California Baptist University
California State University at Fullerton
California Baptist Set to Debut 2026 Squad at Fullerton on Friday
2/12/2026 11:15:00 AM | Baseball
RIVERSIDE--- It's officially time to grab your peanuts and Cracker Jacks because the 2026 college baseball season has arrived. California Baptist is set to begin its final season in the Western Athletic Conference with a back-and-forth series against California State University, Fullerton, on Friday evening, before hosting a doubleheader and concluding the four-game spread in Orange County on Sunday afternoon. Skipper Gary Adcock's team has made some noise in the preseason rankings as he returns 21 players and welcomes five transfers with 10 freshmen to Totman Stadium.
Adcock returns for his 23rd season, the longest of any CBU coach, and owns the most wins within the Western Athletic Conference within the Lancer athletic department. The CBU skipper was named by the DI Baseball news outlet to finish first within conference play this season and is expected to make a regional run. To help the squad reach its possible potential, Adcock recruited two right-handed pitchers, a pair of outfielders, and a catcher from other universities.
Of the transfer recruits, the trio from Westmont College will be the ones to keep an eye on this season as the squad brings National Championship maturity to Riverside after winning it all at the NAIA level in 2023. Zachary Yates brings an impressive pedigree that includes NCAA Division II All-American, All-Region, and All-Conference honors and averaged 11.02 strikeouts as a reliever in 2024, boasting 51 Ks and just nine walks. Bryce McFeely enters Division I baseball with a career .331 batting average, 30 home runs, and 37 stolen bases. The outfielder's rare combination of size and physicality is set to bring strong production to the Lancer offense in 2026. Bryan Peck joins CBU as another right-handed pitcher and will likely log significant innings for the Lancers, having earned impressive honors such as All-American and All-Region. He also holds Westmont's all-time pitching wins record.
Adcock also brings one of the highest-ranked freshmen recruits to Riverside this season in Diesel Toth. Toth is an infielder and right-handed pitcher known for his strength and quickness, making him one of the most versatile players this season for Coach Adcock. Toth ended his high school career with a .380 batting average and 1.77 ERA, and was predicted to be the WAC Freshman of the Year by DI Baseball news outlet.
And among those 21 returners, Adcock was successful in retaining Cody New and Chris Ramirez for the 2026 roster. New enters his junior season behind an impressive sophomore campaign, where the lefty finished with a 3.50 ERA and a .217 opposing batting average against himself. The High-Desert Native fired 98 strikeouts from the mound with a 6-3 record across 80 innings of action, and was named the WAC Preseason Pitcher of the Year by DI Baseball, in addition to being ranked 35th among the top 200 Division I Pitchers. Ramirez also made some noise in the DI Baseball shortstop rankings, named 24th of the top 50. The 2025 Defensive Player and Freshman of the Year had a stunning college debut, hitting .350 with 71 hits and 30 RBI as the starting shortstop for the Lancers.
The Lancers don another competitive schedule as their time in the WAC comes to a close, citing 26 home games and a total of 14 weekend series. The conference will be a close race between four clubs, with Abilene Christian selected to win the regular-season title in the coaches' poll, followed by Utah Valley, CBU, and Sacramento State. The start of April marks the beginning of Western Athletic Conference play, and the Lancers will kick off the year at ACU before ending the year with a bye week against UC Davis.
Cal State Fullerton will be an interesting matchup for the first weekend series of the year, as the Titans have a history of success and will be the Lancers' future Big West rival come 2027. CSUF was selected to finish tied for fourth in their preseason polls, with one player named to their all-conference team. Andrew Kirchner returns to Fullerton for his senior season after leading the Big West with 70 RBI and a .307 batting average with 37 runs and 12 home runs. From the mound, closer Andrew Wright, who makes his return to the Titans, has been named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Watch List after ending the 2025 season with a 2.40 ERA across 27 appearances.
California Baptist begins its 2026 campaign tomorrow evening at 6:30 p.m. in Fullerton with its home opener on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. Tickets can be purchased here.
