The Bakersfield Roadrunners scored early and allowed their pitching to carry them the rest of the way, defeating the Seattle University Redhawks, 5-0, Friday night in a Western Athletic Conference collegiate baseball game at Hardt Field.
Bakersfield (24-15-1, 11-4-1 WAC) jumped on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third inning, starting with back-to-back singles by Jordie Hein and Joey Sanchez. A single by David Metzgar drove in Hein, and once the ball got away from Redhawk centerfielder Colin Peterson (Bellingham, Wash.), Sanchez was able to come around to score. Metzgar, who advanced to third base on the misplay, scored on a single by Max Carter, increasing the Roadrunner lead to 3-0.
In the fifth inning, Sanchez was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, advanced to second inning on a groundout, and came around to score when a single hit by Carter was misplayed by Seattle U leftfielder Michael McCann (Vancouver, Wash.). Carter reached third base on the Redhawk error and scored on a single by Ryan Grotjohn, increasing the Roadrunner lead to 5-0.
After earning only one hit through the first five innings, the Redhawks showed signs of life with two outs in the sixth inning, as Griffin Andreychuk (Nanaimo, B.C.) reached on an infield single and Landon Cray (Chimacum, Wash.) followed with a double, but Hayden Carter induced an inning-ending groundout to end the Redhawk threat. In the seventh inning, Seattle U loaded the bases on singles by Sheldon Stober (Kent, Wash.), Brian Olson (Black Diamond, Wash.), and Sean Sutton (Coeur d’Alene, Idaho), but Carter retired the next three hitters in order to prevent the Redhawks from scoring.
Hayden Carter earned a complete game victory for the Roadrunners, scattering nine hits without walking anybody and striking out one batter. He threw 122 pitches, 74 of them for strikes. Will Dennis (Saratoga, Calif.) took the loss for the Redhawks, allowing nine hits and five runs, three of them earned, in seven innings of work while striking out four Bakersfield hitters.
Seattle University (21-20, 12-4 WAC) continues the three-game series against Bakersfield Saturday, April 25, beginning at 2 p.m. Live stats and live audio will be available on GoSeattleU.com.