Matadors Fall in 12 Innings at Ohio State

COLUMBUS, Ohio---In a game where runs were hard to come by, CSUN Baseball (9-8) fell 2-1 in 12 innings to Ohio State on Friday afternoon at Bill Davis Stadium. Junior right hander Walker Armstrong tossed six quality innings, striking out five batters and allowing just a run on five hits. The Matadors' bullpen also hurled 5.2 innings, allowing just a run on four hits. Albee Weiss drove in the Matadors' only run, his 27th RBI of the season.

On the mound, Armstrong retired eight of the first nine batters of the game, and faced just two over the minimum through the first four innings. In the fifth, Armstrong gave up a walk and a single but a key 4-6-3 double play kept the Buckeyes off the scoreboard. On the flip side, OSU's Connor Curlis kept the Matadors off balanced in the early going. After giving up his first hit of the game to Joey Cooper in the fourth, Curlis retired the next nine batters in a row.

Still a scoreless game in the sixth, the Buckeyes struck first against Armstrong. Dominic Canzone doubled to begin the frame, and he moved to third base on a sacrifice fly from Noah West. Brady Cherry followed with an RBI single to center field to put Ohio State on top 1-0.

Unable to figure out Curlis through the first six innings, CSUN finally broke through in the seventh. Trevor Casanova kicked off the rally with a leadoff single through the right side. Weiss stepped to the plate next and roped a double into the gap in right center field, scoring a hustling Casanova.

Later in the seventh, Justin Toerner would sacrifice Weiss to third base in the frame but reliever Kyle Michalik retired the next two batters to keep the game squared at 1-1.

Both teams turned to their respective bullpens in the later innings. Junior right hander Isaiah Nunez worked a shutout 1.1 innings while Blake Schriever hurled 3.0 scoreless frames, striking out three while allowing just a hit to help send the game into extra innings.

OSU's Seth Kinker stranded two base runners in the eighth and pitched around a leadoff error at third base in the ninth. Kinker finished with 4.2 shutout innings to go with seven strikeouts.

The Matadors had their best scoring chance in extra innings in the top of the 10th. Back-to-back one-out singles from Michael Russo and Brandon Bohning put runners on first and second base. Two batters later, Cooper was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Moments later, Casanova worked the count to 2-2 but flew out to right to end the inning.

CSUN used three different pitchers to get through an eventful bottom of the 11th. Ohio State loaded the bases on a single and a pair of walks, however, Hayden Shenefield came out of the bullpen and sat down Tyler Cowles on a ground out for the third out.

Ohio State threatened again in the 12th behind a leadoff single from Nate Rowans and a one-out walk from Bo Coolen. Shenefield was able to get Canzone into a 1-2 count before the sophomore singled to left field, plating the winning run. Along with the walk-off hit, Canzone finished 5-for-6 in the contest.

Russo posted his first career multiple-hit game with two hits to go along with a double. Finishing with a single, Cooper has now reached base safely in 10-straight games.

Due to the threat of inclement weather, the teams will not play on Saturday and will instead play a doubleheader on Sunday afternoon starting at 10 a.m. (PT).

Matadors Fall in 12 Innings at Ohio State

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Team Stats

Michael Russo

Joey Cooper

Trevor Casanova

Albee Weiss

Players Mentioned

Walker Armstrong

Brandon Bohning

Trevor Casanova

Joey Cooper

Isaiah Nunez

Michael Russo

Blake Schriever

Hayden Shenefield

Justin Toerner

Albee Weiss