No other CSUB wrestler finished above fifth place, the Roadrunners came in last in the conference and the streak looked to be in jeopardy before the redshirt junior Rich — with a proven record of qualifying in two previous seasons — got an at-large bid from the NCAA on March 7.

Now, seeded at No. 21 in his class, Rich is in Tulsa, Okla., and ready to take on No. 12 Chris Cannon from Northwestern Thursday morning.

Rich will be the final winter-sport athlete in competition, as spring teams continue to move deeper into their conference schedules.

Bakersfield College 

Baseball: Canyons completed a sweep in BC's first conference series of the year. The Cougars beat the Renegades 17-5 and 9-6 last Thursday and Monday behind eight combined hits and six RBIs from former CSUB freshman standout Andrew Allanson. Luis Fuentes, on a hot streak of his own after missing several weeks of action, drove in four runs of his own, but it wasn't enough as BC fell to 6-14 with nine straight losses. The team will host LA Mission Thursday.

Softball: The Renegades continue to suffer from weather-related schedule disruptions. After taking a tough 2-0 home loss to conference rival Antelope Valley last Thursday, BC had its Tuesday matchup at LA Mission moved up to Bakersfield Wednesday before overnight rain in town forced another postponement. After playing just four games in the last three weeks, the Renegades will travel to Citrus Thursday.

Miscellaneous and looking ahead: Men's tennis picked up its second straight win against Glendale to improve to 6-3 and will host Santa Barbara Thursday ... After the weather cut short the Cuesta Invite last week, the swim team will return to action for a home meet Friday ... A trio of Renegades, Francisco Felix, Crystal Raya and Nathanael Rodriguez, raced at the Occidental Distance Carnival on Saturday; the team's next meet is in Bakersfield this weekend ... Women's tennis extended its strong start to 8-4 with a sweep against Antelope Valley, but will now have to play road matches on consecutive days against Santa Monica Thursday and Ventura Friday.

Cal State Bakersfield

Baseball: CSUB suffered its second straight set of three losses against a high-level opponent, as Ohio State swept the Roadrunners at Hardt Field. Similar to their previous series at Stanford, they fared well offensively but the pitching didn't keep up, surrendering 45 runs in three games to the Buckeyes and causing CSUB to drop to 7-8 ahead of its Big West Conference opener this Friday at UC Santa Barbara.

Beach volleyball: Even though their weekend at home was cut short by the rain, the Roadrunners still picked up three wins, with two 5-0 sweeps of the young UTEP program and a 4-1 win over Division II power Concordia Irvine. They improved to 6-1 and will face Boise State and San Jose State in San Jose on Friday.

Men's basketball: CSUB got knocked out of the Big West tournament by No. 1 UC Irvine on Thursday despite double-digit scoring performances from Antavion Collum and outgoing seniors Cameron Smith and Travis Henson, as the Anteaters went 11-for-19 from deep and won 75-51. The Roadrunners' offseason got off to a rough start when freshman Cedquavious Hunter announced he was transferring the next day. However, Tallahassee Community College guard Malachi Davis announced an offer from CSUB Tuesday, and the team has also been linked to a number of Division I transfers.

Softball: A pair of games in Fresno got canceled, but the Roadrunners ended up with an impromptu home opener on Sunday when Pacific had to move its doubleheader with CSUB down from Stockton due to the weather. The two teams took one game apiece, with Shaylene Fuimaono's 2-for-3, three-RBI day lifting the Roadrunners to a 5-2 win in the second matchup as they finished their nonconference slate at 5-18. They will host UC San Diego to open Big West play Thursday. 

Swimming and diving: The season drew to a close for both the men's and women's teams after the National Invitational Championship in Indiana last weekend, with the men finishing 13th of 41 teams and the women coming in 30th of 57. Senior Antonio Milin led the way for the men and captured a silver medal in the 100 IM, backed up by strong showings from freshmen Yigit Saglam and Vili Sivec.

Women's basketball: CSUB saw its bid at a third straight Big West tournament upset fall short against UC Santa Barbara in a 75-66 semifinal loss on Friday. Taylor Caldwell, who was named to the all-tournament team, led the Roadrunners to a pair of second-half ties before UCSB pulled away in an 18-4 run. Caldwell finished with 15 points and nine rebounds in her last collegiate game, after lifting the Roadrunners to their memorable double-overtime upset over top-seeded UC Irvine two days earlier. CSUB will now enter the offseason and hope to retain its young talent.

Women's golf: The Roadrunners took an enormous step forward at the Lady Thunderbird Invitational in Utah, closing the tournament on Saturday by tying for fifth place out of 16 schools, their highest-ever team placement. That performance featured a 294-stroke round on Friday, including a 1-under 71 from Iris Han. Arlene Salvador led the way by the tournament's end, coming in seventh with a 4-over 220. CSUB competes next in Fresno beginning March 27.

Miscellaneous and looking ahead: Baseball also got a commitment from Clovis West sophomore Micah Raygoza ... For the track and field team, Miranda Miller, Thomas Richardson and Helena Valentic all won their respective events at the Ben Brown Invitational, with Valentic posting CSUB's second-best time ever in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.

Taft College notes: The Cougars' baseball team dropped to 7-12 after suffering a sweep at the hands of conference rival Fresno City in three close games. Taft hosts Reedley Thursday.