California Baptist University
Seattle University
BASE Preview: CBU Opens Conference Play on Friday Against Seattle
3/6/2024 1:55:00 PM | Baseball
RIVERSIDE – The Western Athletic Conference is set to begin on Friday as the Seattle Redhawks head south to Riverside, California, to take on the California Baptist Lancers. Seattle enters the weekend with a 4-8 overall record, taking wins off UC Davis, St. Mary's, Pacific, and San Jose to start their season. CBU comes into conference play with an 8-5 record, recently battling #23 UCI in a midweek tilt to close a 5-4 loss.
THE LANCERS AT A GLANCE
California Baptist has prepped well before they begin conference play on Friday, facing dominant squads through the first leg of their season, including Utah and #23 UC Irvine. After taking a series win against UC Davis last weekend, the Lancers turned around to face the Anteaters and pulled out an impressive performance during the away game. Though a loss was added to CBU's record, the midweek tilt was a solid showing for the Lancers and a confidence boost before WAC play starts.
The attack for the Lancers is led by Michael Carpentier, Nicholas Dumesnil, and Mitchel Simon. Carpentier has been excellent from the start of the season, leading CBU with a .400 batting average with 22 hits and seven doubles. The senior catcher is currently slugging .582 and has been perfect behind the plate for the Lancers. Sophomore Nicholas Dumesnil has picked up where he left off with a breakout freshman season and continues to prove why deserves to be in the starting line-up. Dumesnil is currently batting .333 paired with two doubles, a triple, and a pair of home runs. Simon rounds out the offense to keep an eye on during the weekend series as the home run leader (4) for the Lancers, tallying 17 hits and five doubles.
No big deal, Mitch Simon just hit a 3-run bomb in the first for an early lead💣#LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/Gex4gjfLLu
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) March 3, 2024
The Lancer's pitching staff currently holds the 17th-lowest ERA in the NCAA, sitting at 3.41 as a squad. Nathan Hemmerling has shined from the mound this season, after tossing 11 innings with a 0.00 ERA and sitting down 13 batters. Other notable pitchers for CBU include Ryan Delgado, who has two pitching wins on the year and a 3.52 ERA, and first-year Ryan Hetzler. Hetzler has been excellent in relief for California Baptist, getting the Lancers out of major jams in series-deciding games. The freshman owns a 1.17 ERA across five appearances with nine strikeouts and a single earned run.
BY THE NUMBERS:
Michael Carpentier was named the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Week for his performance against UC Davis. 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. This is the first WAC weekly award for the Lancers and Carpentier's first WAC Player of the Week award in his career.
The first of many!#LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/LAvwCnSCyt
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) March 4, 2024
Additionally, the senior catcher is making waves in the WAC statistically. Carpentier currently holds the most doubles and hits in the WAC, while sitting with the second-most RBI in the conference. He also has the 10th most doubles and the 13th most hits in the NCAA. Mitchel Simon has also been solid at the plate for the Lancers and currently holds the second-most total bases in the WAC while posting the most home runs for CBU at four.
SERIES INFORMATION
Opponent: Seattle University
Dates/Times: Friday, March 8th (6 p.m.) | Saturday, March 9th (12 p.m.) | Sunday, March 10th (12 p.m.)
Location: Riverside, CA (Totman Stadium)
Video: ESPN+
Live Stats: Statbroadcast
SERIES NOTES
The Redhawks and Lancers have been battling since CBU became WAC members in 2019 with their overall meeting record going California Baptist's way, 13-3. In their most recent meeting, it was the Lancers that came away with a 2-1 series win after defeating Seattle during the Friday and Saturday meetings.
Regarding common opponents, Seattle opened their season with a series versus UC Davis and won their first game but ultimately fell in the final two games of the series. The Lancers also battled the Aggies in a four-game series this year and sent UC Davis home with three losses.
THE REDHAWKS AT A GLANCE
Seattle University enters the weekend on a one-game losing streak after failing to split the series with St. Mary's over the weekend. The Redhawks took the third game of the series but couldn't convert the Sunday match-up for their fifth win of the season. Seattle was picked to finish eighth in WAC Preseason Polls at the beginning of the year after coming off an under .500 previous season.
Cole Kleckner and Sam Kane have been strong at the plate for the Redhawks this season. Kleckener enters the weekend with a team-high .373 batting average and has tallied 19 hits, four doubles, and nine runs this season. Kane follows suit with a .333 batting average while brining in 16 hits, five doubles, and three home runs for the Redhawks. Seattle currently has four batters hitting above .300 with 12 or more hits.
On the pitching side, Cameron Dayton and Blake Smith have proven to be solid on the mound for Seattle. Dayton owns a 3.37 ERA across 10.2 innings, throwing 11 strikeouts and earning one save this season. Smith is a consistent pitcher for the Redhawks with 19 innings of action and has accumulated eight strikeouts and a 3.79 ERA. As a staff, Seattle has a team 7.80 ERA and allowed 89 earned runs this year.
