By Nate Sanchez
Senior Columnist
The CSU Bakersfield baseball team performed well on both sides of the field to beat Wagner University 4-2 at Hardt Field on March 7, which led to a sweep for the Roadrunners.
Wagner struggled to keep pace with CSUB, and the Roadrunners (9-6) were able to extend their current winning streak to six straight. The Seahawks (0-5-1) only scored five runs in the three-game series against the ’Runners pitching. Meanwhile, the ’Runners’ bats drove in 18 runs.
“We’ve played well in the last two weeks,” CSUB coach Bill Kernen said. “Sometimes the hardest thing to do is handle success and keep playing hard. Not getting complacent is going to be one of the things that we care about.”
Senior pitcher Nick Rogowski capped off the series with a win against the Seahawks, tossing a complete game, while surrendering six hits and two earned runs. Rogowski matched his single-game strikeout record with nine and only walked two. He struggled in the first inning and the ninth, when he gave up his only two runs.
The only negative part of Rogowski’s performance was his pitch count. He threw 126 pitches in his nine-inning outing. While he got the job done, I’d argue that high pitch counts this early in the season can be risky for a player’s health.
“We’re a week from conference so I’m letting him go,” Kernen said. “I’ve been keeping him under a hundred pitches but I’ve let him and Hayden [Carter] go. They both wanted to finish and I never had a doubt that they wouldn’t.”
Sunday’s offense put on an impressive performance as well. Senior Solomon Williams hit his first home run of the season, violently escorting an Austin Goeke fastball over the right field fence.
On March 7, the Roadrunners showed the best of offense and defense for them. They scored 10 runs on eight hits while only surrendering a single run. Sophomore pitcher Steven Gee struck out six in seven innings while sophomore infielder Joey Sanchez went 2-3 with two RBI and a walk.
The last home series against Northern Kentucky, I mentioned that the top of the lineup was improving, and the middle of the lineup has followed suit, big time. Senior shortstop Mylz Jones, senior outfielder Chance Gusbeth and Williams have begun to flex on the competition and
Before the season, Kernen told me that he was most confident in the team’s defense. The only question at the time was the hot corner. However, Sanchez has filled the third base hole rather well.
His fielding percentage is .857, so his defense is pretty good. He also leads the team in on-base percentage (.658) and slugging percentage (.583), runs scored and is third on the team when it comes to hits (12). He’s played 13 games only started seven. He’s also never hit into a double play. During the Wagner series, Sanchez got on base 70 percent of the time.
CSUB will look to continue its wave of momentum as it is scheduled to play at UC Riverside on March 11 at 6 p.m.
