California State University at Northridge
13-4
George Washington
7-5
The Matadors Use Six-Run Frame to Down George Washington 10-3
3/13/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---
CSUN Baseball (13-4) used a six-run outburst to break open a tie game in its half of the sixth inning, as the Matadors defeated the George Washington Colonials (7-5) by the final of 10-3 on Friday afternoon at Matador Field. Chester Pak went 3-for-4 and finished a double shy of hitting for the cycle in the victory.
The Matadors' six-run inning on Friday matched the largest scoring frame of the season. CSUN last scored six times in an inning on February 24 in a 10-1 decision over Grand Canyon University.
"It shows how hard the team is running the bases," said Coach Greg Moore about the Matadors' offensive outbursts of late. "Once the ball is moving across the field, the base runners are moving first to third base, second to home plate and even first to home on hits to the deep part of the outfield. It has been fun to see and it has been consistent all season."
The Matadors and Colonials battled in a back-and-forth game heading into the middle innings before CSUN swung the contest dramatically in its favor with clutch two-out hitting in the sixth.
Nick Blaser broke the 3-3 tie by hitting a two-run double down the left field line with the bases loaded to give CSUN the lead at 5-3. After William Colantono walked to load the bases again, Pak singled to right field to bring home two more runs.
The Matadors continued the clutch swinging when Justin Toerner picked up one of his three hits on the afternoon with an infield single that scored Colantono and a hustling Pak from second base. Toerner's two-run single capped off a six-run frame to propel CSUN to a 9-3 lead.
Over the final three innings, the CSUN pitching staff retired the final nine batters in order to secure the win.
Calvin Copping (3-1) earned the victory by pitching 6.1 innings, allowing three hits and three runs, while striking out seven Colonials along the way. The junior also did not allow a walk all afternoon.
Pak got the offense rolling in the first inning, as he tripled to center field to lead off the frame. The senior right fielder scored two batters later on a sacrifice fly by Ryan Raslowsky.
"Chester's first at bat was his best of the day," said Coach Moore. "He worked a 3-2 count and he stayed through the next pitch to hit it into the air in center field. It was a quality at bat from a leadoff hitter."
After CSUN added a run in the third on an RBI single by Toerner, they struck again by scoring in the fifth inning to go up 3-1 on a solo home run by Pak that carried over the right field wall.
GW fought back in its half of the sixth inning by scoring twice to even the game on RBI singles by Bobby Campbell and Andrew Selby before the Matadors broke open the game in the bottom half of the frame.
Yusuke Akitoshi started the Matador rally in the sixth by singling up the middle. The shortstop's hit extended his hitting streak to 11, which matches Raslowsky's 11-game hitting streak earlier in the season.
CSUN continues its three-game series by taking on George Washington on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. at Matador Field. Senior Jerry Keel (2-0) will get the start for the Matadors in the contest.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Copping, Calvin (3-1)
L: Bobby LeWarne (3-1)
Batting:
RBI: Robbie Metz 1 ; Bobby Campbell 1 ; Andrew Selby 1
SH: Ryan Xepoleas 1 ; Andrew Selby 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Joey Bartosic 2 ; Eli Kashi 1
SB: Joey Bartosic 1
HBP: Joey Bartosic 1
Batting:
2B: Blaser, Nick 1 ; Orona, Elias 1
3B: Pak, Chester 1
HR: Pak, Chester 1
RBI: Pak, Chester 3 ; Toerner, Justin 3 ; Raslowsky, Ryan 1 ; Blaser, Nick 2
SF: Raslowsky, Ryan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Pak, Chester 3 ; Akitoshi, Yusuke 1 ; O'Neil, Spencer 1 ; Alexander, Dylan 1 ; Blaser, Nick 1 ; Orona, Elias 1 ; Colantono, William 2
SB: Pak, Chester 1 ; Colantono, William 1
CS: Murphy, Nick 1
HBP: Murphy, Nick 1
