California State University at Northridge
20-13, 1-7
#13 UC Santa Barbara
26-7, 4-1
CSUN Edged by #13 UC Santa Barbara 3-2
4/11/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
En Español
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.-
An eighth inning, three-run home run proved to be the difference in CSUN Baseball's (20-13, 1-7 Big West) 3-2 defeat to #13 UC Santa Barbara (26-7, 4-1 Big West) on Saturday afternoon at Matador Field. Jerry Keel tossed eight innings, striking out six, but a three-run blast in the eighth broke a scoreless tie and spoiled an otherwise stellar outing.
"Jerry was good from the beginning of the day," said Head Coach Greg Moore about Keel's performance. "He stayed in the game for a long time and he did a nice job of changing sides of the plate."
For the second-straight start, Keel battled in a pitcher's duel. Last week, Keel pitched 7.2 innings, allowing one unearned run to Long Beach State but CSUN fell 1-0 to Tanner Brown, who pitched a complete game shutout. On Saturday, Keel locked horns with UCSB's Justin Jacome, with both starters taking turns recording zeroes on the scoreboard.
In the contest, Jacome took a shutout into the ninth inning. Through six frames, Jacome allowed only one hit, an infield single by Ryan Raslowsky.
Keel no-hit the Gauchos for 6.2 innings before UCSB put together back-to-back singles against the senior. Keel escaped the seventh by retiring Kyle Plantier to the end the frame and keep the game scoreless.
In the eighth, UCSB finally broke the scoreless tie with a key hit off Keel. With runners at first and second base with one out, Cameron Newell hit a three-run home run over the right field wall to put UCSB ahead 3-0. Following the homer, Keel retired the next two batters in order to prevent any more damage.
After the Matadors were turned back in the eighth, CSUN mounted a rally in the ninth inning. After Chester Pak walked to start the frame, Justin Toerner roped a double down the right field line to score Pak.
In the pivotal moment of the contest, Raslowsky followed next by hitting a liner just fair down the left field line. Toerner hustled home from first to cut the lead to 3-2 but on the play, Raslowsky attempted to leg out the single into a double. Newell fired the ball quickly from left to throw out a sliding Raslowsky at second base for the first out of the frame.
Two batters later, Dylan Alexander worked a two-out walk keeping the inning alive for Yusuke Akitoshi. A comeback would not be in the cards however, as Akitoshi struck out to end the contest.
Not only was Matador Field the site for an exciting, competitive contest, it was the venue that held a special visit from Baseball Hall of Famer, Tommy Lasorda. The Los Angeles Dodger legend was honored with a Matador jersey prior to the game and he signed copies of the book "Tommy Lasorda: My Way," written by Colin Gunderson. Also, Lasorda visited the Matador clubhouse and spoke to the CSUN Baseball team prior to first pitch.
The finale of CSUN's three-game set with UC Santa Barbara will conclude on Sunday afternoon at Matador Field. First pitch will be at 1 p.m.
Photo Courtesy of BHEPhotos
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Justin Jacome (6-1)
L: Keel, Jerry (4-3)
S: Robby Nesovic (5)
Batting:
HR: Cameron Newell 1
RBI: Cameron Newell 3
SH: Peter Maris 1 ; Clay Fisher 1 ; Campbell Wear 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Andrew Calica 1 ; Cameron Newell 1 ; Clay Fisher 1
SB: Clay Fisher 1
CS: Peter Maris 1
HBP: Dalton Kelly 1
Batting:
2B: Toerner, Justin 1
RBI: Toerner, Justin 1 ; Raslowsky, Ryan 1
SH: Raslowsky, Ryan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Pak, Chester 1 ; Toerner, Justin 1
PO: Blaser, Nick 1
