CSUN Baseball Rallies Past UC Davis in 5-4 Win

Friday, May 13

Northridge, CA

3:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

29-16, 8-11

UC Davis

16-27, 4-12

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

Photo by: CSUN Athletics

CSUN Baseball Rallies Past UC Davis in 5-4 Win

5/13/2016 6:26:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

NORTHRIDGE, CA---

CSUN Baseball (29-16, 8-11 BWC) used a three-run seventh inning to rally past UC Davis (16-27, 4-12 BWC) for a 5-4 victory on Friday afternoon at Matador Field. Branden Berry picked up two hits including a home run and two RBI while both Fred Smith and Bobby Schuman each recorded two hits apiece. Conner O'Neil came out of the bullpen and worked the final two innings, earning his ninth save by stranding the tying run at third base to end the game. The Matadors entered the bottom of the seventh trailing by a pair, but CSUN capitalized on two Aggies errors and received a timely hit from Berry to take control of the series opener.

"We're really trying to be steady throughout the game and continue to do the small things," said head coach Greg Moore. "It's the read that Yusuke and Freddie had when Berry goes to right center field [in the seventh]. Little things like that, the hightened concentration, is a good example of what we want throughout the game. It's good to score some runs but we need to keep playing during those middle innings and we did that today."

In a back-and-forth series opener, the Matadors would strike first at the outset of the game. Aggies starter Robert Garcia set down the first two in order to start the first but Berry quickly turned the inning the around on one swing. A home run to left field on the second pitch of the at bat gave CSUN the early 1-0 lead.

UC Davis would have an answer in the second as Brad Pluschkell singled through the left side of the infield to plate Ryan Hooper with two outs.

The seesaw game continued moments later in the bottom half of the frame. Justin Toerner singled to center field to start the inning and Dylan Alexander doubled to left center later in the frame to move Toerner to third. Schuman followed next with an opposite field single to left to give the Matadors the lead right back.

Angel Rodriguez stranded five UC Davis batters through the first three innings, limiting the opposition to one run over that span. In the fourth, however, the Aggies came away with the tying run on a one-out RBI double from Pluschkell, scoring Justin Allen from second base. Nick Viola entered the fray in the fourth and stranded Pluschkell at second after retiring the next two batters.

Viola steadied the ship with shutout frames in the fifth and sixth innings, pitching around three hits while recording two strikeouts.

Meanwhile, Garcia settled down after the rocky first two innings and held CSUN off the scoreboard for four-straight frames. CSUN threatened in the fourth after Nolan Bumstead singled and Schuman worked a two-out walk but Garcia forced Elias Orona to lineout to right field to end the inning.

Still a tie game going to the seventh, the Aggies took their first lead on a pair of back-to-back solo home runs to go in front 4-2. Cameron Olson launched the first pitch from Samuel Myers in the inning out to right field and Logan Denholm followed with a shot to left three pitches later. Myers gave up a single to Spencer Henderson shortly after the two home runs but he minimized the damage by forcing Hooper to ground into a 5-4-3 double play.

Now trailing by two, the Matadors went to work to get back into the game in the bottom of the seventh against Garcia. Orona fought back from an 0-2 count to work a one-out walk bringing up Smith. The speedy Matador second base man laid down a well-placed bunt down the third base line and reached first safely. On the the play, Garcia fielded the ball but threw wildly to first, allowing Orona to score and Smith to move up to second. After Yusuke Akitoshi was struck by a pitch to put runners at first and second base, Berry stepped to the plate and roped a 1-2 pitch into left center field, driving in Smith.

On the Berry single, a throw from left fielder Alex Aguiar struck an umpire and bounced into foul territory, which allowed Akitoshi to race home with the go-ahead run.

With a 5-4 lead going to the eighth, CSUN called upon O'Neil to close out the game. The right-hander set down the first two batters before giving up a two-out single to Aguiar. Following a stolen base, O'Neil stranded the runner by striking out Olson.

In the ninth, O'Neil would get into trouble after a tough break at home plate. Shortly after striking out Denholm to start the frame, he fanned Henderson but his pitch rolled away from home plate, giving Henderson an opportunity to reach first without a throw. Hooper then hit a one-out single through the right side to move Henderson up to third base. With runners at the corners, O'Neil would come through with the game on the line. He struck out Allen swinging on an eight-pitch at bat and he retired Cameron Briggs on a flyout to right to secure the victory.

Making his first start since April 10, Schuman delivered with a 2-for-3 day at the plate while registering an RBI and a walk. "He had a great first at bat," said Moore about Schuman's day at the plate. "He saw seven pitches and then get's a base hit to left field. It's a credit to Bobby for being ready to play because he didn't know he was going to be in the lineup until ht got to the ballpark."

With the victory, the Matadors earned their 29th win of the season and the team is one win shy of reaching 30 wins in back-to-back seasons. The last time the Matadors posted consecutive 30 or more win seasons was from 2001-02 when the team won 34 during the 2001 campaign before winning 41 a season later.

The Matadors look for their third Big West Conference series victory on Saturday afternoon when they resume their series with UC Davis at Matador Field. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m.