Matadors Lose 2-1 Decision to Cal State Fullerton

Saturday, April 2

Fullerton, CA

6:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

20-7, 0-2

Cal State Fullerton

15-11, 2-0

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
CSUN	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	7	1
Cal State Fullerton	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	X	2	8	0

Photo by: Paul Trafecanty

Matadors Lose 2-1 Decision to Cal State Fullerton

4/2/2016 10:05:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

FULLERTON, CA---

CSUN Baseball (20-7, 0-2 BWC) suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Cal State Fullerton (15-11, 2-0 BWC) on Saturday night at Goodwin Field. Junior Fred Smith picked up two hits for the second-straight day and senior Branden Berry knocked in his team-leading 24^th RBI of the season. The Matador bullpen was strong in the contest, tossing 4.1 shutout innings but the Titans would push across the winning run in the fourth inning on a two-out hit.

"[The game] came down to making our breaks happen instead of hoping they would," said head coach Greg Moore. "We didn't get the punch we wanted so we ended up one run down in a one run game."

A day after the teams combined to total 11 runs in the opener of the series, runs were at a premium in game two.

Fullerton cracked the scoreboard first in the second inning against starter Conner O'Neil. With two runners in scoring position and one out, Hank LoForte gave Fullerton the lead with an RBI groundout to second. O'Neil limited the damage by striking out Timmy Richards looking, stranding a runner at third in the process.

The Matador bats came alive in the fourth to even the contest. Yusuke Akitoshi tripled into the right field gap to start the inning and Berry followed with a bloop single into center to plate Akitoshi.

O'Neil shutout the Titans in the third, pitching around a leadoff walk but Fullerton went back on top an inning later. After the first two reached to start the frame, O'Neil appeared as though he would escape the predicament as he struck out back-to-back hitters. Richards though came through with a two-out hit that just got by a ranging Smith at second base to give the Titans the lead at 2-1.

Trailing again by one, the Matadors looked to respond in the fifth. Starter Conner Seabold surrenderd a single to Ruiz and he hit two batters with one out to load the bases. Seabold would rally though to fan back-to-back hitters to maintain the one-run edge.

CSUN's pitching faced a similar situation in the bottom half of the fifth. The Titans loaded the bases on a hit and two walks with just one out. Nick Viola entered out of the bullpen and struck out Chris Hudgins swinging and Angel Rodriguez followed with a strikeout of his own, fanning Scott Hurst.

Rodriguez kept the Titans at bay for the remainder of the contest. He sat down the Fullerton side in order in the sixth and Rodriguez pitched around a pair of hits in the seventh inning. The senior went on to quiet the Titan bats once more in the eighth inning, keeping CSUN within striking distance. In the game, Rodriguez went 3.1 innings, striking out three and scattering three hits.

Along with Rodriguez's performance, sophomore Joe Ryan tossed 0.2 shutout innings in relief and Viola struck out the only batter he faced.

"It came down to our guys coming out of the 'pen executing pitches," said Moore about his bullpen's success on Saturday. "Nick came in and did a great of job using what he has. He throws his slider well. I thought Angel pitched very well and he steadied the game for us."

Unfortunately for the Matadors, the CSUN bats were unable to get going in the late innings. After stranding three Matadors in the fifth inning, Seabold pitched a shutout sixth and made way for the Fullerton bullpen.

John Gavin entered in the seventh and gave up a one-out single to Smith but the next two hitters would be sat down in order. In the eighth and ninth innings, Gavin quieted the Matadors by retiring the side in order in consecutive frames to earn the save.

CSUN concludes its series with Cal State Fullerton on Sunday afternoon at Goodwin Field. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m.