CSU Bakersfield runs away with season opener, honors local veterans

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class William A. O'Brien
  • 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  California State University at Bakersfield opened its baseball season with a show of offensive fire power, putting down the Air Force Academy 8-4 at Hardt Field in Bakersfield, Calif. Feb.19.

In addition to opening the season, CSU Bakersfield used the four-game weekend series against the Air Force Academy as way to honor local veterans.

"What a special day to honor these people and have their families here," said Bill Kernen, CSU Bakersfield head coach.

The opening ceremony included a flyover of two Edwards F-16 Fighting Falcons, the singing of the National Anthem, the presenting of the colors by Edwards Blue Eagles Honor Guard and the opening pitch being thrown out by a wounded Marine veteran and Maj. Gen. David Eichhorn, Air Force Flight Test Center commander.

"(The pilots) entertained the crowd by being in the area early and then coming over right at the last note of the national anthem was perfect, what a beautiful roar and a great way to start the game," said General Eichhorn.

CSU Bakersfield continued with the weekend's theme of "Salute to the Troops" by honoring a local veteran between each inning.

"It was really interesting because we were able to watch that between innings and even though we were in the game, everybody stopped and really cared about what was being said between innings and then we would get back into the game," said Coach Kernen.



After two scoreless innings, the third inning saw a flurry of action, with both teams getting on the scoreboard and combining for six points, putting the Roadrunners on top of the Falcons 4-2.

The scoring continue through the sixth inning, as each team added two runs to their score, putting the 'Runners ahead 4-6 with three innings left.

In the seventh inning the CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners scored the last two points of the game as they put their team up 8-4.

The ninth inning saw an opportunity for the Air Force Academy Falcons to narrow the gap, as they had two runners on base with one out, but a strikeout and a groundout back to the pitcher closed the door on the comeback attempt.

"I think timely hitting is a big part of it," said Mike Hutcheon, Air Force Academy coach. "Bakersfield did a great job of getting some key hits in some great situations. We just didn't piece it together when we had guys in scoring position and I think if we were able to get some key hits their might have been a different outcome, but that's baseball. I have to give credit to their pitching staff, they pitched well and when there were guys in scoring position they got the job done."

Scores from the other three games of the series were:

CSU Bakersfield 9, Air Force Academy 4
CSU Bakersfield 13, Air Force Academy 3
CSU Bakersfield 12, Air Force Academy 4