California State University at Northridge
39-11, 14-1
Long Beach State
22-24, 9-6
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Elder, Brianna (17-4)
L: Christina Clermont (15-7)
Batting:
2B: Horvath, Savannah 1
RBI: Sauceda, Jordan 1 ; Mitchell, Maylynn 1
SH: Horvath, Savannah 1
SF: Sauceda, Jordan 1 ; Mitchell, Maylynn 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Glover, Taylor 1 ; Hooper, Katie 1 ; Nate, Taylor 1
SB: Toerner, Kaitlin 1
Batting:
2B: Darian Tautalafua 1
RBI: Lauren Lombardi 1
SH: Lt Torres 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Shayna Kimbrough 1
SB: L Tupua-Tautalatasi 1
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
Matadors Hang on For 3-1 Win at Long Beach State to Clinch Series
4/26/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
LONG BEACH, Calif. --- The CSUN softball team (39-11, 14-1 Big West) defeated Long Beach State 3-1 Sunday afternoon in the third and final game of a Big West Conference series at 49ers Softball Complex. The Matadors produced sacrifice flies in the fifth and sixth innings and got a strong outing from Brianna Elder to post their first series victory over the 49ers since the 2002 season.Â
CSUN is now 14-1 in Big West play and owns a five-game lead over Long Beach State (9-6) with six games to play. Hawai'i and Cal State Fullerton, the Matadors' next two opponents, are both 8-7 in league play. The Matadors and Rainbow Wahine play a three-game series at Matador Diamond with a single game on Friday, May 1 and a doubleheader on Saturday, May 2.
"I saw a lot of confidence from Brianna today. She went at the hitters and pitched well today," CSUN head coach Tairia Flowers said. "Our offense kept up the pressure and hammered away against a good Long Beach State team. We were really able to feed off each other today."Â
The Matadors struck for a run in the first inning. Taylor Glover and Savannah Horvath singled and Glover came all the way around to score from second on a wild pitch.
The 49ers got a run back in the first to tie the game, but Elder (17-4) worked her way out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam. Elder worked out of another jam in the bottom of the second.
CSUN broke the 1-1 tie in the top of the fifth. Crystal Maas laced a pinch-hit single to move Taylor Nate to third. She then came in to score on a sacrifice fly from Jordan Sauceda.
In the sixth, the Matadors tacked on another run via the sacrifice fly. Hooper started the inning with a walk and moved to third on a double from Horvath. Hooper then scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Maylynn Mitchell to give the Matadors a 3-1 lead.Â
Elder battled throughout the game to post her 17th win of the season. She tossed a complete game and worked around seven hits and four walks. She fanned five 49ers and Long Beach State left 11 runners on base.
Horvath finished with two hits and now has a team-high 14 doubles on the season. Glover walked twice and scored her 45th run of the season, the most by a Matador in a single season since Tamara Ivie scored 51 in the 1994 season.Â
Before Sunday's win, CSUN had not won a series against the 49ers since 2002. Sunday's win also gave CSUN its first series win in Long Beach since the 2001 season.Â
"All the games were tight and both teams came ready to play with every pitch," Flowers added. "To come out with the series win is huge because that is a very good team we just played. It is a big momentum shift for us."Â