Friday, May 10
Davis, CA
2:30 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
5
at
4
UC Davis
Players Mentioned
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Photo by: Shae Hammond
Matadors Edge UC Davis in Back and Forth Opener
5/10/2019 6:05:00 PM | Baseball
DAVIS, Calif.---CSUN Baseball (20-27, 7-12 BWC) claimed the series opener from UC Davis (17-25, 8-11 BWC) with a 5-4 win on Friday afternoon at Dobbins Stadium. Freshman Josh Cerpa collected three hits while senior Kyle Barret and junior Jose Ruiz picked up two hits apiece. Ruiz and junior Blake Doremus drove in two runs in the win. Freshman Blaine Traxel worked 2.1 shutout innings out of the bullpen, scattering two hits for his first career victory.
Trailing by one run twice in Friday's opener, the Matadors rallied back and pushed across what would be the winning run in the seventh inning.
GAME BREAKDOWN
Earning the Friday start, senior Isaiah Nunez would have to grind his way through five innings of work. The first three Aggies collected hits against Nunez to start the first inning with Spencer Gedestad registering an RBI single to put UC Davis ahead 1-0. However, Nunez limited the damage by retiring three of the next four batters.
CSUN answered back in the third inning behind four-straight hits. Cerpa began the inning with a single before Denzel Clarke and Barret legged out infield singles to load the bases. Ruiz followed with a base hit through the left side of the infield to plate the speedy Cerpa and Clarke and put the Matadors on top 2-1.
After running into trouble early, Nunez found his groove and retired six-straight Aggie batters. UC Davis though turned the tables in the home half of the third with three-straight two-out hits, capped off by a game-tying hit from Cameron Briggs. Nunez was unlucky in the fourth as the Aggies capitalized on a CSUN miscue to take the lead again. With two outs and nobody on base, Tanner Murray stroked a triple but he would score on the play after an error in center field.
In the fifth, the Matadors responded with two-out hitting of their own. Ruiz began the rally with a two-out triple into right-center field. Moments later, Skelly hit into what appeared to be the final out of the inning. However, an errant throw from shortstop Murray pulled first baseman Joseph Myers off the base. Skelly was initially called out, but after the umpire crew discussed the play, Skelly was ruled safe, resulting in Ruiz scoring on the play. Doremus came up next and roped a double into right field to plate Skelly all the way from first base and give CSUN a 4-3 lead.
The seesaw battle continued in the bottom of the fifth where the Aggies tied the game once more. After Nunez was successful in retiring two of the first three batters, Briggs delivered a two-out single to bring in Alejandro Lara from second base. Nunez escaped further trouble by picking off Briggs in-between first and second base for the third out.
UC Davis looked as though it might take the lead in the sixth after the first two batters reached on singles. Head coach Greg Moore made the move to the bullpen where Traxel would come through by sitting down the next three batters in a row.
Traxel's work in the sixth gave the Matadors an opportunity to reclaim the lead an inning later. Barret singled to start the inning and he stole second base with Ruiz at the plate. A Ruiz sacrifice bunt and Skelly walk put runners at the corners with one out. Doremus came through once again with a sacrifice fly to right field, giving the Matadors a 5-4 edge.
With the lead once more, the Matador bullpen would take care of the Aggie bats in the late innings. Traxel surrendered back-to-back two-out hits in the seventh inning but struck out Myers to end the frame. In the eighth, he retired the first batter of the inning before walking Garret Kelly, prompting a change on the mound. Blake Schriever quieted the Aggie uprising by sitting down the next two batters.Â
Schriever came back out for the ninth and struck out Gedestad for the first out. Lara flew out to left field but Caleb Van Blake kept the Aggies alive with a single. Schriever threw a wild pitch to move Van Blake up to second base before the CSUN closer finally shut the door. The right hander struck out Briggs for the final out, giving CSUN a game one win.
GAME NOTES
Barret posted his team-best 18th multiple-hit game of the season while he extended his hit streak to nine. Cerpa's three hits in the game are a new career high for the freshman. Now with nine saves on the season, Schriever is tied with Mike Frick (2001), Brian Slover (2009) and Josh Goossen-Brown (2013) for the third-most saves in a single-season in team history.
