Carter celebrates after the final out (Photo by Mark Alexander)
BAKERSFIELD, Calif.—CSU Bakersfield head coach Bob Macaluso has announced the 2016 baseball schedule.
For the first time in the program’s history, the Roadrunners begin the season on the road as CSUB travels to CSUN for the Feb. 19 opener. The first home game is set for Feb. 20 when the Matadors travel to Bakersfield before the series concludes Feb. 21 back in Northridge.
CSUB welcomes the defending Big East Champion, St. John’s, to Hardt Field for a three-game set Feb. 26-28 before the Roadrunners begin a six-game road trip at Fresno State Mar. 1. CSUB will then head to the University of Arizona for a tournament that will see the ‘Runners take on Saint Mary’s, Northwestern State (La.), and the host Wildcats. The road trip concludes at UC Irvine Mar. 8.
The Roadrunners open an eight-game home stand with a weekend series against UC Riverside Mar. 11-13. CSUB hosts Oklahoma for a four-game series before wrapping up against a 2015 NCAA Tournament participant in UC Santa Barbara Mar. 22.
Western Athletic Conference play for the Roadrunners begins Mar. 24-26 at Seattle U. CSUB heads to Cal Poly for a Mar. 29 game. A seven-game home stand begins Apr. 1-3 against Grand Canyon before Sacramento State (Apr. 8-10), and UC Irvine (Apr. 12) travel to CSUB.
After a three-game series at Northern Colorado Apr. 15-17, the Roadrunners host midweek games against Cal State Fullerton and Loyola Marymount Apr. 19-20. CSUB ends the week with a three-game series against NM State Apr. 22-24.
The Roadrunners travel to Loyola Marymount Apr. 26 to begin a season long eight-game road swing. CSUB will complete the trip at Utah Valley (Apr. 29-May 1), UTRGV (May 6-8), and UC Santa Barbara (May 10).
CSUB wraps up the regular season with seven home games. The set begins with Chicago State (May 13-15) before the final non-conference game of the year against Cal Poly (May 17), and concludes with North Dakota (May 19-21).
The Roadrunners look to defend their WAC Tournament title May 25-29 at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Ariz.
“We have a very challenging non-conference schedule and will have our work cut out for us,” Macaluso said. “The non-conference schedule features several teams that made the NCAA Tournament last season and features the four-game series at home against Oklahoma. We play several Big West schools that are traditionally tough. Our conference will once again be competitive from top to bottom.”
