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Usually a starting pitcher coming back out for the ninth inning with 107 pitches on his arm would cause a stir in the stands, but nobody was surprised when Dirtbags ace Kellan Montgomery did that Friday night on Bohl Diamond at Blair Field.
Montgomery had retired 16 in a row to that point, and then set down Cal State Bakersfield in order to clinch the complete-game victory 3-2 in Big West Conference action.
After giving up four hits, two walks and a pair of runs in the first three innings, Montgomery put the Roadrunners in order by attacking the zone. The junior righty finished with eight strikeouts and threw 82 of his 122 pitches for strikes.
“Early in the game I was just missing a little bit, but I still felt competitive,” Montgomery said. “I just kept the same approach and it just started going our way. I could tell if I got ahead early it was easier to get the outs by putting it on them and not giving them any momentum at all.”
The Dirtbags (13-18, 7-9) have won six of their last nine games but haven’t been lighting it up offensively. They only had three hits on Friday and the game-winning run was scored by pinch runner Matt Toomey in the seventh inning. He came in on a sacrifice fly and throwing error.
“We’re trying to dig ourselves out, we’re better than what we’re showing,” Dirtbags coach TJ Bruce said. “We’re finding a way to win games and seven weeks ago we weren’t doing that. I don’t care how it looks, I don’t care how ugly it is, and I’ll never apologize for a win.”
“This group has started the year learning how to come back from a loss,” Montgomery said. “In the past two years we started out winning and we didn’t know how to handle losing. It’s just been a different year and I think it’s always good to have a group that knows how to handle adversity. This group just knows how not to give up.”
Bakersfield (13-22, 6-7) took a lead in the first inning thanks to a few walks and a throwing error by Montgomery. The Roadrunners doubled their lead in the third inning when Cody Hendriks drove in Evan Cloyd with a sacrifice fly.
While Montgomery was retiring the next 19 straight batters, Bakersfield starter Ryan King (5 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, BB, 7 K) retired nine in a row until the Dirtbags tied the game in the fifth inning. The 2-out rally started when designated hitter Justin Roulston was hit by a pitch, Easton Elliot drew a walk and Efren Ortega was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
Instead of waiting for King to find his control, right fielder Kyle Ashworth came to the plate with a unique plan. He fouled off the first pitch and then the lefty went the other way with a 2-RBI single through the left side.
“The scouting report is out, I don’t swing first pitch often, so it was a great time for me to get aggressive,” Ashworth said. “I wanted to see the ball deep and get a base hit early in the count when they were trying to get ahead. I just said, ‘I’m just gonna stay disciplined and anything in the zone here I’m going to try and hit the ball hard the other way and whatever happens, happens.’”
Montgomery said it wasn’t hard to stay focused and not get frustrated while waiting for the Dirtbags offense to get going.
“I think it’s just trust and letting them do their job,” he said. “They’re going to do their best and go up there and compete and that’s what I’m also going to do and focus on.”
The game-winning run came across thanks to Orgeta drawing a leadoff walk in the seventh and taking second on a wild pitch. He was replaced by pinch runner Toomey, and when he tried to take third on Alex CHampagne’s fly out to right field, the throw to third base got away and Toomey came in to score.
Montgomery struck out three of the six batters in the eighth and ninth to finish off the first Dirtbags complete game since May 12, 2023, when Nico Zeglin blanked UC Santa Barbara 1-0.
“These guys are trusting each other now. They’re not letting the outside surroundings affect them. They’re not letting me, and I say ‘me’ because sometimes I get in the way… They’re doing a good job of listening to what we’re saying, shutting it down and then getting back with their teammates. That’s the sign of a really good team.”
The Dirtbags and Roadrunners continue this conference series on Saturday at 6 p.m.
