Bakersfield College’s baseball team has won six of its last seven contests as of April 17. With just a few games remaining on its regular-season schedule, including two against division-leading Glendale College on April 19 and 21, every game will be a major factor in whether the Renegades will play beyond the regular season.
The Renegades are two games behind Glendale, but lead them in Ratings Percentage Index, which is used to select at-large berths for the playoffs that commence on May 4-5.

Coach Tim Painton is hesitant to speculate on whether his team will earn a playoff spot if they don’t beat out Glendale for the Western State Conference South Division title, but he is confident that his team has put itself in a great position.

“In our conference, two teams will definitely go,” Painton said. “I think we have a good chance based on our RPI [and] based on the other factors that go into naming teams.”

A team’s RPI is based on three areas: the team’s winning percentage, its opponents’ winning percentage and its opponents’ opponents’ winning percentage.

Currently, BC leads Glendale in RPI .5717 to .5642.

Painton points to the postseason as the only means of measuring success.

“These players don’t put in the amount of time they do, and our assistant coaches don’t put in the time they do, to play a season,” he said. “You play to continue to play. You want to play for something bigger. So certainly, anytime you don’t make the postseason, it’s a disappointment.

“The good thing is, we have our fate in our own hands.”

The Renegades have been on a tear as of late, most recently defeating L.A. Mission 4-3 when closer Ryan Stapp earned his 10th save, protecting starting pitcher Tyler Painton’s seventh win of the season.

With the crucial matchups against Glendale coming up, coach Painton said the games that led up to that series were, “equally as important.”

“When you get down to so few remaining games, you can point to Glendale, but it doesn’t matter unless you take care of those games preceding that series,” he said.

BC wrapped up its two-game series against L.A. Mission on April 17. Check therip.com for the latest results and news on BC baseball. As of April 17, L.A. Mission was just a game behind BC in the WSC South standings.

The Renegades are first in the state in runs, with 237; home runs, with 24; and RBIs, with 206. They also rank in the top 10 in the state in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage.

But Painton points to the team’s pitching and defense when he notes the team’s keys to success.

“If you don’t do those two things, then you don’t win,” he said.

In BC’s three games over spring break, the pitching staff gave up just two earned runs for an ERA of 0.66.

Painton said that his team’s health is holding up and, even though they are not 100 percent, thinks they are as healthy as any team in the state.

“[Our injuries] haven’t affected us to the point of having to take someone out of a lineup, and we’re certainly as healthy as everybody else in the state,” Painton said. “Everybody’s probably a little ragged at this point.”

Although he would like to be in Glendale’s position, Painton is content with being two games behind Glendale with two games between the teams likely deciding the top of the division.

“You’d like to be, at this point in the season, the team that is chased instead of being one of the teams chasing the top team,” he said. “But we’re still in the hunt, and our destiny is in our own hands. You can’t ask for more than that.”