Matadors Drop 6-4 Decision to UC Riverside in Series Opener

Friday, April 29

Riverside, CA

6:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

24-15, 3-10

UC Riverside

19-20, 6-4

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
CSUN	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	4	10	2
UC Riverside	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	X	6	9	0

Photo by: CSUN Athletics

Matadors Drop 6-4 Decision to UC Riverside in Series Opener

4/29/2016 6:50:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

RIVERSIDE, CA---

CSUN Baseball (24-15, 3-10 BWC) fell in its series opener to UC Riverside (19-20, 6-4 BWC) on Friday evening at Riverside Sports Complex. The trio of Yusuke Akitoshi, Nolan Bumstead and Elias Orona each finished with two hits in a losing effort. Angel Rodriguez tossed six innings, fanning six batters while allowing only two earned runs. CSUN battled back from a four-run deficit to bring the go-ahead run to the plate in the top of the ninth but UC Riverside would hold on to post the victory.

Looking to build off its series victory last weekend at home against Hawai'i, CSUN fell behind in the early going due in large part to a pair of key errors on infield grounders. The Highlanders took advantage of the miscues to build an early 4-0 lead in the first inning.

After a leadoff single in the first from Mark Contreras, Drake Zarate laid down a sacrifice bunt that was mishandled down the third base side leading to Zarate to reach first base safely. Vince Fernandez followed with a single to right field to bring in a run to give the Highlanders the 1-0 lead. Two batters later, an error at short on a potential inning-ending douple play ball off the bat of Yeager Taylor kept the the inning alive. Casy Worden took full advantage of the opportunity by connecting on a two-run single. Michael Farris drove in a fourth run later in the frame on a line drive single to short.

The Matadors got a run back in the second inning to trim the UCR lead. With Albee Weiss at third base, Elias Orona stepped to the plate and delivered a two-out RBI single through the left side of the infield.

In the bottom of the second, UC Riverside once again got back into the run column after another CSUN defensive miscue. Rodriguez surrendered a single to Contreras to start the inning. After back-to-back outs moved the runner to third base, Rodriguez fired a pitch that bounced off his catcher's glove and trickled away from home plate, which gave Conteras enough time to come in and score.

Despite surrendering five runs through two innings, Rodriguez allowed just two earned runs during that span. The senior right-hander hit a batter to start the third but he rebounded by retiring 10 of the next 11 batters. In the sixth, he worked around a two-out walk to strikeout Contreras to end his stint on the mound. Rodriguez gave up six hits through the first two innings, however he rebounded in a big way over the last four frames, giving up just one hit to the Highlanders to keep CSUN in the game.

The Matadors would have opportunities to cut into the deficit throughout the contest but the Highlanders managed to turn away most of the CSUN rallies.

Austin Sodders was effective on the mound in his five innings of work, allowing only two runs to come across. He gave up consecutive walks to start the the third before setting down the next three batters in succession. Sodders escaped a similar jam in the fourth, retiring three-straight batters after hitting a batter and giving up a single to start the inning.

After stranding a runner in the fifth inning, CSUN finally broke through with a single tally in the top of the sixth inning. Justin Toerner was hit by a pitch to lead off the frame and Dylan Alexander worked a walk to move Toerner into scoring position. Orona advanced both runners up a base on a sacrifice bunt before Nolan Flashman came through with an infield single to plate a run. The Matadors loaded the bases on a single from Akitoshi but Sodders again got out of trouble after he forced Smith to ground into a double play to end the rally.

UC Riverside picked up an insurance run in the eighth on a two-out RBI single from Farris to extend the lead back to four runs.

The Matadors entered the ninth trailing 6-2 but CSUN would not go down quietly. Back-to-back singles from Akitoshi and Smith began the inning, bringing the tying run to the on deck circle. Branden Berry reached on a fielder's choice to place runners at the corners, giving Bumstead an opportunity to hit an opposite field RBI single to right.

The Matadors loaded the bases on a single from Weiss and picked up another run on a sacrifice fly from Toerner to cut the lead to 6-4. Alexander stepped to the plate with two runners on and two outs but Ryan Lillie retired the Matador catcher on a fly out to center field to end the game.

Akitoshi kept up his hot hitting on Friday with a 2-for-3 day at the plate. He has hit safely in seven of the last eight games while he has recorded multiple-hit games in six of those contests. In his last 20 at bats, Akitoshi has racked up 12 hits, driven in six, scored three runs and batted .600 at the dish.

The Matadors take on the Highlanders in game two of the series on Saturday night at 6 p.m.