California State University at Northridge
16-5
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Dartmouth
1-8
Five-Run Eighth Key in Matadors' 6-1 Win Over Dartmouth
3/19/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.-
CSUN Baseball (16-5) scored five runs in its half of the eighth inning en route to a 6-1 victory over Dartmouth (1-8) on Thursday afternoon at Matador Field. Calvin Copping went the distance in the contest and struck out a career-high eleven batters for his fourth victory of the season.
The junior from Temple City, Calif. earned the first complete game of his Matador career by finishing the game on the mound.
"He really had a feel for this game and when he needed to throw the breaking ball," said Head Coach Greg Moore about Copping's 126-pitch performance. "He set himself up by limiting his pitch count early on and later in the game he dug deep and got outs when he needed to."
Copping scattered ten hits in the victory but only limited the Big Green to a single run on the afternoon.
CSUN struck first in the contest by plating a run in its half of the first inning. Pak led off the frame by singling and he reached second base on a sacrifice bunt by Justin Toerner. Later in the inning, with Pak at third base and two outs, Yusuke Akitoshi legged out an infield single that scored Pak to give CSUN a 1-0 lead.
The game remained 1-0 for most of the afternoon, as Copping kept Dartmouth scoreless through the first six frames.
Dartmouth was able to finally break through with a scoring rally against the right-hander in the seventh inning. A one-out RBI single by Adam Gauthier brought home the tying run. The Big Green looked for more in the inning by loading the bases with one out, but Copping escaped the jam by inducing an inning-ending ground ball double play to keep the game tied.
In the eighth, the Matadors regained the lead by putting together a five-run frame to break the game wide open.
Chester Pak started the scoring by hitting a one-out, two-run home run to center field, the senior's fourth home run of the season and his second home run in as many games.
"His swing was one of the best swings we have seen all year," said Coach Moore. "He capitalized on a fast ball up in the zone. To his credit, it was a disciplined swing in addition to an explosive swing."
Not content with the two-run lead, CSUN pieced together another scoring opportunity when Justin Toerner singled, Ryan Raslowsky worked a walk and Akitoshi rifled a single through the right side of the infield to load the bases with one out. Dylan Alexander would force in a run by drawing a walk and the Matadors made it 6-1 by adding two more on a fielding error by third baseman Nick Lombardi off the bat of Nolan Flashman.
Copping worked a shutout ninth inning, striking out three to preserve the five-run win.
The Matadors return to the diamond for a doubleheader with Dartmouth on Saturday. Game one is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. with game two tentatively set for a 2 p.m. start time.
Photo courtesy of BHEPhotos
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Copping, Calvin (4-1)
L: Mike Concato (0-2)
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Batting:
2B: Matt Parisi 1 ; Joe Purritano 1 ; Nick Ruppert 1 ; Adam Gauthier 1
RBI: Adam Gauthier 1
SH: Ben Socher 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Nick Ruppert 1
CS: Nick Ruppert 1
Batting:
2B: Alexander, Dylan 1
HR: Pak, Chester 1
RBI: Pak, Chester 2 ; Akitoshi, Yusuke 1 ; Alexander, Dylan 1
SH: Toerner, Justin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Pak, Chester 2 ; Toerner, Justin 1 ; Raslowsky, Ryan 1 ; Akitoshi, Yusuke 1 ; Colantono, William 1
SB: Pak, Chester 1
CS: Colantono, William 1
PO: Pak, Chester 1
