UCLA freshman pitcher Grant Watson, a 6-foot, 180-pound left-handed pitcher from Centennial High School, is off to a 7-1 start with the UCLA baseball team.

Watson, an All-Area selection as a senior last year, has appeared in 17 games with nine starts at UCLA. He has allowed 48 hits and 17 walks with 27 strikeouts in 48 innings. His ERA is 5.06.

Track and field

SWYL mini-meet

SANTA BARBARA -- UC Santa Barbara swept Cal State Bakersfield in a softball doubleheader Tuesday, winning the opener 3-1 and the second game 4-3 in eight innings.

The Roadrunners (10-30) had a 2-0 lead when Santa Barbara (18-25) scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth in the second game.

Aren't relievers suppose to provide relief? That's what you'd think.

But despite a solid 5 1/3-inning outing, Blaze starter Daniel Renken was denied his second win of the season as Bakersfield's bullpen was unable to protect a seven-run lead Tuesday in a 10-9 loss to the Stockton Ports at Sam Lynn Ballpark.

Spring break lasted an inning too long for Centennial, and Stockdale made sure that hurt.

The Mustangs jumped on the host Golden Hawks for four first-inning runs Tuesday and coasted to a 10-4 victory to take over first place in the Southwest Yosemite League.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- For the first time in his major-league career, Colby Lewis was an Opening Day starter. The Bakersfield native got the nod for the two-time American League champion Texas Rangers in last Friday's 2012 season opener against the Chicago White Sox and he delivered a beauty.

He worked six innings, allowing seven hits, two runs and one walk one while striking out seven to earn a 3-2 victory. This is his third season with the Rangers after spending two seasons in Japan and the significance of being their Opening Day starter was definitely not lost on him.

Baseball

Bakersfield 7, Independence 5

Bakersfield College had three impressive baseball victories last week in an Easter tournament.

The play wasn't as sharp Tuesday, and Citrus College took advantage in a 7-5 Western State Conference South Division win at Gerry Collis Field.

NORTHRIDGE -- Cal State Bakersfield tied the game in the top of the ninth inning but allowed an unearned run in the bottom of the ninth as Cal State Northridge pulled out a 4-3 baseball win Tuesday, snapping CSUB's six-game win streak.

In the bottom of the ninth. Steven Keller hit a leadoff double to left and Nathan Ring's infield single put runners on first and second.

Bakersfield's Jimmy Watkins and the United States men's cycling team sprint squad were unable to qualify for the London Olympics during the UCI Track World Championships held last week in Melbourne, Australia.

Watkins, Kevin Mansker of Long Beach and Michael Blatchford of Cypress comprised the sprint team which was disqualified for exchanging outside the specified zone.

When the McFarland High boys soccer team came up short in pursuit of the school's first East Sierra League title in February, Cougars coach Jose Gonzalez told his team to stay hungry.

Apparently he knew something, as the Cougars marched all the way to their first ever CIF Division VI championship, putting together one of the best seasons in school history and nearly winning its first CIF regional championship.

Bowling

Saturday: Kern County Sheriff's Office Team Trinity "Relay for Life" Tournament, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., AMF Southwest Lanes. Contact: Marla Jackson (661) 392-7585 or email Jackson@kernsheriff.com.

David Vidal went 3-for-4 with two doubles and three RBIs to lead the Bakersfield Blaze to a 10-4 victory Monday over the Stockton Ports in California League play at Sam Lynn Ballpark.

Vital doubled in a run in the second and third to help the Blaze to a 7-1 lead after four innings. He finished his night with a run-scoring single to cap a three-run seventh for Bakersfield (3-2).

Here's how crazy the Southwest Yosemite League boys golf season has been: Independence was in the parking lot Monday at Bakersfield Country Club waiting for a sullen ride home before anybody realized the Falcons had just won their first league touranment.

"Our Nos. 1 and 2 players thought they didn't play very well and were just waiting to go home," Independence coach Carmen Crabtree said. "I got down there, and the Frontier coach (Nick Kaiser) comes by and says, 'You guys won.'

The Dakota Wizards (29-21), the No. 4 seed, drew the sixth-seeded Bakersfield Jam (28-22), to face in the first round of the 2012 NBA D-League Playoffs. The series will tip off at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Jam Event Center.

Game 2 and 3 (if necessary), will be played at Dakota on Sunday and Monday, respectively. The Jam is 1-2 against the Wizards this season, its two losses coming at the Bismarck Civic Center.

Coaching the Stockdale girls soccer team for the past two decades, Janien McGowan -- The Californian's All-Area Girls Soccer Coach of the Year -- has compiled a long list of accomplishments.

Thirteen league titles, including 12 in a row from 1999-2010, and seven Central Section championship-game appearances are two that stand out the most.

Stockdale's Brooke Dickens had in mind the perfect scenario for her senior season.

It included helping the Mustangs win the Southwest Yosemite League title, garner the top seed for the Division I playoffs, and last but not least, claim the program's first section championship.

Blaze starter Tony Cingrani had no idea regarding the speed of his fastball Sunday. It didn't much matter since it wasn't velocity that keyed a spectacular outing by the 6-foot-4 southpaw.

Cingrani's success was tied more to his ability to move the ball around the plate with surgical-like precision.

Taylor Aikenhead wears it as a badge of honor.

He's the Division I national leader in complete games, and he got another Saturday, a 97-pitch masterpiece to give Cal State Bakersfield a 3-1 win over Santa Clara to complete a doubleheader sweep and also complete a series sweep.

Cal State Bakersfield was swept in a Pacific Coast Softball Conference doubleheader Saturday, losing 9-4 and 5-0 to Loyola Marymount.

Amy Ricciardi hit a solo home run in the opener for CSUB, which swept LMU (26-15) in Friday's twinbill. It was Ricciardi's third homer of the series.