Cal State Bakersfield gets to Hawaii baseball team in series opener

A strong finish helped the Cal State Bakersfield baseball team claim the opener of a four-game series at Les Murakami Stadium.

Hitless through the first six innings, the Roadrunners surged past Hawaii for a 5-2 victory.

CSUB, which had seven games canceled because of coronavirus-related circumstances, improved to 9-7 overall and 6-3 in the Big West. The Rainbow Warriors fell to 15-12 and 7-10. The series continues with today’s doubleheader starting at noon.

Nick Grossman’s two-run blast put the Roadrunners ahead 3-2 in the seventh. It was Grossman’s third career homer, and first that was not a grand slam.

That homer and a wild sixth spoiled what started as a perfect outing for UH right-handed pitcher Aaron Davenport, who retired the first 12 Roadrunners he faced. Evan Berkey’s walk to lead off the fifth gave CSUB its first baserunner.

Davenport then walked Tyler Jorgensen and beaned Grossman to load the bases with no outs and the Roadrunners trailing 2-0. After a pep talk from UH coach Mike Trapasso, Davenport struck out Nick Salas. Aaron Casillas then hit a hard grounder that third baseman Matt Campos could not field cleanly. But Campos retrieved the ball and fired to catcher Tyler Murray to force out Berkey at the plate for the second out. But Davenport’s 2-1 pitch to Angel Saldivar sailed past Murray, enabling Jorgensen to score from third and cut the CSUB deficit to 2-1.

In the seventh, Berkey smacked Davenport’s 78th pitch of the game to deep left-center for a double to end the no-hit bid. One out later, Grossman pulled a drive over the wall in right field for a 3-2 lead the Roadrunners would not surrender.

“I thought he pitched well,” Trapasso said of Davenport, who allowed three hits and struck out six in seven innings.

Buddie Pindel struggled as Davenport’s successor, yielding five hits and two runs in one inning. Pindel was pulled after relinquishing back-to-back singles to open the ninth. Cameron Hagan retired the three Roadrunners he faced in the ninth.

The ’Bows’ offense was reduced to a three-at-bat sequence. In the fourth, Adam Fogel was hit by a pitch. Alex Baeza then powered a drive to deep right-center. Center fielder Jacen Roberson made a little attempt and appeared to have the ball for a nanosecond. But on his descent, Roberson hit the wall as the ball fell onto the warning track. Fogel scored and Baeza raced to third with his first triple of the season.

Roberson had to be helped off the field for medical treatment. Kyle Barileagu replaced Roberson in center.

After play resumed, Murray’s bloop single to center made it 2-0.

But that was all the ’Bows could muster against the Roadrunners. Arthur Joven, who entered 1-2 with a 5.09 ERA, and Noah Cordova collaborated on a four-hitter. The ’Bows had one hit in the final four innings. CSUB also was helped by several athletic plays, including Salas’ diving snag of a liner and Casillas’ laser from deep short.

“I couldn’t be more disappointed,” Trapasso said. “Honestly, anything I say after that, would not be productive. … It starts with me.”