Matadors Post Series Victory over Hawai’i with 9-3 Win

Sunday, April 24

Northridge, CA

1:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

24-14, 3-9

Hawai'i

18-19, 7-5

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Hawai'i	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	0	0	3	9	0
CSUN	0	2	0	1	0	2	2	2	X	9	12	0

Photo by: Paul Trafecanty

Matadors Post Series Victory over Hawai’i with 9-3 Win

4/24/2016 6:46:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

NORTHRIDGE, CA---

CSUN Baseball (24-14, 3-9 BWC) claimed its first Big West Conference series victory by downing the Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors (18-19, 7-5 BWC), 9-3, on Sunday afternoon at Matador Field. Once again, Yusuke Akitoshi led the way for the Matadors offensively with three hits and four RBI while Branden Berry chipped in with two hits, two runs batted in and a solo home run. Andrew Weston pitched 5.1 innings, surrendering only two runs and three hits to earn his team-leading sixth win.

"We haven't won a series in a long time and it was time to do it today," said head coach Greg Moore. "The guys had to do their individual jobs to get that done today. To their credit they did it but we have a lot more work to do."

Coming off a heartbreaking 6-5 loss in extra innings on Saturday, the Matadors bounced back with a wire-to-wire victory in the series finale.

CSUN broke up a scoreless game in the bottom of the second with a two-run frame despite only recording one hit. Albee Weiss worked a walk to start the inning and Jayson Newman got aboard with a one-out hit two batters later. Jose Ruiz drew a walk to load the bases before starter Alex Hatch set down Nolan Flashman on strikes for the second out. The Matadors then took advantage of a pair of free passes to get on the scoreboard as walks to Akitoshi and Justin Toerner forced in back-to-back runs.

Two innings later, CSUN added to its lead with clutch two-out hitting. Flashman doubled to right center with two outs and Akitoshi followed with an RBI single to left to give the Matadors a 3-0 lead.

Weston silenced the Rainbow Warriors through five innings, allowing just one hit over that span including setting down the side in order in three frames.

In the sixth, Hawai'i finally broke up the shutout and cut the deficit to one. The Rainbow Warriors loaded the bases on Weston before the Matadors turned to their bullpen. After a pitching change on the mound, Marcus Doi singled in two runs with a shot up the middle. Reliever Nick Viola recovered though by retiring the next two batters, stranding two runners on the base paths.

With its lead trimmed to one, the Matadors would answer back quickly with two runs of their own after a series of two-out hits. Following a single from Toerner that put runners at the corners with two away, Fred Smith singled in a run to make it 4-2. Berry followed suit with a single of his own through the ride side to plate Toerner, extending the advantage back to three.

Hawai'i got a run back in the seventh on a sacrifice fly from Jonathan Weeks but CSUN responded with two more runs in the bottom half of the frame to extend the lead to 7-3. With two runners in scoring position and the Hawai'i infield playing in, Akitoshi lined a shot through the defense to bring in both runners.

The Rainbow Warriors looked to get back in the game in the eighth, loading the bases with only one out against the Matador bullpen. In the pivotal moment of the game, the Matadors turned to Mathew Troupe to get out of the jam. Making just his first appearance since opening day, Troupe forced Ethan Lopez to roll over and ground into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.

"We didn't put his arm in the game but we put his mind in the game," said Moore about Troupe's return from injury on Sunday. "He is a guy that can compete in any situation and he did an outstanding job of coming in. It's not easy to do that after being out for a long time."

With its four-run lead still intact, CSUN tacked on two insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth to put the game out of reach. Berry homered for the second-straight day with a no doubt shot to left to start the frame and Flashman hit a sacrifice fly later in the inning to push the lead to 9-3.

Samuel Myers recorded the final three outs in the top of the ninth to secure the Matador series victory.

Akitoshi proved to be a tough hitter to retire throughout the series as he went 8-for-13 with six RBI, two stolen bases and a run scored in the three games.

CSUN returns to the road for a three-game series with UC Riverside beginning on Friday at 6 p.m.