COLLEGE ROUNDUP, April 26-May 2: Softball playoff preview

May 3—Throughout its regular-season schedule, the Bakersfield College softball team appeared much more vulnerable in 2023 than it had in 2022.

Last year's Renegades tore through their Western State Conference schedule with a clinical efficiency and an unbeaten record; this year's squad dropped two close games against rival Antelope Valley and one against Canyons, and needed late-game luck to emerge from home matchups against the likes of Citrus, Glendale and LA Mission.

But BC also earned impressive non-WSC wins over teams like Mt. SAC (a No. 2 seed in the Southern Regional), Cypress (No. 3) and Fullerton (No. 5). So the co-conference-champion Renegades enter the playoffs as a No. 7 seed, higher than last year's No. 8 mark, and will host No. 10 Long Beach City.

The two teams' early-season meeting took the form of a bizarre pitchers' duel in which BC managed just two hits against the Vikings' primary pitcher just Ashley Hester, but used back-to-back-to-back errors in the second inning to pile on four runs. Meanwhile, Long Beach racked up nine hits off Ryleigh Harrison but could only manage one Brianna Nunez RBI single in the fifth and lost 4-1.

The Vikings finished the year with a 25-13-1 record — just off BC's 26-13 — and a third-place finish in the South Coast Conference. Center fielder and Alia Marquez boasts a top-10 batting average in the state at .466, though she has hit for extra bases just six times this season. The duo of Hester and Olivia Ramirez, both with sub-3.00 ERAs, makes Long Beach one of the state's top pitching teams, particularly in inducing strikeouts.

The Renegades have relied heavily on the freshman pitcher Harrison this year, so heavily that she has pitched 25 complete games and the most innings of any player in the state. The Independence grad has rewarded them with a 2.68 ERA and WSC Pitcher of the Year honors.

BC also sports a well-balanced, powerful lineup that has hit for 27 home runs on the season with three standout hitters — Rylee Price, Kady Smith and Shelbie Valencia — accounting for at least six. The Renegades can also play small ball equally adeptly thanks to the speed of outfielder Camille Chavez and Breanna Marquez further down the lineup.

They will host Long Beach for the first game of their best-of-three series Friday at 5 p.m.

For the rest of BC's sports teams, the spring season is drawing to a close.

Bakersfield College

Baseball: After a dramatic 7-6 win over West LA on sophomore day thanks to Jordan Lopez's eighth-inning RBI single, the Renegades fell short of their first series sweep of the year. Back in Los Angeles facing the Wildcats, they rallied to tie the game 7-7 in the ninth inning but lost on a walk-off hit-by-pitch. Kurt Townson's first season in charge ended at 17-23 (10-11 WSC) for a middle-of-the-pack league finish.

Tennis: A sizable contingent of Renegades attended the state championships in Ojai last weekend. On the men's side, Alex Lauinger and Lucas Specht had the most success, reaching the round of 16 with two victories each before bowing out. Specht and Brett Yackovich formed the lone doubles duo to win twice. In the women's bracket, Greta Krueger picked up BC's lone singles win but fell in a narrow third set in her next match. Krueger and Kiana Lua teamed up to make the round of 16 in doubles but advanced no further, bringing the season to a close.

Track and field: BC put in a strong showing at the WSC finals, coming in second for the women's competition and third for the men. Winners in Moorpark on Friday included Tearra Haney, Crystal Raya, Neshara Smith, Jack Evans, Francisco Felix, Sean Fry and Nathanael Rodriguez, per results posted on the team's Facebook page. The regional prelims await on Friday.

Miscellaneous and looking ahead: Men's basketball player London Taylor signed with Harris-Stowe State ... Caleb Jameson and Blaize Rader will take on the men's golf field at the SoCal Championships Monday ... State competition for swimming begins Thursday at East LA.

Cal State Bakersfield

Baseball: The Roadrunners were competitive in three games against UC Irvine but could not get the bullpen performances they needed. In the opener Friday, they led 9-3 when Ryan Verdugo exited after one sixth-inning walk; a pair of relievers then combined to allow four hits and four walks. The Anteaters tied the game and then scored seven more runs to win 16-11. The next day, Matt Comnos turned in an even better start but was doomed by a costly two-run error and a lack of offensive production. Finally, on Sunday, Davonté Butler provided a steady hand after a rough start for Jacob Gutierrez, and the Roadrunners kept the game tied at 7-7 until the ninth, but Tally Wright Jr. conceded three runs in that frame as they fell 11-7 to drop to 14-25. They will travel to face Long Beach State on Friday.

Softball: For the third time this year, CSUB was unable to sustain the momentum from a promising home series when it went back out on the road. This time, the Roadrunners were swept in three games at CSUN. Defense haunted them this time around, as they accumulated a combined eight errors, which were particularly deadly in the third game. CSUB led 1-0 before allowing three runs on one hit and four errors in the bottom of the fourth. The Roadrunners lost that one 3-1 to fall to 7-37 with just six games to go, beginning at home Saturday against Long Beach State.

Track and field: The Roadrunners accumulated a slew of personal bests at Fresno State over the weekend, including Jessi Solis and Kayla Prince in the hammer throw, Julie Johnson and Skyblue Gonzales in the 400 meters, and the women's team in the 4x400-meter relay. Jacob Yagers also finished third in the 5,000 meters, competing in the event for his first time at CSUB. Next up is a meet at Occidental on Saturday.

Miscellaneous and looking ahead: The duo of Isabella Almeida and Hayley McCluskey earned first-team all-conference honors in beach volleyball, while Emma Erteltova and Sophia Hladyniuk received an honorable mention ... Women's basketball signed forward Aryana Dizon, a Vermont transfer, last Thursday, before forward Kayla Morris announced her departure for Towson Wednesday.

Reporter Henry Greenstein can be reached at 661-395-7374. Follow him on Twitter: @HenryGreenstein.