California Baptist University
Stephen F. Austin
BASE Preview: CBU Welcomes the Lumberjacks for Three-Game Homestand
4/11/2024 4:25:00 PM | Baseball
RIVERSIDE --- The California Baptist baseball team will return to home this weekend after four games on the road to welcome Stephen F. Austin in their fifth Western Athletic Conference series. The Lancers are coming off a solid win at CSUN and a series win against WAC foe Sacramento State, while the Lumberjacks enter the weekend on a three-game losing streak.
THE LANCERS AT A GLANCE
California Baptist picked up a conference series win over the weekend against Sacramento State, solidifying a second-place standing heading into the new week of conference play. After taking two of three games up north, the Lancers returned to SoCal for a Monday afternoon match-up against CSUN. CBU took down the Matadors for the second time this season in a 12-4 home run derby, where Mitchel Simon and Josh Paino each launched a pair of dingers for the win.
Michael Carpentier still hangs at the top of the stat sheet for the Lancers, boasting a .331 batting average and 45 hits this season. Nicholas Dumesnil has solidified a starting position in center field and has done extremely well for the Lancers. The sophomore is hitting .321 paired with 36 hits and seven home runs this year. For the CBU pitching staff, Lukas Pirko still sits at the top with a 2.50 ERA after 36 innings of action for the freshman right-hander. Pirko and Brandon Downer lead the Lancers with 35 strikeouts, while the senior owns a 2.51 ERA across 46.2 innings from the mound and holds a 1.07 WHIP.
BY THE NUMBERS
Heading into the Lancer's fourth week of WAC play, Gary Adcock's squad has tallied some impressive numbers this far in the season. California Baptist currently sits in second place in a three-way tie with Abilene Christian and Utah Valley in the conference standings. As a team, the Lancers lead the WAC with the lowest ERA at 4.07 as a staff and were also the first team to 20 wins this season. The low ERA checks in nationally at 17th, led by Ryan Hetzler. The freshman has been clutch this season as a reliever for CBU and has thrown a 1.93 ERA, the third lowest individually in the conference.
Michael Carpentier continues to be dominant for CBU and leads the squad with a .331 batting average paired with 45 hits. The senior also leads the WAC with 18 doubles on the year, clocking in with the third most in the NCAA.
SERIES INFORMATION
Opponent: Stephen F. Austin
Dates/Times: Friday, April 12th (5:00 p.m. PST); Saturday, April 13th (11:00 a.m. PST); Sunday, April 14th (12:00 p.m. PST)
Location: Riverside, CA (Totman Stadium)
Video: ESPN+: Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
Live Stats: StatBroadcast: Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
SERIES NOTES
The Lumberjacks and Lancers have competed just once before this weekend, which saw a 2-1 series favoring SFA. The squads played last season in Nacogdoches, Texas, where CBU fell to the home squad 2-1. The Lancers will be looking for their second conference sweep this season against SFA, righting the overall record against the Lumberjacks.
THE LUMBERJACKS AT A GLANCE
Stephen F. Austin enters the weekend at the bottom of the WAC standings with a 5-28 overall record and a 2-13 conference record. The Lumberjacks are still on the hunt for their first conference series win of the season with their lone wins against conference opponents Tarleton and Abilene Christian.
Leading the team in batting average is senior Cole Hill, owning a .323 with 40 hits on the year. The outfielder is a crafty baserunner and leads the team with 25 runs scored and has 12 stolen bases. From the mound, Reid Boyett has been the go-to guy for the Lumberjacks and has thrown over 50 innings this season. The junior right-hander is 0-6 across 11 appearances, holding 42 strikeouts, and has pitched one complete game this season.
Lancer baseball tickets are on sale now at CBULancers.com/baseballtickets for all games at Totman Stadium.
