Friday, April 16
Northridge, Calif.
3:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
6-11, 6-11
5
vs
6
UC Riverside
8-16, 6-11
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
R
H
E
UC Riverside
0
0
0
0
0
2
3
0
0
0
1
6
9
2
CSUN
0
0
0
0
2
1
0
0
2
0
0
5
12
2
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Shamus Lyons (1-3)
L: Traxel, Blaine (2-1)
S: Jake Lachemann (2)
Batting:
2B: Ely Stuart 1
HR: Nathan Webb 1
RBI: Jacob Shanks 1 ; Nathan Webb 3 ; Ethan Payne 2
SF: Jacob Shanks 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Ely Stuart 1 ; Dylan Orick 1 ; Nathan Webb 2 ; Anthony Mata 1 ; Ethan Payne 1
SB: Nathan Webb 1
HBP: Joey Nicolai 1
Batting:
2B: Ball, Ryan 1 ; Clarke, Denzel 1
3B: Bullard, Robert 1
HR: Clarke, Denzel 1
RBI: Le, Mason 1 ; Ball, Ryan 1 ; Moody, Kai 1 ; Clarke, Denzel 1 ; Bullard, Robert 1
SH: Arellano, Carlos 1
SF: Le, Mason 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Le, Mason 1 ; Ball, Ryan 1 ; Clarke, Denzel 2 ; Bullard, Robert 1
SB: Moody, Kai 1
CS: Arellano, Carlos 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Baseball
OF
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF/OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
Photo by: Braden Villanueva
Matadors Fall to UC Riverside in 11 innings
4/16/2021 7:12:00 PM | Baseball
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth to force extra innings but UC Riverside scored the go-ahead run in the 11th and held on for a 6-5 win on Friday at Matador Field. Denzel Clarke homered and finished with three hits and two runs scored while Kai Moody collected three hits and an RBI. Blake Sodersten worked 6.1 innings, allowing four runs on six hits to go with four strikeouts.
GAME BREAKDOWN
The first half of the game resembled a pitcher's duel as Sodersten and UCR's Zach Jacobs traded zeroes on the scoreboard.
Sodersten blanked the Highlanders through the first five innings but he would have to work out of jams along the way. In the second, Sodersten pitched around a two-out error at third base and escaped a bases-loaded situation by striking out Ethan Payne. Three innings later, the Highlanders had runners at the corners with two outs before Sodersten retired Jacob Shanks.
On the flip side, Jacobs stranded a runner at third in the first inning and left runners at the corners in the fourth after retiring two-straight batters.
CSUN finally broke through in the fifth inning with timely two-out hitting. Mason Le kept the inning alive with a two-out infield single before Ryan Ball rifled a double down the left-field line to bring home Le. Moody followed with an RBI single of his own to give CSUN a 2-0 advantage.
The lead would be short-lived though as the Highlanders answered with a two-spot against Sodersten in the sixth. With two outs and the bases loaded, Payne hit a single to center field to plate the tying runs. Sodersten limited the damage again by striking out Travis Bohall.
CSUN once again leaned on two-out hitting in the bottom of the sixth when Clarke hit a towering home run to left field to put the Matadors back on top, 3-2.
Sodersten returned to the mound in the seventh where he was greeted with a leadoff double by Ely Stuart. Three batters later, the Highlanders would take their first lead of the game when Nathan Webb blasted a three-run home run over the left-field fence, giving UCR a 5-3 edge.
The Matadors were held off the scoreboard in the seventh and eighth but put together a rally in the ninth. Clarke began the inning with a leadoff double on a 3-2 pitch. Moments later, Robert Bullard came on to pinch-hit and delivered with a two-strike RBI triple to pull the Matadors to within one. Two batters later, Le tied up the game with a sacrifice fly to left.
After CSUN stranded a runner in scoring position in the 10th, the Highlanders came away with the go-ahead run in the 11th. In the frame, Payne singled with one out before Bohall reached on an infield single. On the Bohall hit, a throwing error moved both runners into scoring position. Two batters later, Shanks delivered with a sacrifice fly to push UCR back ahead 6-5.
CSUN nearly came away with another two-out rally in the bottom of the 11th after Ball worked a walk and Moody legged out an infield single. Blake Doremus would work a walk to load the bases for Carlos Arellano. After falling behind 0-2, Arellano hit a grounder off Jack Lachemann to second base for the final out of the game.
GAME NOTES
Earning a tough-luck loss, Blaine Traxel came on in the 10th inning and worked two frames, allowing two hits and one unearned run. Jackson Cunningham tossed 2.2 innings out of the bullpen and yielded a run.
