the year. Daniels comes into the weekend with a .275 batting average and leads the team with 11 RBI, picking up three home runs and two doubles.
Leading the pack for the UConn pitching staff are Gabe Van Emon and Stephen Quigley. Van Emon owns the team's lowest ERA with over 10 innings pitched at 1.72 and has allowed just three earned runs across 15.2 innings of action. The graduate student has made five appearances on the mound and just one start for the Huskies this year. Quigley has seen the most innings of action for UConn this year, throwing 21.1 innings and racking up a team-high 18 strikeouts. The right-handed pitcher owns a 4.64 ERA and is currently 0-3 across five appearances and four starts.
Lancer baseball tickets are on sale now at CBULancers.com/baseballtickets for all games at Totman Stadium.
