California Baptist University
34-22, 18-12
Utah Tech
14-42, 10-20
CBU Secures Series Win to Finish Tied for Second in WAC Regular Season Standings
5/18/2024 4:15:00 PM | Baseball
ST. GEORGE, UT--- The California Baptist baseball program finished their final regular season contest with a 15-5 win over Utah Tech on Saturday afternoon. The Lancers completed the regular season with an 18-12 WAC record while improving to 34-22 overall, ending conference play tied for second. CBU ends the regular season with the WAC's second best overall win percentage and second highest RPI at 139 behind Grand Canyon.
The victory over the Trailblazers secured a four-seed for the Lancers after ACU, UVU, and CBU all ended with a tied record. With all teams holding a series over each other, the Western Athletic Conference code dictates that the next tiebreaker would be how each team did against the next highest seed. With both Abilene Christian and Utah Valley holding a win against #1 Grand Canyon, the Lancers solidified fourth place as ACU takes second after winning the head-to-head against UVU.
Mitchel Simon got things going in the first inning with a two-run shot that put CBU ahead early, but the Trailblazers made quick work in the bottom of the inning to bring in a trio of runs to take their first and only lead of the game. Connor McGuire restored the lead to the away squad with an RBI single that quickly turned into two runs after a throwing error by the UTU right fielder allowed Matthew Darr to go home. A double courtesy of Nicholas Dumesnil brought in another run in the fourth inning that was answered by Utah Tech to cut the Lancer's lead to 5-4.
After a scoreless fifth, California Baptist would go on to score in all four final innings and began with a pair of runs in the sixth after Dumesnil launched his 18th homer of the season. A wild pitch allowed Julian Alvarez to score in the seventh, and the eighth inning saw four Lancers cross the plate to give the Riverside team a 12-5 lead heading to the ninth. Simon put a bow on the regular season finale with his 24th home run of the year, which was good for three RBI and a final 15-5 victory in favor of CBU.
Dumesnil and Simon both tallied three hits and combined for eight RBI between the pair, leading the Lancers offensively. Ryan Delgado had a solid day on the mound and tossed five strikeouts through six innings of work while allowing just two runs and six hits.
With a four seed secured, the Lancers will now turn their attention to the Western Athletic Conference Tournament. CBU earns a first-round bye as a top-four team and will play on Wednesday, May 22nd at 4 p.m. at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Arizona against the winner of the no. 5 seed versus no. 8 seed. WAC Tournament information can be found below.
Game 4 - Game 2 winner vs. No. 4 seed - 4 p.m. PST | Live Stats | Tickets | ESPN +
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Delgado, Ryan (5-1)
L: Carston Herman (3-6)
Batting:
2B: Dumesnil, Nicholas 1 ; Chavez, Matt 1 ; Carpentier, Michael 1 ; McGuire, Connor 1
HR: Dumesnil, Nicholas 1 ; Simon, Mitchel 2
RBI: Dumesnil, Nicholas 3 ; Simon, Mitchel 5 ; Brown, Jake 1 ; Alvarez, Julian 1 ; Carpentier, Michael 2 ; McGuire, Connor 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Dumesnil, Nicholas 3 ; Simon, Mitchel 2 ; Kim, Ryan 1 ; Paino, Josh 1 ; Brown, Jake 1 ; Darr, Matthew 2 ; Alvarez, Julian 2 ; Chavez, Matt 1 ; McGuire, Connor 1 ; Antillon, Gunner 1
HBP: Kim, Ryan 1 ; Alvarez, Julian 1 ; Carpentier, Michael 1
Batting:
3B: Jack Walker 1
RBI: Kyle McDaniel 1 ; Hank Dodson 1 ; Chase Rodriguez 1 ; Blake Borgogno 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hunter Katschke 1 ; Aaron Perez 1 ; Hank Dodson 1 ; Jack Walker 2
HBP: Brennen Study 1
