BAKERSFIELD, Calif.--Bakersfield (34-19, 17-7 WAC) heads to San Jose State this weekend with an opportunity to win the Western Athletic Conference baseball title and earn the No. 1 seed for next week's WAC Baseball Tournament.
The 'Runners face the Spartans in the lone Friday-Sunday series this weekend. Friday's game is set for 6 p.m. with Saturday and Sunday's action getting underway at 1 p.m.
The remaining four series will be played Thursday-Saturday. Second place UT Arlington, who are two games back, are at Sacramento State. The Hornets are tied for third in the league with Texas State (both are three games back of CSUB).
The Bobcats host Dallas Baptist. Fifth place UTSA (4.5 back of Bakersfield) is at 12th place Louisiana Tech. New Mexico State, which is tied with Dallas Baptist for sixth (five games back of CSUB) travels to ninth place Seattle U. San Jose State is eighth in the WAC standings, half a game ahead of Seattle U.
The Roadrunners' “Magic Number” is one. If CSUB can win one of three from San Jose State, the Roadrunners clinch at least a share of the WAC regular season championship and the No. 1 seed at next week's WAC Tournament. The Roadrunners hold the tiebreaker (head-to-head) over UT Arlington and Sacramento State.
Bakersfield and San Jose State are playing for the first time since the 2010 season when the Roadrunners took 2-of-3 from the Spartans. San Jose State leads the all-time series 4-2.
The Spartans are 15-37, 9-15 in league play. San Jose State dropped a 14-3 decision to San Francisco Tuesday night. Matt Carroll currently has the 10th highest batting average in the WAC at .339. He leads the Spartans in doubles with 14 and RBI's with 36. David Wayne Russo leads the team in victories with four.
Jeff McKenzie (Sr., El Dorado Hills, Calif., San Joaquin Delta College) advanced to the newest watch list for the Pitcher of the Year Award May 15. The award, sponsored by Diamond Sports, will be presented on June 29 as part of the College Baseball Hall of Fame's annual Night of Champions event in Lubbock, Texas. McKenzie, who is the lone WAC representative on the list which features 22 players from across the country. The award will be given on June 29. He is 12-1 with a 1.76 ERA. He leads the team in strikeouts with 77 in 97 innings.
