HENDERSON, Nev. — While Cal State Bakersfield's exploits in the Big West Conference basketball tournament have drawn their fair share of attention, there's still plenty of sports action to attend to back in Kern County. Here's more on the spring sports teams getting deeper into their young seasons.
Bakersfield College
Baseball: The Renegades’ losing skid extended to seven straight games. First, weather postponements forced them to play a game apiece on three straight days over the weekend. They took a 14-2 home loss to Fullerton and a 4-3 road defeat at the Hornets, then got shut out 9-0 at Golden West. BC came back home to host Canyons in its conference opener Tuesday and led 3-2 after RBI singles from Luis Fuentes and Joseph Alatorre, but the Cougars used a string of three eighth-inning hits to claim a 4-3 win and send the Renegades to 6-12 overall, with a rematch coming up in Santa Clarita Thursday.
Softball: The Renegades further refined their position at the edge of the state’s top 10 teams in a doubleheader Saturday. They lost 4-0 to unbeaten state No. 1 Palomar, managing only two hits off pitcher India Caldwell, but bounced back in the late game by beating one of Northern California’s top teams, Folsom Lake. Nine different players managed at least one hit and BC held off a seventh-inning rally for a 6-3 win. The Renegades then added a fourth conference win, 16-1 at Glendale Tuesday, to improve to 11-6 overall ahead of Thursday’s clash with Antelope Valley.
Track and field: At the Saddleback Invitational last Saturday, Tearra Haney set a school record in the women’s discus at 154 feet, 3 inches, leading the women’s team to a third-place result out of 20 teams. Haney also won the javelin and hammer throws and was joined in first place by Olivia Ontiveros (steeplechase) and Neshara Smith (long jump). The men’s team came in sixth, with Malik Bolton (400 meters) and Edgar Merlos (steeplechase) earning second-place finishes.
Women’s tennis: The first conference loss since BC’s Feb. 2 season opener came in dramatic fashion at Glendale, with the Vaqueros’ Minne Mardrosians and Mane Sargsyan edging Greta Krueger and Kiana Lua 9-8(10) in the decisive match at No. 1 doubles. The Renegades took on LA Mission Tuesday and will return home to host Antelope Valley Thursday, having beaten the Marauders 8-1 last month.
Miscellaneous and looking ahead: Beach volleyball dropped a pair of games in Long Beach, 3-2 to Cypress and 4-1 to the host Vikings … Men’s golf competes next at Antelope Valley Monday … Men’s tennis had a home match against Ventura postponed and will play at Glendale Thursday, BC’s second straight contest against the Vaqueros … Swimming is at the Cuesta Invite beginning Thursday … Elise Enriquez of the women’s basketball team earned all-conference first-team honors … Women’s wrestling returns to action after a long hiatus with the State Duals in Fresno Saturday.
Cal State Bakersfield
Baseball: The Roadrunners had their start to the season slowed somewhat by a sweep at the hands of No. 2 Stanford. Their offense was pretty effective, particularly in the third game when they scored nine runs on 13 hits (but still lost 24-9) on Sunday. But the pitching staff struggled and gave up 39 combined runs across three games as CSUB fell to 7-5 on the year ahead of a weekend series at home against Ohio State.
Beach volleyball: CSUB opened its season in earnest after an initial weather delay, going 3-1 in Northridge with wins over Cal State LA, Westcliff and Big West rival CSUN and a loss to Boise State. The Roadrunners will come home Friday to play UTEP and Concordia Irvine on Friday.
Softball: After a trying stretch of six games in which the Roadrunners were outscored 55-2 and repeatedly run-ruled, they had enough in the tank for their fourth win of the year in the bottom half of a doubleheader at Santa Clara Tuesday. Reina Castillo earned her first win of the year after allowing two earned runs in seven innings, and Maya Williams, Samantha Martinez and Kaia Johnson picked up one RBI apiece in a 4-2 victory. CSUB now sits at 4-17 with one week and five games to go until the conference opener against UC San Diego. Next up are Utah Tech and New Mexico State in Fresno Friday.
Swimming and diving: Standout freshman swimmer Vili Sivec completed the 100 fly in 53.68 seconds at the TYR Pro Swim Series in Florida, a 15th-place result which could make him a candidate to represent Croatia internationally. The Roadrunners will return to team competition in Elkhart, Ind., for the National Invitational Championship beginning Thursday.
Miscellaneous and looking ahead: The CSUB track team opened its season in Long Beach last weekend and picked up 13 top-eight finishes, with its next action to come in Fullerton on Friday ... Women's golf returns to action in Utah beginning Thursday.
