Baseball: The team finished third at the Western Athletic Conference Championship over the weekend. As the number four seed in the tournament, they opened up on Wednesday against Seattle, where they won 6-5 after a walk-off RBI single by junior first baseman Soloman Williams. Williams finished the game going 3-3 with four RBIs.
The ’Runners advanced to the second round of the tournament on Thursday, where they upset the number one seed Sacramento State 4-1. Freshman second baseman David Metzgar opened up the game for the ’Runners in the top of the ninth with a 2 RBI double, his only hit of the ballgame. Senior pitcher Taylor Aikenhead hurled a complete game, only allowing the one run off of seven hits.
On Friday, the team dropped their first game of the tournament, losing to Utah Valley 5-2 in the finals of the winner’s bracket. The Wolverines broke open the game early with a four-run first inning effort, forcing the ’Runners to play from behind the entire game, a deficit they were unable to overcome.
The ’Runners season concluded on Saturday as Sacramento State avenged their loss on Thursday with a final of 3-1 in the loser’s bracket finals. Williams scored the only CSUB run with an RBI single in the sixth inning, but the game was lost with a homerun by Sacramento State’s junior first baseman Rhys Hoskins, the WAC Player of the Year.
Last week, the WAC year-end awards were also announced and three ’Runners were honored. Aikenhead was named to the first team All-WAC team, sophomore outfielder Chance Gusbeth was named to the second team All-WAC, and junior outfielder Jordie Hein was also named to the second team All-WAC.
Track and Field: Junior thrower Bryan Wilmert will head to the NCAA West Regional Track meet on May 29-31 in Fayetteville, Arkansas to represent CSUB in the hammer throw and battle against the rest of the best throwers of the West. Wilmert won the hammer throw event at the WAC Championships last week, becoming the ’Runners first WAC champion. If Wilmert places in the top 12 of the event, he will qualify for the NCAA Championships in June.
