By: Mariah Rodriguez, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications and Digital Media
RIVERSIDE – The California Baptist baseball team will head to Orange County on Tuesday evening for a midweek tilt against the #23 UC Irvine Anteaters (DI Baseball). The Lancers are coming off a series win against UC Davis, taking three of the four-game series, and have improved their season record to 8-4. The Anteaters bested UCLA, Michigan, and San Diego at the Dodger Stadium College Baseball Classic, and currently hold a perfect 9-0 record.
THE LANCERS AT A GLANCE
Gary Adcock's squad has found their rhythm and entered Friday's double-header on a three-game winning streak. The Lancers extended their streak to six after taking the first three games of the series, courtesy of a strong pitching staff but ultimately fell on Sunday.
Michael Carpentier was on fire for CBU against the Aggies and currently has the seventh most doubles and 14th most hits in the NCAA. True freshman Ryan Hetzler shined on the mound for the Lancers as well, coming in as relief during the bottom of the seventh of the second game and striking out the side to get CBU out of a jam. Mitchel Simon continues to lead from the plate after hitting a pair of home runs and tallying five RBI against UCD.
WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Michael Carpentier was named the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Week for his performance against UC Davis over the weekend. The senior tallied nine hits, four doubles, and a .529 series batting average, helping the Lancers to a 3-1 series win over the Aggies.
Carpentier started the weekend on Friday afternoon by hitting his first RBI double to extend the Lancer's lead to 4-1, eventually leading CBU to their first win of the series. The catcher also led the offensive attack in the third game of the series as he came up big with a pair of doubles and finished Sunday afternoon with two hits, as well as a run. After the weekend wins, Carpentier now leads the Lancers with the most doubles (7) and with the most hits (21). The senior catcher boasts a season .412 batting average with 13 RBI on the year. This is the first WAC weekly award for the Lancers and Carpentier's first WAC Player of the Week award in his career.
SERIES INFORMATION
Opponent: UC Irvine
Date/Time: Tuesday, March 5th, 2024
Location: Irvine, CA (Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark)
Video: ESPN+
Live Stats: Sidearm Stats
SERIES NOTES
It's been 35 years since the squad last met in May of 1988 as California Baptist traveled south to face the Anteaters and fell 12-3. Both teams have started the season well and hold a top 55 RPI spot, with CBU checking in at #56 and UCI at #5. The Lancers enter Tuesday's game after facing several common opponents for the 'Eaters, specifically Big West foes UC Riverside and UC Davis. CBU faired well against the squads, pulling out two series wins and dropping just a single game against both opponents across the four-game series.
THE ANTEATERS AT A GLANCE
UC Irvine enters 2024 after a wildly successful season that ended too soon after the squad was snubbed of a chance at an NCAA regionals opportunity after finishing the year 38-17. The Anteaters have been named #25 in the Baseball American Preseason Poll and started their season perfectly, picking up nine straight wins with no losses and landing a spot on the DI Baseball rankings this week at #23.
Caden Kendle returns for UCI this year after he was drafted in the 10th round of the MLB Draft last summer and has already made his mark, batting .472 with 17 hits, 14 RBI, and six doubles across nine starts. Myles Smith follows closely behind with 10 hits and is currently batting .400 while slugging .600. The 'Eaters currently have five batters hitting above .300 as the team is currently averaging .307.
From the mound, Nick Pinto is the name of the game for UCI. The grad student has already tallied three pitching wins this season while holding a 2.08 ERA across 17.1 innings of action. Pinto leads the UCI pitching staff with 19 strikeouts but Trevor Hansen isn't far behind with 13 of his own. Hansen currently holds a 4.26 ERA with 12.2 innings of work, starting three games for UCI this season.
