Saturday, March 20
Northridge, Calif.
1:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
1-0, 1-0
13
vs
10
Cal Poly
8-6, 0-1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Cal Poly
2
0
0
2
0
2
0
4
0
10
7
0
CSUN
2
3
2
0
3
0
3
0
X
13
11
0
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Schriever, Blake (1-0)
L: Thorpe, Drew (2-1)
S: Traxel, Blaine (1)
Batting:
2B: Lee, Brooks 1
HR: Lee, Brooks 1 ; Samuelson, Tate 1 ; DiCarlo, Nick 1 ; Yorke, Joe 1
RBI: Emmerson, Myles 1 ; Lee, Brooks 3 ; Samuelson, Tate 2 ; DiCarlo, Nick 1 ; Yorke, Joe 2
SF: Emmerson, Myles 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Cabrera, Cole 1 ; Emmerson, Myles 1 ; Lee, Brooks 2 ; Samuelson, Tate 1 ; DiCarlo, Nick 2 ; Yorke, Joe 2 ; Villegas, Collin 1
HBP: Cabrera, Cole 1 ; Lopez, Matt 1 ; DiCarlo, Nick 1 ; Villegas, Collin 1
Batting:
2B: Ball, Ryan 1
HR: Clarke, Denzel 1 ; Newman, Jayson 1 ; Skelly, Sean 1
RBI: Clarke, Denzel 2 ; Newman, Jayson 4 ; Skelly, Sean 2 ; Ball, Ryan 3 ; Ajamian, Jason 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Clarke, Denzel 3 ; Bullard, Robert 1 ; Newman, Jayson 4 ; Skelly, Sean 2 ; Le, Mason 1 ; Moody, Kai 2
SB: Clarke, Denzel 2
PO: Moody, Kai 2
Game Leaders
Hitting
1b/p
AB
2
R
4
H
2
RBI
4
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
1B
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball1B/RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballC
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
Photo by: Paul Trafecanty
Matadors Win Slugfest with Cal Poly to Open Season
3/20/2021 6:04:00 PM | Baseball
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball (1-0), collected three home runs, 13 hits and 15 walks as the Matadors won their 2021 season opener over Cal Poly (8-6, 0-1 Big West) 13-10 on Saturday afternoon at Matador Field. Jayson Newman went 2-for-2 with four runs, four RBI, three walks and a home run. Ryan Ball picked up three RBI and two hits in his first collegiate game while Sean Skelly and Denzel Clarke both homered. Out of the bullpen, Blake Schriever earned the victory with 1.1 shutout innings of relief.
GAME BREAKDOWN
The Mustangs jumped on the Matadors early on a Tate Samuelson two-run home run off CSUN starter Blake Sodersten. The lead would be short-lived though for Cal Poly as the Matadors answered back in the bottom of the first with two runs of their own. Clarke began the rally with a walk before stealing second then third base. A Newman walk brought up Skelly who delivered with an RBI single to right field. Ball evened the game up with an RBI single up the middle to plate Newman.
Ater Sodersten pitched a shutout second, the Matadors scored five runs over their next two frames to stake to a five-run lead. Clarke gave the Matadors a 4-2 edge in the second with a two-run blast to left field. Ball added to the lead later in the second with an RBI double. CSUN would draw four walks in the third inning leading to a two-out, two-run single from Newman that pushed the lead to 7-2.
Sodersten kept the Mustangs off the scoreboard in the third but Cal Poly pulled closer on a two-run home run from Joe Yorke in the fourth. After the home run, Sodersten retired four of the next five batters he faced but a one-out walk in the fifth forced a change on the mound. Justin Henry came out of the bullpen and induced an inning-ending double play on a line shot from Nick Marinconz to first base.
In the home half of the fifth, the Matadors again leaned on the long ball as Newman hit a two-run home run to right center and Skelly followed with a solo homer to left to extend the lead further to 10-4.
Cal Poly would respond with a leadoff home run from Nick DiCarlo in the sixth before a walk and two hit batters loaded the bases with none out. Myles Emmerson stepped to the plate and hit a line drive to left field but Kai Moody snared the ball near the warning track. On the play, Yorke scored on a sacrifice fly, prompting a change on the mound. Schriever entered the fray and retired Brooks Lee and Samuelson to escape the jam, keeping CSUN's lead at 10-6.
The Matadors added to their lead in the seventh behind three walks and two hits. Ball drew a bases-loaded walk to force in a run with two outs then Jason Ajamian drove in two more with a single to left field.
CSUN's 13-6 lead though was trimmed to three in the eighth. After a wild pitch drove in a run in the frame, Lee belted a three-run home run to cut the lead to 13-10.
The Matadors would turn to Blaine Traxel to cool the Mustang bats and the junior delivered. He sat down three of four batters to close the eighth and he tossed a 1-2-3 ninth to notch the save.
GAME NOTES
Clarke scored three times in the win and drove in two runs. Skelly finished 2-for-3 with two runs, two RBI and two walks. In the ninth spot, Kai Moody had two hits, two runs and two walks.
Four Matadors made their debut with the team, which included Ball, juniors Bobby Silvis, Kyle Hoskins and Henry.
