Horvath Ties HR Record; Strong CSUN Pitching Leads To 2 Wins

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.—Savannah Horvath tied the CSUN school record for career home runs as the Matadors' pitching staff combined to allow seven hits in a pair of CSUN wins on the first day of the 2018 Matador Classic Friday.

CSUN-PACIFIC
CSUN defeated Pacific 8-2 to open the tournament in the morning session. Hailey Reed recorded the Tigers' first hit off of CSUN starter Taylor Troost to lead off the top of the fourth. Sydney Lahners, Pacific's leading hitter, doubled to right to push Reed to third. Rachel Sellers' fly ball to center was caught by Kira Cauley but wasn't deep enough for Reed to try and score.

With the count 2-1, Samantha Owen attempted a suicide squeeze. Owen bunted through the ball, as Reed broke for home. Matadors' catcher Raquel Jaime picked Reed off at third. Troost battled back from 2-1 in the count to strike out Owen to end the inning.

Raquel Jaime led off the CSUN fifth with a single up the middle. Pudi Hernandez entered as a pinch-runner and came around to score on a Haileigh Gonzalez triple to right center. Kenedee Jamerson laid down a perfect bunt in between home plate and first. Hernandez scored on the play.

With no one covering second, Jamerson turned the play in to a double. Jessica Alexander pinch ran for Jamerson. She advanced to third on a Mackenzie Babbitt bunt single. Savannah Horvath drove in Alexander with a single through the left side. Babbitt and Horvath successfully turned in a double steal to move up a base with Cauley at the plate. Cauley would strike out after five straight hits. Pacific starter Marissa Young posted her second consecutive strike out to retire Megan Stevens. Corrin Green singled down the left field line to drive in Babbitt and Horvath. Rojas walked to bring Jaime back to the plate as Megan Walters relieved Young.

Jaime singled to right to drive in pinch runner Jaymi Steward. Rojas scored on a throwing error by Sellers, the UOP catcher, who was trying to throw out Jaime on a stolen base attempt. Jamerson grounded out to end the inning.

A walk and a pair of CSUN errors led to the Tigers' first run to lead off the Pacific sixth. A Sellers single drove in Pacific's (10-17) second run. Green drove in Horvath with two outs in the CSUN sixth with a single.

"It took us a little bit to get going," said CSUN head coach Tairia Flowers. "Once we get going, we were able to get some momentum, and it was nice to get a big inning like that."

Green would go 2-for-4 with three runs batted in. Jaime was 2-for-2 with an RBI. Horvath recorded her eighth multi-hit game of the year as she was 2-for-3 with an RBI. Horvath scored twice. Troost and Stevens combined on a three-hitter.

CSUN-GEORGIA TECH
The Matadors scored five runs in the bottom of the fifth to go onto a 6-1 victory over the Yellow Jackets.

The Yellow Jackets (17-10) threatened with a base runner in scoring position in each of the first three innings, but CSUN starter Jillian James worked out of trouble each time, recording four strikeouts. Georgia Tech would strand five during the span.

Kaylee Ellebracht worked out a walk against James to open the fifth. Skye Webb pinch-ran for Ellebracht as Cameron Stanford, the Georgia Tech leadoff hitter came to bat. She successfully sacrificed Webb to second. Lilly Hooper struck out. Katie Krzus drove in Webb to break the seal. James made Draven Sonnon her eighth strikeout of the game to end the frame.

Rojas began the CSUN fifth with a walk. Gator Rascon's sac bunt pushed Rojas to second. Gonzalez singled to right, allowing Rojas to take third. With the count 1-2 on Jamerson, an Emily Anderson wild pitch allowed Gonzalez to go to second. A Jamerson ground ball to short was booted by Kelsey Chisholm, which scored both runners.

Babbitt singled to advance Steward, who pinch ran for Jamerson, to second. Horvath homered for the 11th time this season, a three-run blast, to increase the CSUN advantage to 5-1. The Las Vegas native hit her 46th career home run, tying Scia Maumausolo's (1993-96) school mark. Horvath is now third in Big West history in the category and is seven away from tying Darian Tautalafua's (Long Beach State, 53, 2013-16) league record.

Green led off the sixth with a single. Alexander pinch ran for Green and advanced to second on a Rojas sacrifice bunt. Anderson struck out Rascon before Gonzalez singled to right center to drive in Alexander.

James hit Rebecca Prairie as the top of the seventh got underway. Webb struck out. Stanford doubled to right center which got Prairie to third. James struck out pinch hitter Malea Bell for out number two. Stevens made a running catch deep in the right center gap on a Krzus fly ball to end the game.

"We feed off of each other, so when something happens, it's great to get big innings," Flowers said. "I would like to see us keep things even throughout the game. At least we made an adjustment and capitalize on it. Savannah is lethal anytime she comes up to the plate. She has speed, she has power, she is a five-tool player. I'm so happy that as a senior, she is having a year she feels good about. She is leading this team right now."

James, a freshman, reset her season high with 13 strikeouts. She posted four strikeouts in a row at one point in the fifth and sixth innings. James hurled a four-hitter, walking three. Gonzalez posted two of the six Matadors' hits.

CSUN (14-22) has a return game against Pacific, which lost on a walk-off home run to Georgia Tech 8-6 in Friday's middle game, Saturday morning at 8 a.m. to conclude the Matadors' stint in the tournament.

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Team Stats

Haileigh Gonzalez

Mackenzie Babbitt

Savannah Horvath

Corrin Green

Players Mentioned

Jessica Alexander

Mackenzie Babbitt

Kira Cauley

Haileigh Gonzalez

Corrin Green

Pudi Hernandez

Savannah Horvath

Raquel Jaime

Kenedee Jamerson

Jillian James

Gator Rascon

Megan Stevens

Jaymi Steward

Taylor Troost