California Baptist University’s women’s water polo, softball and men’s baseball are all gearing up for their upcoming seasons. The three teams have prepared for the university’s transition into NCAA Division I, joining the Western Athletic Conference. These Lancers say they are looking forward to traveling to new places and facing new teams.
Women’s Water Polo
Jonathan Miller, women’s water polo head coach, said he is ready to get the 2019 spring season started. Miller said the team trained heavily through out the fall semester, including multiple team scrimmages.
The team looks to face more competition and be in more matches.
“It will be nice to actually get to compete against some more teams and get a better feel for where everybody is at. It’s just nice to finally get to season,” Miller said.
Although the conference for women’s water polo remains the same, the transition to DI is still a prominent subject. Miller refers to it as “business as usual.”
“We like the strength of the schedule at the beginning of the season to really push us the first couple weeks and use that as a barometer for what we can work on for when we get to conference and league play in March,” Miller said.
Women’s water polo kicked o its first home game Jan. 26 when they hosted the CBU mini-tournament against the University of California, Irvine. On the same day, the team competed against Claremont McKenna College to finish off the one-day tournament.
Softball
CBU’s softball team is also fired up for this season of travel and new competition. This year’s roster includes eight seniors. The staff and team said they are thrilled for the transition into DI.
Bill Baber, softball head coach said, “New places to go, playing Division I. Everybody is excited about the opportunities of where we get to go and play.”
The team has continued to train through its offseason in preparation for this spring sea- son.
“Our objective is just to keep getting better every week before we get to the conference. That’s our main goal this year — to win the WAC conference,” Baber said.
Baber said the team has been ready for this season since returning to CBU in the fall.
“We look forward to going a lot of places. We’re going to be on the road a lot, but when we’re home hopefully we’ll get a lot of people to come out and watch us play,” Baber said.
CBU softball has two up- coming home games. The team will face Fresno State University Feb. 18 and the University of California, Riverside, two days later.
Baseball
Head coach for men’s baseball, Gary Adcock, said he is nervous, anxious and excited for this upcoming season.
“We have our head down and just are working to compete at the highest level we can, giving God the glory no matter the outcome,” said Adcock.
Key players this season are Andrew Bash, Luke Navigato and Logan Rineheart.
CBU baseball will kick o opening day Feb. 15 at James W. Totman Stadium.
