Matadors Take Down No. 13 Cal State Fullerton in Season Finale

Sunday, May 21

Northridge, CA

1:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

26-29, 12-12

#13 Cal State Fullerton

33-19, 14-7

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Cal State Fullerton	0	0	0	1	0	0	3	0	0	4	12	2
CSUN	0	0	1	0	2	5	0	0	X	8	11	0

Photo by: Paul Trafecanty

Matadors Take Down No. 13 Cal State Fullerton in Season Finale

5/21/2017 5:36:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

NORTHRIDGE, CA---

CSUN Baseball (26-29, 12-12 BWC) ended the 2017 season on a winning note, upsetting No. 13 Cal State Fullerton (33-19, 14-7 BWC) by the final of 8-4 on Sunday afternoon at Matador Field. Alvaro Rubalcaba finished with two hits and two RBI while Albee Weiss blasted his 11th home run of the season. Playing in his final collegiate game, William Colantono went 2-for-3 with three runs scored, an RBI and a double and fellow senior Fred Smith picked up an RBI double. Ending his career in style, Samuel Myers earned his team-leading sixth win by going 6.2 innings, allowing four runs to go along with seven strikeouts.

"It was emotional coming in. I just wanted to leave it all out there because I wasn't sure if this was the last baseball game I would be playing," said Myers. "I got a little emotional when I got taken out of the game but that was to be expected. [Cal State Fullerton] is a quality team and it was fun to compete against those guys. It was a huge win because we hadn't been swept all year and we wanted to keep that streak going."

Moments after taking part in an emotional senior day ceremony, Myers took the mound and proceeded to slow down the nationally-ranked Titans. Pitching around a two-out double in the first inning, Myers retired seven of the next eight batters and gave the Matadors an opportunity to produce runs.

CSUN took the early lead in the third inning after a pair of clutch two-out hits. Colantono began the rally with double down the right field line. Moments after moving to third base on a wild pitch, Colantono touched home plate on an RBI single from Rubalcaba.

Fullerton answered back in the fourth to even the game on an RBI hit from Hunter Cullen. However, the Matadors would counter with a scoring barrage over the next two innings.

In the fifth, after Elias Orona doubled with one out, Colantono hit an RBI single up the middle to put the Matadors back on top. Colantono would eventually score in the frame following some heads up base running. A wild pitch moved Colantono to second base and he eventually advanced to third base on a flyout. Moments later, another wild pitch gave Colantono an opportunity to race home and score.

Weiss added to the Matadors lead in the sixth inning with a towering two-run home run. CSUN would be far from done in the frame as aggressive base running opened the door for a huge inning. With Nolan Bumstead at third base and two outs, Orona worked a walk and took first base. However, Orona never stopped running and attempted to take second. Relief pitcher Jack Pabich tried to throw out Orona but he threw wildly into center field leading to Bumstead scoring and Orona taking third base.

After Colaontono drew a walk to load the bases, Rubalcaba hit an infield single to drive in another Matador run. Smith capped off a five-run sixth with an RBI double to put the Matadors ahead 8-1.

Pitching with a lead, Myers continued to frustrate the Titans. Myers surrendered two hits in the fifth but slowed down the rally by picking off Scott Hurst at first base. He also stranded another base runner in the sixth after striking out Cullen looking to end the inning.

The Titans finally found success against Myers in the seventh as four-straight two-out hits resulted in three runs coming across to cut the Matador lead to 8-4. Myers was lifted from the game with two runners on base in favor of Joey Deceglie. The Matador left hander tiptoed out of trouble by retiring Zach Weisz for the third out.

Also playing in his final collegiate game, Conner O'Neil concluded his Matador career on a high note. Entering in the eighth, O'Neil sat down six of seven batters including racking up three strikeouts to cap off a CSUN victory.

Despite not earning a save, O'Neil ends his Matador career with an all-time CSUN best 29 career saves. He also concludes his career with the lowest ERA (2.53) of any Division I CSUN pitcher. In addition, O'Neil finishes tied for fifth all-time with Louis Cohen with 78 games pitched and 10th all-time with 197 strikeouts.

CSUN concludes the 2017 season with its most wins (12) in conference play in four seasons and the most under head coach Greg Moore. With a 12-12 finish in the conference, the team secured at least a fourth-place finish in the conference for the first time since 2013. The Matadors also won their fourth game against a nationally-ranked team, their most in eight years. Looking ahead to next season, the Matadors welcome back a senior laden group along with a talented recruiting class ready to embark on another Big West title chase.