California State University at Northridge
20-8, 1-3
Long Beach State
15-10, 2-2
Matadors' Rally Falls Short in 3-2 Defeat to Long Beach State
4/3/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
En Español
LONG BEACH, Calif.-
CSUN Baseball (20-9, 1-3 Big West) nearly rallied from a late three-run deficit, but the Matadors suffered a 3-2 setback to Long Beach State (15-10, 2-2 Big West) in the opener of a three-game set at Blair Field on Thursday night. Calvin Copping tossed six innings, striking out eight and allowing one earned run in a losing effort.
In a game where runs were at a premium, Matador miscues on the field directly resulted in LBSU plating single runs in the first, second and fourth innings to build a 3-0 advantage.
In the Dirtbag first, with two outs and Zack Domingues on first base, Copping threw back-to-back wild pitches to advanace Domingues to third base. Moments later, Copping delivered a passed ball by Dylan Alexander, which resulted in Domingues scooting home with the game's first run.
An inning later, LBSU added another run when Coping threw a wild pitch that scored Tristan Mercadel from third. Earlier in the frame, Mercadel advanced from first to third base on a fielding error by Ryan Raslowsky.
The Dirtbags added their third run of the contest on a sacrifice fly by Jonathan Serven. Mercadel, who scored the run on the play, advanced to third base after a failed pickoff throw by Copping that allowed Mercadel to advance two bases.
LBSU starter Kyle Friedrichs cooled the Matador bats through the first six innings until CSUN finally broke through with its first run in the seventh.
After Alexander ripped a one-out single up the middle, Yusuke Akitoshi doubled to left center to advance Alexander to third base. After a pitching change on the mound, Albee Weiss put the ball in play and brought home Alexander with an RBI groundout.
CSUN continued to chip away at the Dirtbag lead in the eighth. Nolan Bumstead hit a two-out RBI single to score Raslowsky from second base to trim the deficit to 3-2.
The Matadors looked primed to add more runs in the eighth, as Alexander followed Bumstead's single with a base hit of his own to right field. CSUN then loaded the bases when Akitoshi was hit by a pitch. The two-out rally would come to an end however, as Weiss stuck out swinging to end the inning.
In the ninth, the LBSU bullpen stranded the tying run on first, as Spencer O'Neil flied out to left field to end the ballgame.
The Matadors look to even their series with the Dirtbags on Friday night, when the teams match up for the second of their three-game series. First pitch from Blair Field is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Kyle Friedrichs (5-1)
L: Copping, Calvin (4-2)
S: Ty Provencher (5)
Batting:
2B: Akitoshi, Yusuke 1
RBI: Bumstead, Nolan 1 ; Weiss, Albee 1
SH: Raslowsky, Ryan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Raslowsky, Ryan 1 ; Alexander, Dylan 1
CS: Orona, Elias 1
HBP: Toerner, Justin 1 ; Raslowsky, Ryan 2 ; Akitoshi, Yusuke 1
Batting:
RBI: Jonathan Serven 1
SF: Jonathan Serven 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Zack Domingues 1 ; Tristan Mercadel 2
CS: Zack Domingues 1
HBP: Eric Hutting 1
