Matadors Split Two in Wild Doubleheader

NORTHRIDGE, CA---

CSUN Baseball (19-4) earned a split in its doubleheader with Portland on Thursday evening at Joe Etzel Field. In a tale of two games, the Matadors suffered a heartbreaking defeat to the Pilots in game one, falling 6-5 on a walk off, two-run single, but CSUN rebounded with a 2-1 victory in a 15-inning marathon in the nightcap. Reliever Samuel Myers tossed 7.2 shutout innings of scoreless relief to earn the win in game two while CSUN also received terrific starts from Conner O'Neil and Rayne Raven. Justin Toerner came away with the game-winning hit in the 15^th inning while Elias Orona, Branden Berry, Albee Weiss and Nolan Bumstead also drove in runs on the day.

In the opener, CSUN received seven strong innings from spot starter Conner O'Neil. Not scheduled to make the Thursday start coming in, O'Neil made the most of the opportunity with an outstanding outing on the mound as he took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and struck out a career-high nine batters.

O'Neil was dominant from the start, retiring the first nine batters of the game including fanning five of the first seven batters. The Pilots got their first base runner in the fourth, but O'Neil continued to keep Portland at bay, pitching through the fourth and retiring the side in order in the fifth and sixth innings.

Meanwhile, the Matador bats were held in check through the first five innings until CSUN erupted for a three-run sixth off starter Jordan Wilcox. Weiss doubled home the go-ahead run with a shot to left field and CSUN added two more on a two-out, two-run single to right off the bat of Bumstead to make it 3-0.

O'Neil cruised into the seventh before the Pilots finally recorded their first hit off the junior. Caleb Whalen picked up the first hit of the day for Portland and he would come around to score on a Ryan Barr RBI double later in the frame.

In the eighth, O'Neil exited the contest and gave way to reliever Andrew Weston. Portland took advantage of a leadoff single to plate a run on an RBI groundout from Michael Forgione.

The Matadors picked up an insurance run in the top of the ninth on an RBI single from Berry and took a three-run lead to the bottom half of the inning.

Trailing by three, the Pilots mounted a comeback. Three-straight hits including an RBI double from Kevin Farley cut the lead to 5-3 and another run came home on a Brian Pozos sacrifice fly. Weston faced a bases loaded, two out jam with Forgione at the plate and appeared as though he would get out of trouble. The Matador sophomore was able to get the first two strikes on the batter but Forgione came through with a single through the right side, scoring the tying and winning runs for Portland.

With already nine innings under their belts, the teams participated in a 15-inning battle in game two.

Much like O'Neil earlier in the day, Raven was strong on the mound in his 7.1 innings of work, allowing just one run while fanning a season-high eight. The Pilots were able to place base runners in each of the first four innings but only one reached scoring position during that span. Raven appeared to get stronger as the game went along, retiring 11 batters in a row after hitting a batter to lead off the fourth inning.

The Matador lineup though had a tough time figuring out Jordan Horak in the early going. Horak set down the first six Matadors and kept CSUN off the scoreboard through four innings. Still without a hit entering the top of the fifth inning, CSUN capitalized on a Pilot miscue to plate the game's first run. Bumstead led off the inning reaching on a fielding error and he later moved to second on a well-executed bunt from Dylan Alexander. Two batters later, Orona checked in with an RBI double to put the Matadors in front.

The lead appeared as though it would hold up as Raven pitched into the eighth. The Pilots, however, mounted another comeback to square the game on a one-out RBI single from Cody Hawken. Pitching in relief of Raven, Myers rebounded nicely after the hit to retire the next two batters in order.

Myers ran into trouble in the ninth but again got out the jam by stranding two base runners in the frame as he induced a groundout to short to send the game into extras.

He would also be stellar in extra innings for CSUN as he kept Portland off the scoreboard inning after inning. Myers worked around a two-out single in the 10^th and he stranded two base runners in the 11^th and 12^th innings to keep the game tied.

On the flip side, Pilot reliever Jackson Lockwood cooled off the CSUN bats as he tossed 5.2 innings of scoreless relief while allowing two hits.

As the game approached its fifth hour of play, Myers retired the side in order in the 13^th and 14^th innings allowing CSUN to mount one final rally. A one-out error on the infield allowed Akitoshi to reach first safely. The speedy shortstop would steal second and head to third on a groundout by Berry. Two batters later, Toerner came through with a clutch RBI single up the middle to break the tie.

Playing with the lead for the first time in seven innings, Myers marched back out in the bottom of the 15^th and posted a clean frame to earn the win.

Despite having its 13-game winning streak snapped in game one, CSUN is 18-2 over the last 20 games with the victory in the second game.

CSUN continues its series with Portland on Friday night. First pitch is slated for 7 p.m.

Matadors Split Two in Wild Doubleheader

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Team Stats

Yusuke Akitoshi

Branden Berry

Albee Weiss

Justin Toerner

Players Mentioned

Yusuke Akitoshi

Dylan Alexander

Branden Berry

Nolan Bumstead

Samuel Myers

Conner O'Neil

Elias Orona

Rayne Raven

Justin Toerner

Albee Weiss

Andrew Weston