ACCORDING TO HEAD COACH GREG MOORE
"Blaine made the pitches of the day to quiet the rallies. The poise he has is beyond his years. The offense put balls in play all day long, only striking out three times. The freshmen are beginning to have balanced at bats."
UP NEXT
The Matadors go for the series win at UC Davis on Saturday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
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Trailing by one run twice in Friday's opener, the Matadors rallied back and pushed across what would be the winning run in the seventh inning.
GAME BREAKDOWN
Earning the Friday start, senior Isaiah Nunez would have to grind his way through five innings of work. The first three Aggies collected hits against Nunez to start the first inning with Spencer Gedestad registering an RBI single to put UC Davis ahead 1-0. However, Nunez limited the damage by retiring three of the next four batters.
CSUN answered back in the third inning behind four-straight hits. Cerpa began the inning with a single before Denzel Clarke and Barret legged out infield singles to load the bases. Ruiz followed with a base hit through the left side of the infield to plate the speedy Cerpa and Clarke and put the Matadors on top 2-1.
After running into trouble early, Nunez found his groove and retired six-straight Aggie batters. UC Davis though turned the tables in the home half of the third with three-straight two-out hits, capped off by a game-tying hit from Cameron Briggs. Nunez was unlucky in the fourth as the Aggies capitalized on a CSUN miscue to take the lead again. With two outs and nobody on base, Tanner Murray stroked a triple but he would score on the play after an error in center field.
In the fifth, the Matadors responded with two-out hitting of their own. Ruiz began the rally with a two-out triple into right-center field. Moments later, Skelly hit into what appeared to be the final out of the inning. However, an errant throw from shortstop Murray pulled first baseman Joseph Myers off the base. Skelly was initially called out, but after the umpire crew discussed the play, Skelly was ruled safe, resulting in Ruiz scoring on the play. Doremus came up next and roped a double into right field to plate Skelly all the way from first base and give CSUN a 4-3 lead.
The seesaw battle continued in the bottom of the fifth where the Aggies tied the game once more. After Nunez was successful in retiring two of the first three batters, Briggs delivered a two-out single to bring in Alejandro Lara from second base. Nunez escaped further trouble by picking off Briggs in-between first and second base for the third out.
UC Davis looked as though it might take the lead in the sixth after the first two batters reached on singles. Head coach Greg Moore made the move to the bullpen where Traxel would come through by sitting down the next three batters in a row.
Traxel's work in the sixth gave the Matadors an opportunity to reclaim the lead an inning later. Barret singled to start the inning and he stole second base with Ruiz at the plate. A Ruiz sacrifice bunt and Skelly walk put runners at the corners with one out. Doremus came through once again with a sacrifice fly to right field, giving the Matadors a 5-4 edge.
With the lead once more, the Matador bullpen would take care of the Aggie bats in the late innings. Traxel surrendered back-to-back two-out hits in the seventh inning but struck out Myers to end the frame. In the eighth, he retired the first batter of the inning before walking Garret Kelly, prompting a change on the mound. Blake Schriever quieted the Aggie uprising by sitting down the next two batters.Â
Schriever came back out for the ninth and struck out Gedestad for the first out. Lara flew out to left field but Caleb Van Blake kept the Aggies alive with a single. Schriever threw a wild pitch to move Van Blake up to second base before the CSUN closer finally shut the door. The right hander struck out Briggs for the final out, giving CSUN a game one win.
GAME NOTES
Barret posted his team-best 18th multiple-hit game of the season while he extended his hit streak to nine. Cerpa's three hits in the game are a new career high for the freshman. Now with nine saves on the season, Schriever is tied with Mike Frick (2001), Brian Slover (2009) and Josh Goossen-Brown (2013) for the third-most saves in a single-season in team history.
ACCORDING TO HEAD COACH GREG MOORE
"Blaine made the pitches of the day to quiet the rallies. The poise he has is beyond his years. The offense put balls in play all day long, only striking out three times. The freshmen are beginning to have balanced at bats."
UP NEXT
The Matadors go for the series win at UC Davis on Saturday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
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