Matadors Take Series Finale from No. 18 Long Beach State

Monday, April 11

Northridge, CA

2:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

22-10, 1-5

#18 Long Beach State

19-12, 3-3

Long Beach State

CSUN

Photo by: CSUN Athletics

Matadors Take Series Finale from No. 18 Long Beach State

4/11/2016 7:34:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

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NORTHRIDGE, CA---

CSUN Baseball (22-10, 1-5 BWC) earned its first victory in Big West Conference play with a 4-2 triumph over No. 18 Long Beach State (19-12, 3-3 BWC) in the finale of a three-game series on Monday afternoon at Matador Field. Fred Smith finished with two hits and three runs batted in while Nolan Flashman went 3-for-4 with a home run and three runs scored. Andrew Weston notched his team-leading fifth victory of the season with six strong innings on the mound and three strikeouts.

"Drew did a nice job. He established in with his pitches, which was something we hadn't done all weekend," said head coach Greg Moore about Weston's performance. "He found a way to move the fastball. He set the tone for the day and he allowed us to get deep into the game with the lead."

Facing potentially its second three-game sweep of the conference season, the Matadors received timely hitting in key situations while receiving strong pitching all afternoon to earn the victory.

The Matadors struck first on Monday in the second inning, capitalizing on a Dirtbag error to plate two. Leading off the frame, starter Tanner Brown fielded a comebacker from Nolan Bumstead cleanly but he would throw wide to first, pulling the first baseman off the bag. The Matadors later loaded the bases with two outs, giving Smith an opportunity to deposit a two-run double to left center field.

Smith again came through in the fourth with another quality at bat to bring in another run. After Flashman hit a leadoff double, he was sacrificed to third on a bunt from Elias Orona. Needing only a deep fly ball, Smith hit a sacrifice fly to center to plate Flashman.

Meanwhile, Weston pitched effectively on the mound with the lead. The sophomore faced the minimum through three innings and he pitched around trouble in the fourth and fifth innings.

Weston allowed a single and a one-out walk to start the top of the fourth but he retired the next two on three pitches to strand both runners. An inning later, back-to-back one-out singles put runners on first and second but Weston rebounded nicely by recording consecutive outs to end the threat.

Scattering six hits and allowing just two walks, Weston tossed six shutout innings and made way for the bullpen in the seventh. Right-handed pitcher Samuel Myers entered the contest following a leadoff double but he got the Matadors out of trouble by sitting down the next three Dirtbag hitters.

Much like CSUN took advantage of a Long Beach State error earlier in the game, the Dirtbags cracked the scoring the column in the eighth after a Matador error. With a runner at first and nobody out, Jarren Duran hit a grounder to second base but the ball would be mishandled, allowing the lead runner to advance to third base. Luke Rasmussen followed with an RBI groundout to third to cut the lead to 3-1. Myers would rally though, retiring two of the next three batters to preserve the two-run advantage.

After being shutout since the fourth inning, the Matadors picked up a key insurance run in the bottom of the eighth. Already with a single and a double, Flashman belted a solo home run to deep left field to give the Matadors a 4-1 lead.

Back out to pitch in the ninth, Myers surrendered two-straight singles to start off the inning. Myers limited the damage by forcing Garrett Nelson to hit a groundball resulting in an out at second but a throwing error would be committed on an attempted double play turn. On the play, a run scored from second base, trimming the Matadors lead to 4-2 with one out. Facing the tying run at the plate, Myers would buckle down and get the next two including retiring Duran on a liner to short to end the game.

On the day, Myers tossed three innings and allowed two unearned runs en route to posting his first career save.

"Sam is a hybrid, we don't consider him a closer necessarily because he could do a little bit of everything," said Moore about Myers. "You put him in games and say 'this is your ball and go to work.' Sam did a nice job today as he always does."

Branden Berry recorded a leadoff single in the third inning to extend his streak of reaching base safely to 24 games.

The Matadors hit the road for a three-game series at UC Santa Barbara beginning on Friday afternoon. First pitch is slated for 3 p.m.