In total, the teams combined to draw 24 walks while 10 pitchers saw action on the mound. CSUN's 15 walks were two short of a team record for a single game. The Matadors played their first regular season game in 377 days and their first Big West Conference game since 2019 on Saturday.
ACCORDING TO HEAD COACH DAVE SERRANO
"We waited close to 400 days, I think it was 377 days since the last time we played, and we had an exciting one in game one. I'm proud of our guys for coming out on top. It wasn't probably the way we thought it would go in game one, we had to use a lot of pitchers. The play of the game was Kai Moody's catch in left field.
They came out and put two runs on [Sodersten], which hasn't happened very often in our workouts. We could have panicked but instead of panicking and coming out to try to throw haymakers in the bottom of the first, we stuck to our style. We ran the bases and put a two-spot back up on the board, and I was proud of the team for that. I think that and Kai Moody's catch were the differences in us coming out on top.
I'm proud of these guys. They've waited a long time to compete together, and I'm proud of the way they did compete in very tough situations throughout nine innings of this baseball game and a very long day."
UP NEXT
The Matadors continue their series with the Mustangs on Sunday with a doubleheader. First pitch for game one is set for 11 a.m. Ghizal Hasan will be on the call for audio broadcasts of the two games at GoMatadors.com/Radio beginning at 10:50 a.m.
#UniteTheValley
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GAME BREAKDOWN
The Mustangs jumped on the Matadors early on a Tate Samuelson two-run home run off CSUN starter Blake Sodersten. The lead would be short-lived though for Cal Poly as the Matadors answered back in the bottom of the first with two runs of their own. Clarke began the rally with a walk before stealing second then third base. A Newman walk brought up Skelly who delivered with an RBI single to right field. Ball evened the game up with an RBI single up the middle to plate Newman.
Ater Sodersten pitched a shutout second, the Matadors scored five runs over their next two frames to stake to a five-run lead. Clarke gave the Matadors a 4-2 edge in the second with a two-run blast to left field. Ball added to the lead later in the second with an RBI double. CSUN would draw four walks in the third inning leading to a two-out, two-run single from Newman that pushed the lead to 7-2.
Sodersten kept the Mustangs off the scoreboard in the third but Cal Poly pulled closer on a two-run home run from Joe Yorke in the fourth. After the home run, Sodersten retired four of the next five batters he faced but a one-out walk in the fifth forced a change on the mound. Justin Henry came out of the bullpen and induced an inning-ending double play on a line shot from Nick Marinconz to first base.
In the home half of the fifth, the Matadors again leaned on the long ball as Newman hit a two-run home run to right center and Skelly followed with a solo homer to left to extend the lead further to 10-4.
Cal Poly would respond with a leadoff home run from Nick DiCarlo in the sixth before a walk and two hit batters loaded the bases with none out. Myles Emmerson stepped to the plate and hit a line drive to left field but Kai Moody snared the ball near the warning track. On the play, Yorke scored on a sacrifice fly, prompting a change on the mound. Schriever entered the fray and retired Brooks Lee and Samuelson to escape the jam, keeping CSUN's lead at 10-6.
The Matadors added to their lead in the seventh behind three walks and two hits. Ball drew a bases-loaded walk to force in a run with two outs then Jason Ajamian drove in two more with a single to left field.
CSUN's 13-6 lead though was trimmed to three in the eighth. After a wild pitch drove in a run in the frame, Lee belted a three-run home run to cut the lead to 13-10.
The Matadors would turn to Blaine Traxel to cool the Mustang bats and the junior delivered. He sat down three of four batters to close the eighth and he tossed a 1-2-3 ninth to notch the save.
GAME NOTES
Clarke scored three times in the win and drove in two runs. Skelly finished 2-for-3 with two runs, two RBI and two walks. In the ninth spot, Kai Moody had two hits, two runs and two walks.
Four Matadors made their debut with the team, which included Ball, juniors Bobby Silvis, Kyle Hoskins and Henry.
In total, the teams combined to draw 24 walks while 10 pitchers saw action on the mound. CSUN's 15 walks were two short of a team record for a single game. The Matadors played their first regular season game in 377 days and their first Big West Conference game since 2019 on Saturday.
ACCORDING TO HEAD COACH DAVE SERRANO
"We waited close to 400 days, I think it was 377 days since the last time we played, and we had an exciting one in game one. I'm proud of our guys for coming out on top. It wasn't probably the way we thought it would go in game one, we had to use a lot of pitchers. The play of the game was Kai Moody's catch in left field.
They came out and put two runs on [Sodersten], which hasn't happened very often in our workouts. We could have panicked but instead of panicking and coming out to try to throw haymakers in the bottom of the first, we stuck to our style. We ran the bases and put a two-spot back up on the board, and I was proud of the team for that. I think that and Kai Moody's catch were the differences in us coming out on top.
I'm proud of these guys. They've waited a long time to compete together, and I'm proud of the way they did compete in very tough situations throughout nine innings of this baseball game and a very long day."
UP NEXT
The Matadors continue their series with the Mustangs on Sunday with a doubleheader. First pitch for game one is set for 11 a.m. Ghizal Hasan will be on the call for audio broadcasts of the two games at GoMatadors.com/Radio beginning at 10:50 a.m.
#UniteTheValley
Â
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