Bakersfield College’s baseball has won five games in a row and are looking at a 7-2 record over the last nine games.
The Renegades pitching staff hasn’t given up more than five runs in each of their wins, and are giving up an average of 3.33 runs per game.
Their last three games came in the College of Sequoias tournament, where they defeated COS, Sierra College and Saddleback. Each win came by playing out of conference teams.
In the game against COS on March 31, Greg Fowler pitched a commanding eight innings for BC. He allowed four hits and one walk as he struck out 10 batters in the win.
Andrew Letourneau was 3-for-6 and catcher Dylan Nasiatka had a 4-for-6 game, with three RBI and two extra base hits. The Renegades had a total of 16 hits in the 11-1 road win.
Art Charles picked up the win for BC at Sierra, as he struck out eight batters and gave up two hits through eight innings in the 3-0 shutout win.
“That was for sure the best pitching performance I had of the year, I went out there and just shoved it,” Charles said. “I had the changeup working early, curveball working late, I kept them off balance.”
The first of the five wins came on March 25, when BC beat L.A. Valley 2-1.
BC scored first in the home half of the fourth. Nasiatka singled a 3-1 pitch to center field and moved to second when Charles singled to left. The next batter, David Pennington, was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
Jacob Neilson hit into a double play at short, which brought in Nasiatka and moved Charles to third. Greg Osteen struck out swinging to end the inning.
Charles left at the start of the fifth and went a total of four innings and walked six batters before being lifted for Joe Neilson, who went the rest of the game.
The Renegades scored again in the eighth when Letourneau singled and advanced to second on an error by Valley’s third baseman Josh Goosen-Brown.
Nasiatka singled to left and advanced to second after an error on the left fielder. The hit brought home Letourneau.
BC coach Tim Painton was beyond pleased with Neilson’s day on the rubber.
“I felt like Joseph Neilson was outstanding out of the bullpen. He was really the difference maker this ballgame,” Painton said. “We didn’t do a whole lot offensively. We had a lot of scoring opportunities we didn’t capitalize on. And outside of a couple infield singles he didn’t give up much in his five innings of work.”
Neilson, who gave up three hits in his outing, said of his performance, “I felt more energized and pumped up because I was in there for more innings, I just felt more comfortable.”
“Today I threw more changeups than my breaking ball and I was spotting my fastball, keeping it down trying to get groundballs.”
Nasiatka went 4-for-4 in the game with a run and an RBI and felt his hard work as of late “paid off.”
“I’ve been having some rough times at the plate and I’ve really been working hard to get back to using the middle of the field,” said Nasiatka.
“I’ve had a lot of help from coach Patrick Cornejo, he keeps us pumped up to play and I try and come with a consistent approach of trying to work hard everyday.
He also commented on Neilson, “When he came in the game, I could tell he was going to have good command of his fastball and spotted up with his changeup. And just worked well to get the hitters out.”
Charles said about the team’s string of wins and moving forward.
“It feels great, especially to have started off slow the way we did. We’re going full steam ahead back into conference. We play Citrus and Mission these next four games and if we could sweep these teams that will definitely help us out. But I know for sure we’ll come out these next couple weeks and handle business,” he said.
Painton discussed the road the team has ahead and the bumps they’ve faced in the past.
“I felt like we’ve turned some things around that we weren’t doing very well early, which was swinging the bat.
“Pitching has stabilized that’s been good, but its been good for awhile now and its good to see us starting to swing the bats and put some runs on the board.”
He continued by saying.
“The game is a constant game of adjustment, so there’s not one thing I can point to. It’s just simply having better at-bats and starting to produce with men on base.
“Hopefully we can continue the momentum we have right now. We’re down to 11 conference games left, so hopefully we can continue to ride the momentum we have now,” he said.
Closer Anthony Ramirez was having a rough time after the 13-6 loss against West L.A. where he struggled in the ninth.
He spoke about the changes since then. “I felt it was more of a mental adjustment that I needed to make on the mound. I feel better and it was good to get another save,” he said. “I just got to lay it out on the line.”
He went on to talk about his teammates on the pitching staff.
“The bullpen has been great all year. With Xavier Tavorn coming in and Joe Neilson, those guys have been great, they’ve given me the opportunity to get in and try and close it out,” he commented.
Painton spoke about Ramirez.
“He’s gotten better, he’s made some adjustments,” he said. “He just lost his slider. You cant be a one-pitch guy at our level and have success. We were able to make some adjustments with his slider and he’s got that back and is throwing the ball very well.”
Painton also commented on the recent injury infielder Nick Fox has.
“We’re waiting for clearance so we can use him. He’s getting better but he missed three to four weeks of live at-bats so that remains to be seen right now.”
As far as continuing to replace him, Painton said, “We’ve used Jacob Neilson there. He’s driven in runs, played very well defensively,” he said. “Right now that’s his job. Fox has to go back and earn it.
“There will be a role for him, he’s a very good hitter, but we just have to get him healthy.”