Monday, March 27
Pullman, WA
12:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
12-13
4
at
6
Washington State
14-8
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
CSUN
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
2
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4
7
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Washington State
2
0
1
1
0
1
0
1
X
6
10
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Photo by: Paul Trafecanty
CSUN Wraps up Series at Washington State with 6-4 Defeat
3/27/2017 2:41:00 PM | Baseball
NORTHRIDGE, CA---
CSUN Baseball (12-13) dropped its series finale to Washington State (14-8) 6-4 on Monday afternoon at Bailey-Brayton Field. Albee Weiss drove in three of the Matadors' four runs, finishing with two hits including a double and a triple. Justin Toerner also picked up two hits along with a double and a run scored. Trailing by as many as four runs, the Matadors collected four runs over the final five innings, but the Cougars would hold on to take three of four games in the series.
A day after the Matadors held the Cougars to one run on five hits, Washington State jumped on CSUN early with four runs over the first four innings.
Earning the spot start, senior right hander Drake Atlee surrendered two runs in the first inning as Shane Matheny and Blake Clanton each collected RBI singles.
Joey Deceglie relieved Atlee in the second inning and pitched around a one-out single but the Cougars responded with another run in the third. With two outs and a runner at second base, James Rudkin laced a single to right field to stretch the WSU lead to 3-0.
The Cougars added another run in the fourth inning on a squeeze play at the plate as Danny Sinatro bunted home Andres Alvarez to extend the advantage to four.
On the flip side, WSU starter A.J. Block retired the first nine batters to start the game and kept CSUN scoreless through four innings. The Matadors finally brokeup Block's shutout bid in the fifth. Loading the bases with one out, freshman Alex Hull drove in his first career RBI with a sacrifice fly to right field.
CSUN continued to chip away at the Cougar lead with another single tally in the sixth. Fred Smith began the frame with single up the middle, and two batters later Weiss drove him in with his second triple of the season.
Washington State would get a run back in the bottom of the sixth on a home run from Clanton, but the Matadors answered back in the eighth with a pair of runs.
Leading off the top of the eighth with a single, Toerner advanced to third base on a double from Kevin Riley. Weiss stepped to the plate next and roped a double off the wall in left field, plating both runs. CSUN eventually moved the tying run to third base with two outs, however WSU reliever Scotty Sunitsch escaped further trouble by sitting down Dylan Alexander to keep the Cougars in front, 5-4.
With its lead down to one, WSU collected a key insurance run in the bottom of the eighth on a J.J. Hancock leadoff homer to right center. The Cougars looked for more by loading the bases with nobody out, but reliever Kyle Nicol got out of the jam unscathed as he picked up a key inning-ending 5-3 double play off the bat of Cory Meyer.
Down to their final three outs, the Matadors would not be able to put together another rally. Sunitsch retired the side in order in the top of the ninth to earn a two-inning save.
Collecting three RBI in the game, Weiss now has a team-best 24 on the year. Heading into conference play, Weiss can post a new career high in RBI with two more this season. Also, with his three runs batted in, Weiss has a team-leading seven multiple-RBI games.
The Matadors turn their attention to Big West Conference play this weekend. CSUN travels to UC Davis for a three-game series with the opener set for Friday afternoon at 2:30 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Nealy, C (4-1)
L: Atlee, Drake (0-2)
S: Sunitsch, S (7)
Batting:
2B: Toerner, Justin 1 ; Riley, Kevin 1 ; Weiss, Albee 1
3B: Weiss, Albee 1
RBI: Weiss, Albee 3 ; Hull, Alex 1
SF: Hull, Alex 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Toerner, Justin 1 ; Smith, Fred 1 ; Riley, Kevin 1 ; Bumstead, Nolan 1
Batting:
2B: Ramsower, R 1
HR: Hancock, JJ 1 ; Clanton, B 1
RBI: Sinatro, D 1 ; Matheny, S 1 ; Hancock, JJ 1 ; Rudkin, J 1 ; Clanton, B 2
SH: Ramsower, R 1 ; Waterman, C 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Sinatro, D 1 ; Ramsower, R 1 ; Matheny, S 1 ; Hancock, JJ 1 ; Clanton, B 1 ; Alvarez, A 1
HBP: Clanton, B 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
3
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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