Editor-in-Chief
The CSU Bakersfield baseball team fell in the opener of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament against New Mexico State University 4-0 on Wednesday.
CSUB outhit the Aggies 8 to 7 in the loss but could not bring any of those baserunners home.
Kyle Bradish of NM State earned the win as he threw seven shutout innings, giving up four hits and two walks while striking out 10.
The junior right-hander navigated through traffic early on as the Roadrunners had baserunners in scoring position in three of the first four innings.
CSUB redshirt-senior lefty Alec Daily was saddled with the loss. He went seven innings and gave up four runs (three earned) on seven hits, four walks and five strikeouts.
He also hit two batters, both of which came within the first three batters of the game.
Junior Tristen Carranza of the Aggies drove in both of those baserunners with a double to right which gave NM State an early lead.
After a walk to lead off the bottom of the fourth, Carranza came around to score on a single by senior Marcus Still to put the Aggies up 3-0.
In the bottom of the seventh, NM State added an insurance run when sophomore Joey Ortiz scored an unearned run on a fielder’s choice.
Reliever Brock Whittlesey pitched the final two frames to seal the win for the Aggies. With men on first and second with no outs in the top of eighth, the junior managed to escape the jam and preserve the shutout.
Junior Noah Barba of CSUB finished 2-for-4 at the plate, including a double in the first inning. He then advanced to third on a balk by Bradish. As senior Andrew Penner struck out, the ball got away from the Aggies catcher Braden Williams. Barba tried to score and was tagged out at the plate by Bradish to end the inning.
Roadrunners senior Jassen Oliver reached base three times on Wednesday as he went 2-for-3 and was hit by a pitch. He also stole a base.
CSUB will play an elimination game tomorrow against the University of Northern Colorado at 11 a.m. UNC lost to Seattle University 8-3 earlier in the day.
NM State will move on to face No. 2 seed Sacramento State in the winner’s bracket tomorrow at 4 pm.
