Matadors Complete Season Sweep of CSU Bakersfield

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball collected 14 hits including six extra base hits as the Matadors' offense broke out in a 13-7 victory over CSU Bakersfield on Tuesday afternoon at Matador Field. Brandon Bohning drove in four runs and scored three times to go with a home run while Trevor Casanova posted three hits and three RBI. Wesley Moore (2-4) earned the victory in his first relief appearance after striking out three batters over 1.1 shutout innings. With the victory, the Matadors completed the season sweep of CSU Bakersfield for the first time since 2009.

"A couple guys like Wes Moore got their rhythm today," said head coach Greg Moore. "He was coming off the weekend, and he came in and threw a lot of strikes. I like that Drew Weston got back out there. It's been almost eight months since he has thrown a pitch on the mound against a hitter. You have to be excited for Drew personally. He's going to help our team. Overall, on the pitching side we could have been better but there was some bright spots. I liked what Cassius Hamm did. We've got plenty of guys that can do this thing and do it right. We just need to continue to work to get better at our craft."

"What I told the team was that in the game of baseball, your core stays the same," added Moore about the Matadors' recent struggles. "You bring the same work, the same effort and detail to your job every day, there will be circumstantial changes, and there will be good or bad luck. But we just need to work on the game every day. I thought it was not only a great opportunity to teach that idea; I think our guys have handled the last 10, 11 days like men."

After missing the first six weeks of the season due to injury, senior Andrew Weston made his first start of the season on Tuesday. Weston worked his way through 1.2 innings as he allowed two earned runs. In the first inning, a Matador miscue would lead to a Roadrunner run. Following an errant throw from shortstop on an attempted force out play, Weston faced Andrew Penner with nobody out and runners at the corners. Weston was able to induce a 4-3 double play but a run scored on the play.

CSUN answered back quickly in the bottom of the first to even the game up. Wasting little time, Joey Cooper led off the frame with a solo home run over the right field wall. After Albee Weiss roped a double off the left wall, Nolan Bumstead lined an RBI double down the right field line to give the Matadors a 2-1 lead.

Weston surrendered a pair of hits to kick off the second inning before freezing Christian Deaton with a pick off move. After a run down ensued, Alvaro Rubalcaba was able to throw out Sergio Robles at the plate. The Roadrunners would eventually load the bases leading to an Austyn Tengan two-run double. On the play, the Matadors' defense rallied to throw out another runner out at home. The team of Alex Hull, Rubalcaba and Casanova would get Daniel Carrizosa at the plate for the second out. Theron Kay came out of the bullpen and struck out the next batter to limit the damage.

The Matadors' offense, which scored four runs last weekend, erupted for four runs in the bottom of the second. After loading the bases with one out, the Matadors took the lead on a two-run double from Casanova. Weiss followed with a two-run single to put CSUN on top 6-3.

The offensive slugfest continued in the third as each team scored twice. The Roadrunners pulled to within 6-5 after an RBI groundout from Alec Daily and an RBI double from Deaton. CSUN countered with two runs as Cooper and Casanova cashed in on RBI singles to push the lead to 8-5.

The Matadors' third pitcher of the day, Moore, entered in the third and kept the Roadrunners at bay with strong pitching. Moore retired the side in order in the fourth on 12 pitches including striking out a pair. Five Matadors would combine to toss the final five innings, allowing two runs on just three hits. Cassius Hamm tossed 1.2 shutout innings while Tei Vanderford and Blake Schriever each worked clean innings.

CSUN added three insurance runs in the sixth and two more in the eighth to build a six-run cushion. Bohning belted a three-run home run, his third of the season, in the bottom of the sixth inning, and he later hit a sacrifice fly two innings later. Kevin Riley also checked in with an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth.

Casanova collected his team-leading 11th multiple-hit game along with his seventh multiple-RBI game of the year. Cooper's home run to lead off the first is the first for a Matador since Rubalcaba accomplished the feat last season against UC Riverside (4/23/17).

The Matadors now turn their attention to Big West play beginning Thursday. CSUN host Cal Poly in both teams' conference opener at Matador Field with first pitch slated for 3 p.m. The game will be streamed on the CSUN Sports Network presented by Dignity Health with Ross Porter on the call. Coverage will begin at 1:45 p.m.

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Team Stats

Trevor Casanova

Joey Cooper

Albee Weiss

Nolan Bumstead

Players Mentioned

Brandon Bohning

Nolan Bumstead

Trevor Casanova

Joey Cooper

Cassius Hamm

Alex Hull

Theron Kay

Wesley Moore

Kevin Riley

Alvaro Rubalcaba

Blake Schriever

Tei Vanderford

Albee Weiss

Andrew Weston