United Athletic Conference

After making history with their first NCAA tournament win in school history, the Roadrunners couldn't overcome the top-seeded Bruins, falling 9-4 in an elimination game to end a magical 2015 season. Bakersfield opened the tournament with a 7-2 loss to UCLA on Friday night but rebounded less than 24 hours later, knocking off Ole Miss, 2-1, to send the Rebels back to Oxford.

Pitcher Hayden Carter was one of two pitchers selected to the All-Regional team after posting his eighth complete game in the win over Ole Miss. He was joined by third baseman Joey Sanchez and designated hitter Max Carter as All-Regional honorees.

BAKERSFIELD WINS WAC BASEBALL TOURNAMENT

The Bakersfield Roadrunners took advantage of strong pitching, timely bats and a never-say-die attitude to overcome a trip to the losers bracket and win the 2015 WAC Baseball Tournament at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Ariz. After falling to Seattle U, 9-3, in a semifinal on Friday, the Roadrunners blanked Sacramento State, 4-0, on Friday to set up a rematch with the Redhawks later that night. In the rematch, Seattle U was poised to win the title before a wild pitch with two outs in the bottom of the ninth allowed Jordie Hein to score from third and Joey Sanchez earned the bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the tenth to score Drew Seelman and force a game on Sunday.

In Sunday's game, it once again looked like Seattle U would earn the tournament title before the Roadrunners exploded for four runs in the top of the eighth to pull ahead 5-4 and CSUB held on to earn their first WAC baseball title and the WAC's automatic selection to the 2015 NCAA Baseball Tournament.

Bakersfield's David Metzgar was named tournament MVP after hitting .409 with a double, triple, home run, four runs scored and five RBIs. He was also solid at second base, posting a .967 fielding percentage on the week. He was was joined on the all-tournament team by teammates Steven Gee, Joey Sanchez and Chance Gusbeth. Seattle U was represented by Michael McCann, Dalton Hurd and Landon Cray while Sacramento State's Chris Lewis and Ty Nichols were also honored. North Dakota's Ellery Bresnahan and Utah Valley's Craig Brinkerhoff rounded out the honorees.

ON TO THE PROS

A total of 16 players from nine WAC schools were selected earlier this month in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, more than double the number of WAC players selected in 2014. Sacramento State's Nathan Lukes was the first WAC player taken as the outfielder was selected in the seventh round by the Cleveland Indians.

BY THE NUMBERS

Grand Canyon finished the regular season not only at the top of the standings but also leading the WAC in team batting, hitting .308. Sacramento State was the top pitching team with a 3.06 staff ERA while Bakersfield was the top defensive squad with a .976 fielding percentage. Northern Colorado's Jensen Park took home the batting crown, hitting .436 in 41 games played. Sacramento State's Ty Nichols posted a 1.37 ERA in the regular season to lead all players.

Individually, Grand Canyon's Paul Panaccione led the WAC in hits (83) and runs scored (56) while teammate Chad De La Guerra held the top spot in RBIs (51) and home runs (11). Bakersfield's David Metzgar posted a WAC-high 15 doubles while Bakersfield's Chance Gusbeth and Ryan Grotjohn along with Sacramento State's Scotty Burcham led the league with six triples each. Seattle U's Skyler Genger posted 113 strikeouts over 92.1 innings to lead the conference.

In WAC play, Grand Canyon hit .348 as a team to lead the league. Bakersfield had the low ERA at 2.97 and was also the top fielding team with a .979 fielding percentage in league play. Park became the first hitter since 2002 to hit over .500 in WAC play, finishing the season with a .515 average while Nichols dropped his ERA to 1.25 in 11 appearances during conference action.

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS

Grand Canyon won their first WAC championship since 1998, finishing a half-game ahead of Seattle U for the top spot in the regular season standings. In 1998, the Antelopes finished first in the North Division, finishing three games ahead of BYU.

RETIRING NUMBER 17

With Bakersfield head coach Bill Kernen expected to retire upon the conclusion of the 2015 season, the Roadrunner will retire his No. 17 prior to the start of Tuesday's game against No. 12 UC Santa Barbara. This is the first number in any sport at the school to be retired.

The only head coach the Roadrunners have ever know, Kernen has compiled a 196-196-1 record at CSU Bakersfield, winning the program's 150th game Apr. 21, 2014 (5-2) at Kansas State. He won his 400th game as a collegiate head coach against Sacramento State May 22, 2014 during the WAC Tournament. He is 430-347-4 on the collegiate sidelines.

