Senior Columnist

The school year is drawing to a close, and with it, CSU Bakersfield’s athletic seasons. It’s been quite a year for the Runners, complete with triumphant victories and defeats that came out of nowhere. The combined winning percentage of baseball, men’s soccer, volleyball and women’s basketball was just above .634, which isn’t bad considering the competition from this year.

Baseball

Baseball is my favorite sport, and they’ve garnered the most recent success, so they go first. The boys in blue and sometimes white or yellow finished the season 36-22-1 (17-9 WAC) and, as of May 24, are WAC Tournament Champions set to face off against UCLA in the Regionals.

Nate’s MVP: I get that in team sports, you’re not allowed to take any of the credit and that’s cool. But I think James Barragan deserves some acclaim for his performance this year. He finished in the top ten in ERA (2.82), opposing batting average (.242), strikeouts (78), strikeouts per game (8.46) and fewest doubles allowed (6).

Women’s Basketball

The women’s basketball team (23-9, 11-3 WAC) was outstanding this year. It was favored in the preseason polls and didn’t disappoint. It finished its season with a perfect record at home. CSUB fell to the University of Texas-Pan American in the semifinals, but didn’t take away from its great season.

Nate’s MVP: Tyonna Outland, hands down. While she didn’t receive the WAC’s player of the year honor, she walked away with serious bragging rights as CSUB’s all-time leading scorer and a contract with the Los Angeles Sparks as an undrafted free agent.

Volleyball CSUB’s had a strong volleyball team for a while now, but its success hit another high this year, as they earned the third seed in the WAC Tournament and fought its way to the winner’s circle with a sweep of Seattle University. The Roadrunners lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament against top-seeded Stanford, but walked away with their first taste of national glory.

Nate’s MVP: You can’t win if you don’t score, so I’m giving my MVP to senior outside hitter Danika Youngblood. She led the team in kills (416) and kills per set (3.75). She was second on the team in digs (288) and blocks (50).

Men’s Soccer

I knew men’s soccer was going to be a success this year. You can even check on The Runner’s website. I’m really proud of that. I’m also proud of the men’s squad, who made it all the way to the finals of the WAC Tournament, losing to University of Nevada, Las Vegas in a round of penalty kicks. First-year coach Richie Grant led the team to a 10-7-5 record, and 14 of his players were honored by the conference as All-Academic Players. Senior Joe Masumiya also signed a contract to play professionally for the Kitsap Pumas.

Nate’s MVP: “Alive And Kicking” must’ve been written about Julian Zamora. Good lord, the man was a freshman on fire. He led the WAC in points with 26 and goals (12), three more than second place. A quarter of those goals were game-winners, tied for first in the conference. Did I mention he’s a freshman?