California Baptist University
Abilene Christian University
Malki Leads Lancers to WAC Opening Night Win
4/2/2026 8:20:00 PM | Baseball
ABILENE, TX--- Western Athletic Conference play got off to a hot start for the California Baptist baseball program as the squad bested Abilene Christian 5-1 on opening conference night. Michael Malki went the distance for seven innings, while the Lancer bats were hot to secure the conference victory. CBU is now 25-5 and 1-0 in WAC play.
After a pair of scoreless innings, Chris Ramirez would get things going in the third inning with a sacrifice fly that scored Matt Chavez, who got on via an error. The Lancers would do it again in the fourth with another sacrifice fly from Connor Ross before Chavez would score again in the fifth via a wild pitch.
The highlight of the scoring came from Bryce McFeely in the fifth as well, knocking his ninth home run of the season to tally a pair of runs for the Lancers. The Wildcats didn't go down without a fight and hit a solo shot in the ninth inning, but it wasn't enough to overcome CBU's offense. Malki had another stellar night on the mound, going seven innings and amassing 11 strikeouts with just three hits. The sophomore right-hander has now accumulated 61 strikeouts on the season, and his 2026 ERA falls to 2.11.
Across the conference, Tarleton State and Utah Tech joined California Baptist in the win column. CBU will go for the series win tomorrow at 10:05 a.m. PST in Abilene, Texas.
