Riley Belts Walk-Off Homer as CSUN Sweeps UC Davis

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---Kevin Riley hit a walk-off three-run homer to send CSUN Baseball (24-26, 12-9 BWC) to a 5-2 victory and a series sweep of UC Davis on Senior Day on Sunday afternoon at Matador Field. One of 12 seniors on the team, Riley finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored while five other seniors collected hits. Senior right hander Tei Vanderford collected his second-straight win in as many days after retiring a batter in the top of the ninth.

"It's a funny thing on Senior Day, when you work at the game the right way, the baseball gods usually give a tip of a cap to you," said head coach Greg Moore. "I think that's what happened today with Kevin Riley doing what he did, and the guys on the left side in Alvaro and Bumstead playing good defense. Everybody in there who was a senior did something to help.

"I thought the pitchers did well all weekend of keeping it simple, throwing strikes and limiting some free bases," added Moore about his pitching staff. "We made some big pitches. I thought guys used their plan better than I've seen them use it in the past few weeks. This weekend may have been our best three games in combination."

A day after Riley Conlan hit a walk-off single to lift the Matadors to a win over the Aggies in 11 innings, the Matadors would have a flare for the dramatic again on Senior Day.

In the bottom of the ninth, with the game tied up at 2-2, Justin Toerner punched a leadoff single up the middle. CSUN tried a hit and run play with Trevor Casanova at the plate, which allowed Toerner to get a head start to second base. Casanova grounded out to short but Toerner moved up to second base. With a base open, Albee Weiss was intentionally walked, bringing Riley to the dish. On the first pitch of the at bat, Riley blasted a shot high and over the left field wall to send Matador Field into a frenzy.

Earlier in the game, the Matadors received a quality start from Matt Acosta. The right hander tossed six innings, allowing two runs on six hits while allowing no walks. Acosta blanked the Aggies through the first three innings, scattering three hits.

The Matadors gave Acosta the early lead with a run in the first inning. Toerner reached base on a catcher's interference to kick off the frame. After Casanova flied out to center, Toerner then tagged up and reached second base. Weiss followed with an RBI double down the left field line.

The Aggies evened the game up in the fourth on one swing of the bat. Ryan Hooper battled Acosta to a 3-2 count before hitting a home run to right center. Acosta shook off the homer by retiring the next six Aggies in a row.

Still a 1-1 game after five innings, the Aggies surged into the lead in the sixth. Caleb Van Blake doubled to start the frame and Ryan Anderson followed with a single to put runners at the corners. Acosta forced Hooper to hit into a 5-4-3 double play but Van Blake scored on the play.

The Matadors fought back with a run of their own in the bottom of half of the sixth. Riley stroked a leadoff double to left center, and he later moved up to third on a groundball to the right side. Conlan came through with a sacrifice fly to right center, plating the tying run.

CSUN's bullpen combined to toss three shutout innings but the group would have to escape jams in the seventh and ninth innings to do so.

In the seventh, The Aggies threatened with runners at first and second base and two outs. Blake Schriever walked two consecutive batters and worked to a 1-2 count on Tanner Murray before Moore went to his bullpen. Hayden Shenefield came in and retired Murray on the next pitch to end the frame.

Two innings later, Shenefield retired two of the first four batters before Vanderford entered the ballgame. With runners at the corners and two outs, Vanderford set down Brad Pluschkell on a flyout setting the stage for Riley's walk off in the bottom of the ninth.

Casanova continued his hot stretch at the plate as he extended his hitting streak to 21-straight games. The hit streak is the longest since Fred Smith hit in 21 straight two seasons ago. Tim Arroyo has the Matadors' hitting streak record of 25-straight games, which he set in 2001.

The Matadors will play their remainder of their schedule away from home beginning with a Tuesday matchup with UCLA at 6 p.m. Prior to their regularly scheduled game, the teams will resume their contest from March 14, which was suspended due to rain in the bottom of the eighth with the Matadors trailing 3-2.

Players Mentioned

Matt Acosta

Trevor Casanova

Riley Conlan

Kevin Riley

Blake Schriever

Hayden Shenefield

Fred Smith

Justin Toerner

Tei Vanderford

Albee Weiss