Matadors End Season with Heartbreaking 7-6 Loss

Saturday, May 28

Irvine, CA

2:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

33-22, 0

UC Irvine

31-25, 0

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

Photo by: Paul Trafecanty

Matadors End Season with Heartbreaking 7-6 Loss

5/28/2016 7:33:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

IRVINE, CA---

CSUN Baseball (33-22, 11-13 BWC) lost in walk-off fashion as UC Irvine (31-25, 11-13 BWC) rallied to win the 2016 season finale, 7-6, on Saturday afternoon at Anteater Ballpark. Seniors Branden Berry, Yusuke Akitoshi and Nolan Flashman registered hits in their final collegiate games and Rayne Raven made his first ever start on offense, scoring a run and recording a walk in his last game in a CSUN uniform. Bobby Schuman also connected for his first career home run in the contest. In a back-and-forth game where both teams led on multiple occassions, the Matadors entered the ninth with a one-run lead but the Anteaters picked up the game-winning hit with the bases loaded and two outs to notch the victory.

Starter Kenny Rosenberg pitched effectively in his final start of the season. Tossing six innings and striking out five on Saturday, Rosenberg became the first Matador in 10 seasons to pitch at least 98.0 innings in a single season. The Big West leader in strikeouts all season long, Rosenberg concluded the season with 118 strikeouts, which is the eighth-most all-time in a season in school history.

Despite a solid outing on the mound, Rosenberg surrendered the game's first run in the first on an unfortunate play on the infield. In what appeared to be routine first inning, Rosenberg set down the first two batters of the game on three pitches. However, the frame turned around quickly after Rosenberg walked Keston Hiura and Mitchell Holland. The southpaw looked as though he would get out of trouble after he forced Adam Alcantara to popup on the infield but the ball was lost in the sun and dropped near second base. Hiura came around to score on the play to put the Anteaters on top 1-0.

The sun would play a factor throughout the afternoon as CSUN would be the befeniciary of a similar play in the second. With Elias Orona on first and nobody out, Albee Weiss hit a routine fly to left but the ball dropped right in front of Alcantara, allowing both runners to reach first and second safely.

CSUN then took advantage of a key throwing error to even the game up. Nolan Bumstead laid down a sacrifice bunt in front of the mound to Cameron Bishop but the left-hander fired high to first, giving Orona an opportunity to score from second base.

The game remained tied until the bottom of the third when the Anteaters received a timely hit to plate two. With two outs and a runner on first, Alcantara belted a shot high off the left-center field wall. The ball skipped away from Flashman, allowing not only the run to score from first but also Alcantara to come all the way home for an inside-the-park, two-run home run.

UCI's 3-1 lead would be short lived as the Matadors answered right back in the fourth to take their first lead of the game. Raven began the rally with a walk and Flashman legged out an infield single with a tapper near the third base line to put a pair of runners on with one out. After Justin Toerner walked to load the bases, Berry roped double down the left field line to bring home three runs and put the Matadors in front, 4-3.

The Matadors added another run after two more UCI errors in the fifth. Moments after John Brontsema made a throwing error that put Albee Weiss aboard, Raven hit a grounder that skipped in between Brontsema's legs, allowing Weiss to score.

Pitching with a lead, Rosenberg went to work on the mound and retired eight straight batters over the middle innings. In the sixth, he stranded two base runners for his third-straight shutout frame.

After walking the first batter of the seventh, Rosenberg exited the game. Mathew Troupe entered and retired the only batter he faced in the frame before giving way to closer Conner O'Neil. The Anteaters greeted O'Neil unkindly, rallying to even the game once more. Brontsema singled in a run to cut the lead to 5-4 and Holland hit a game-tying double to left center with two outs.

The seesaw battle continued in the top of the eighth as Schuman deposited a home run over the wall in left field, breaking the tie and giving the Matadors a 6-5 edge.

UC Irvine looked to respond in the eighth after Jonathan Munoz and Wyatt Castro worked walks. With two outs and two on, Brontsema singled to center field but the Matadors would team up to get the runner at the plate. Toerner fielded the ball cleanly in center field and threw in quickly to Weiss at the plate who tagged out Munoz just in time to end the inning.

Protecting a one-run lead in the ninth, the Matadors once again fell victim to the elements. O'Neil began the bottom of the ninth by forcing Hiura to hit a flyball to left but the ball dropped in front of Orona. Two batters later, Alcantara doubled in the tying run on a shot to left center. The Anteaters eventually loaded the bases on a walk and hit batter, setting the stage for Castro. The senior knocked in the game-winning hit with a single to right to give the Anteaters the victory.

Saturday's season finale marked the end of the collegiate careers for Matador seniors Berry, Akitoshi, Flashman, Raven, Angel Rodriguez and Nick Viola. Berry concluded his senior campaign with a 1-for-3 effort with three RBI while Akitoshi went 1-for-5. Fighting through injuries, Flashman started his final game and went 1-for-2 with a run scored. Although hitless in the game, Raven reached base twice. Both Rodriguez and Viola did not see action on Saturday but both pitchers pitched strong in their final appearances with the team. Rodriguez tossed seven innings to earn a win on Friday and Viola posted a scoreless inning in relief on Thursday evening.

Despite the setback, the Matadors finished the season with 33 victories for the second-straight year and their most conference wins (11) since 2013. CSUN has recorded back-to-back 30 win seasons for the first time since the 2001 and 2002 teams accomplished the feat. The team also finished the conference season winning 10 of the last 15 games after starting the slate 1-8.