TWO FOR ONE

Originally scheduled to play a doubleheader, the Sacramento State Hornets and Iowa Hawkeyes played the equivalent of two games in on on Apr. 28 as Iowa outlasted the visitors, 4-3, in 18 innings. The longest game in Sacramento State history, it is the third longest game in WAC history and the longest since Fresno State and San Diego played 22 innings in 2011.

BREAK OUT THE BROOMS

For the first time since the weekend of May 19-21, 2006, all WAC series for the weekend of April 2-4 ended in sweeps as Seattle U, Utah Valley, Bakersfield, North Dakota and Grand Canyon all added a trio of wins to their season totals. In 2006, it was Fresno State, Hawai'i and Nevada earning sweeps over Sacramento State, San Jose State and New Mexico State respetively.

THE OLD HIDDEN BALL TRICK

Bakersfield pulled off the hidden ball trick for an out for the third time in the past five season on Sunday against Utah Valley. The Roadrunners' third baseman Joey Sanchez tagged out Seth Rhineer off third with one out in the top of the eighth.

SAVE KING

Sacramento State closer Sutter McLoughlin earned his 30th career save on March 31 to pass Louisiana Tech's Caleb Dudley for top spot on the WAC career saves list.

WIN, LOSE AND DRAW

For the second time this season, a WAC baseball series resulted in a win, a loss and a tie for both teams involved. Bakersfield and New Mexico State played to a tie on March 15 to split their series while Chicago State and Texas-Pan American also played to a draw on April 19. Both ties were travel related as the visiting team had flights to catch. These are the first ties in WAC conference play since April 11, 2010 when Nevada and New Mexico State played to a 10-10 tie, also in Las Cruces. BYU and Hawai'i played to ties in WAC games in 1988 and 1990 for the only other ties in WAC play.

TRIPLE THE FUN

Texas-Pan American turned the first triple play of the season in the top of the third of the series finale with Arlington Baptist. Not to be outdone, Seattle U turned a triple play of their own in a 5-2 win at home against Portland. New Mexico State turned a triple play in 2014 in a 2-0 loss at Arizona State for the last WAC defensive trifecta.

SACRAMENTO STATE FAVORITE TO WIN WAC TITLE IN 2015

After winning its first ever WAC regular season and tournament title in 2014, Sacramento State is the favorite to win the conference crown again, earning eight first place votes in a survey of the league's 10 head coaches. Grand Canyon earned the two remaining first place votes and will enter 2015 as the favorite to take second in the league table.

Bakersfield, the 2014 preseason favorite, was selected third with 60 points. Seattle U earned the fourth place nod by a single point over Utah Valley while New Mexico State and Texas-Pan American tied for sixth in the preseason poll. Chicago State is predicted eighth, followed by North Dakota and Northern Colorado.

DE LA GUERRA, LEITAO HIGHLIGHT PRESEASON ALL-WAC HONORS

Grand Canyon second baseman Chad De La Guerra and Sacramento State pitcher Brennan Leitao were selected as 2015 Preseason All-WAC Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year respectively. In addition to the individual honor, both players were named to the 2015 Preseason All-WAC Team, as voted upon by the 10 WAC coaches.

Sacramento State led the way with five honorees as Nathan Lukes, Sam Long, Sutter McLoughlin and Scott Burcham joined Leitao. Grand Canyon had three Lopes selected with David Walker and Andrew Naderer joining De La Guerra. Bakersfield was represented by Soloman Williams and Mylz Jones and Seattle U earned recognition from Brian Olson and Landon Cray. New Mexico State's Derek Umphres and Utah Valley's Mark Krueger rounded out the 14-player team.

SACRAMENTO STATE'S LEITAO NAMED PRESEASON ALL-AMERICAN

Sacramento State pitcher Brennan Leitao has been named to the Louisville Slugger Preseason All-American Third Team, as selected by Collegiate Baseball. Leitao, the all-time leader in wins at Sacramento State with 24, is a two-time First Team All-WAC performer. Last season, he helped lead the Hornets to the NCAA Tournament, starting and clinching the WAC Tournament championship game against Utah Valley. In NCAA Regional play, he started against Arizona State and allowed just one run over seven innings in a 5-4 win over the Sun Devils. He ranked second in the WAC in ERA, innings pitched, strikeouts and wins as a junior. In addition to his outstanding performance on the diamond, Leaitao is also a three-time Academic All-WAC honoree.