Lancers Split Day with UTA, Drop WAC Series 2-1

Friday, March 29

Riverside, Calif.

2:00 PM

California Baptist University

16-11, 5-3

UT Arlington

11-15, 8-3

UT Arlington

California Baptist

Lancers Split Day with UTA, Drop WAC Series 2-1

3/29/2024 10:45:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Mariah Rodriguez, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications and Digital Media

RIVERSIDE--- The California Baptist baseball program split the day with UT Arlington and dropped their first Western Athletic Conference series on Friday, after falling to the Mavericks 5-3 during the first game. The Lancers avoided being swept after finishing the evening with a 7-1 win that improved CBU to 17-11 overall and 6-3 in conference play.

The first game of the day was competitive between the squads and saw the lead exchanged multiple times throughout the game. California Baptist kicked off the scoring for the day after Mitchel Simon brought home a single run with a well-placed double down the right-field line. The Mavericks immediately responded with their run to tie the game and it was not until the bottom of the seventh that the Lancers retook the lead after Connor McGuire secured an RBI single.

SHAYNE SIMPSON TIES IT TO SEND US TO THE TENTH‼️#LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/3PEQAqfTvR
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) March 29, 2024

UTA did not go down without a fight and managed to knot the squads 2-2 in the eighth, securing their first lead of the day in the top of the ninth. Shayne Simpson stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the ninth and unleashed a no-doubter over right field to tie the game again that forced a tenth inning. CBU was unable to secure their third walk-off of the year after the Mavericks brought home a pair of runs for the 5-3 win.

The second game of the day was all CBU, even though UT Arlington made their way on board first after Ryan Delgado got the Lancers out of a loaded bases situation, only giving up a single run. A five-run bottom of third gave the Lancers a lead that was never relinquished, supported by back-to-back home runs by McGuire and Jake Brown. UTA attempted to string together a comeback in the eighth after a Maverick launched what seemed to be a no-doubter, but Nicholas Dumesnil's home run robbery limited UTA to just a single run. The Lancers tacked on a lone run in the fifth and seventh innings for the 7-1 victory.

BACK✌️BACK! Jake Brown touches all the bases right after Connor McGuire for a two-run lead!#LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/X1KLoCDW3u
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) March 30, 2024

McGuire dominated the weekend with a .625 batting average and led the Lancers with five hits at the plate. On the pitching side, Brandon Downer was solid on the mound as he saw 6.2 innings of the action and allowed just a single earned run.

CBU will now gear up for a Tuesday midweek tilt as they travel to face UC Santa Barbara on April 2nd at 4:35 p.m.