Matadors Fall in Series Finale to Northern Colorado, 3-2

Sunday, February 28

Northridge, CA

1:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

5-3

Northern Colorado

2-7

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Northern Colorado	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	7	1
CSUN	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	2	4	1

Photo by: Paul Trafecanty

Matadors Fall in Series Finale to Northern Colorado, 3-2

2/28/2016 5:26:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

En Español

NORTHRIDGE, CA---

CSUN Baseball was unable to overcome an early deficit as the Matadors fell in the series finale to Northern Colorado, 3-2, on Sunday afternoon at Matador Field. Fred Smith recorded a hit for the eighth-straight game as he drove in a run while Yusuke Akitoshi also had an RBI. Left-handed pitcher Carter Yankie made his Matador debut, tossing 2.0 shutout innings.

"Credit to their starter, [Nick] Tanner did a great job of mixing early and did a nice job of taking us off our plan," said head coach Greg Moore. "I think that was the difference in the game. We never got back on it when they brought their 'pen in. Tip the cap to him, he did an outstanding job."

Looking for the sweep, CSUN starter Andrew Weston attempted to build off a strong outing at Pepperdine earlier in the week but he would run into trouble in the first inning. Weston surrendered four hits and a pair of runs in the first to fall behind 2-0. The Bears threatened for more with two runners in scoring position and two outs but Weston would get out of the inning by grounding out Cam Huber.

Northern Colorado added another run in the second on a two-out RBI double off the bat of Tyler Yamaguchi to go ahead 3-0.

Weston would recover from the tough start to retire the final 10 batters he faced over three shutout innings.

CSUN was unable to push across any runs through the first four despite threating with two runners on and one out in the fourth. In their half of the fifth, the Matadors broke through with a two-run inning.

Jayson Newman led off the frame with a single to right center field. After the next two batters were retired by Tanner, Nolan Flashman reached on a fielding error to extend the inning. As they have done over the first seven games of the season, the 1-2 punch of Smith and Akitoshi came through with back-to-back RBI singles to bring the Matadors to within a run.

Relief pitcher Corey Nakakura was able to escape the fifth inning with the lead by striking out Albee Weiss.

Both bullpens would take control of the game with strong pitching over the next four frames. Yankie entered in the sixth and allowed one hit and struck out a pair. Nick Viola retired both batters he faced in the eighth and Samuel Myers tossed 1.1 shutout innings.

"Drew nibbled a little bit early but he got back on it but the bullpen did an outstanding job," added Moore about his pitching staff's performance on Sunday. "Great to see Carter Yankie in his first outing execute pitches like he did. That's a great sign of things to come for the freshman."

The Matadors threatened in the bottom half of the eighth as Dylan Alexander hit a two-out triple down the left field line but Nakakura forced Branden Berry to flyout to end the inning.

In the bottom of the ninth, the Matadors put forth one final rally to attempt to even things up. With a runner on second base and two outs, Joe Ruiz stepped to the plate. Ruiz, who hit a two-run shot earlier in the series, hit the first pitch of the at bat deep into left field but his fly ball would be caught near the warning track to end the game.

In the four-game series, Akitoshi and Smith hit safely in each game. Akitoshi went 8-for-14 against Northern Colorado and recorded four RBI while Smith posted a 6-for-19 series and drove in two. Nolan Bumstead also had six hits in 16 at bats and posted five RBI.

The Matadors hit the road for a four-game trip on the East Coast. CSUN takes on George Mason on Thursday, March 3 at 11:30 a.m. and it will conclude the weekend with a three-game set at George Washington from March 4-6.