It is fitting that a baseball team nicknamed the Roadrunners would get a running start in Hawaii.

With no mid-week game, Cal State Bakersfield coach Jeremy Beard arrived in Honolulu on Monday to scout Hawaii prospects. The rest of the Roadrunners arrived Tuesday night ahead of tonight’s opener of a three-game series against Hawaii at Les Murakami Stadium.

“I flew in to meet with some local players and see if we can continue to recruit this area,” Beard said. “We want to keep that going, for sure.”

First baseman Konnor Palmeira, who is hitting .306 for the Roadrunners, is a Kamehameha-Maui graduate who played for UH in 2021. Brock Perreira, a catcher and first baseman, is a Kaiser High graduate who also is on this trip.

CSUB’s athletic department has helped recruiting with a boost in the Roadrunners’ scholarship budget. The NCAA allows Division I teams to spread the financial equivalent of 11.7 scholarships among 27 players. But not all scholarship budgets are the same because of the difference in in-state and out-of-state tuitions. For CSUB, the cost of 11.7 scholarships spread among all California players is much smaller than when out-of-state players are added. The extra money allows the Roadrunners to also recruit outside of California.

“Now we’re getting closer to everybody with the scholarship setup that we have,” Beard said. “The increase helps us get guys from (Hawaii), get guys from the Pacific Northwest and Arizona, and some of the outer areas.”

Outfielder Nic Anderson-Vine is from Australia and infielder Cody Hendriks is Canadian.

The Roadrunners have had a challenging season, with a tough nonconference schedule (Stanford, Ohio State) and two opponents off to strong Big West starts.

“We’ve played a couple teams that came out of the gate pretty hot in our conference in Santa Barbara (5-1) and San Diego (7-2),” said Beard, whose Roadrunners are 10-16 overall and 1-8 in the Big West. “And last week, Davis played with a pretty good come-from-behind mentality against us. We’ve played three pretty good opponents in the Big West. A lot of them were pretty close games. We’re just not closing them out.”

The Roadrunners have been working to mend the back-end pitching. Jeter Schuerman, who has experienced a biceps issue since the fall, is not available to pitch this week. Schuerman is a spot starter preparing to make the transition to closer. Left-handed relievers Kellen O’Connor and Nick Perryman also are not available. “We’re certainly missing those guys,” Beard said.

Sophomore right-hander Ryan Verdugo, a former walk-on, will start tonight. Verdugo, who is 6-2 and 175 pounds, has gained 25 pounds since his senior year at Bishop Amat High in California.

“He’s doing a much better job of growing to the college game and developing,” Beard said of Verdugo. “He’s had some hard luck at different times, but we like his stuff.”

Palmeira, who was a catcher and infielder for the ’Bows, is regarded as more than a sure-fielding first baseman. “His offense has been consistent in making hard contact and taking quality at bats,” Beard said.

Outfielder AJ Miller struggled offensively in his first 20 games. “He didn’t play the Saturday game against San Diego, and it was kind of neat to see how he responded,” Beard said.

Miller was hitting .203 until the DNP. In the four games since, he went 9-for-16 (.563) with two home runs.

“I think some self reflection and working on keeping a positive attitude and approach has helped him,” Beard said of Miller, who led the Roadrunners with a .294 average and 59 hits last season.