Moody recorded his team-leading eighth multiple-hit game of the season. Ball extended his on-base streak to 16-straight games after going 1-for-4 with two walks.
ACCORDING TO HEAD COACH DAVE SERRANO
"That was a tough loss. I felt the fight from the ninth inning on was really good for our team. I shared with them that even though we didn't score in the last inning, I'll take that fight every inning throughout a weekend series. Even though we weren't rewarded with a run, we were in battle mode from the ninth inning on. I think we played better with our backs against the wall but we kind of created [that situation]. We jump out to a two-run lead with a Friday starter on the mound, from that point on I think we gave them five free passes. You can't do that to win a Friday night game and you can't do that to win in college baseball. Some good things happened but it's the complete baseball game and we didn't play the complete baseball game. We gave them too much again, put our backs against the wall and fought but the game wasn't going to reward us late."
UP NEXT
CSUN continues its series with UC Riverside with a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 11 a.m. Fans can listen to all of the action at GoMatadors.com/Radio with Ghizal Hasan on the call.
#UniteTheValley
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GAME BREAKDOWN
The first half of the game resembled a pitcher's duel as Sodersten and UCR's Zach Jacobs traded zeroes on the scoreboard.
Sodersten blanked the Highlanders through the first five innings but he would have to work out of jams along the way. In the second, Sodersten pitched around a two-out error at third base and escaped a bases-loaded situation by striking out Ethan Payne. Three innings later, the Highlanders had runners at the corners with two outs before Sodersten retired Jacob Shanks.
On the flip side, Jacobs stranded a runner at third in the first inning and left runners at the corners in the fourth after retiring two-straight batters.
CSUN finally broke through in the fifth inning with timely two-out hitting. Mason Le kept the inning alive with a two-out infield single before Ryan Ball rifled a double down the left-field line to bring home Le. Moody followed with an RBI single of his own to give CSUN a 2-0 advantage.
The lead would be short-lived though as the Highlanders answered with a two-spot against Sodersten in the sixth. With two outs and the bases loaded, Payne hit a single to center field to plate the tying runs. Sodersten limited the damage again by striking out Travis Bohall.
CSUN once again leaned on two-out hitting in the bottom of the sixth when Clarke hit a towering home run to left field to put the Matadors back on top, 3-2.
Sodersten returned to the mound in the seventh where he was greeted with a leadoff double by Ely Stuart. Three batters later, the Highlanders would take their first lead of the game when Nathan Webb blasted a three-run home run over the left-field fence, giving UCR a 5-3 edge.
The Matadors were held off the scoreboard in the seventh and eighth but put together a rally in the ninth. Clarke began the inning with a leadoff double on a 3-2 pitch. Moments later, Robert Bullard came on to pinch-hit and delivered with a two-strike RBI triple to pull the Matadors to within one. Two batters later, Le tied up the game with a sacrifice fly to left.
After CSUN stranded a runner in scoring position in the 10th, the Highlanders came away with the go-ahead run in the 11th. In the frame, Payne singled with one out before Bohall reached on an infield single. On the Bohall hit, a throwing error moved both runners into scoring position. Two batters later, Shanks delivered with a sacrifice fly to push UCR back ahead 6-5.
CSUN nearly came away with another two-out rally in the bottom of the 11th after Ball worked a walk and Moody legged out an infield single. Blake Doremus would work a walk to load the bases for Carlos Arellano. After falling behind 0-2, Arellano hit a grounder off Jack Lachemann to second base for the final out of the game.
GAME NOTES
Earning a tough-luck loss, Blaine Traxel came on in the 10th inning and worked two frames, allowing two hits and one unearned run. Jackson Cunningham tossed 2.2 innings out of the bullpen and yielded a run.
Moody recorded his team-leading eighth multiple-hit game of the season. Ball extended his on-base streak to 16-straight games after going 1-for-4 with two walks.
ACCORDING TO HEAD COACH DAVE SERRANO
"That was a tough loss. I felt the fight from the ninth inning on was really good for our team. I shared with them that even though we didn't score in the last inning, I'll take that fight every inning throughout a weekend series. Even though we weren't rewarded with a run, we were in battle mode from the ninth inning on. I think we played better with our backs against the wall but we kind of created [that situation]. We jump out to a two-run lead with a Friday starter on the mound, from that point on I think we gave them five free passes. You can't do that to win a Friday night game and you can't do that to win in college baseball. Some good things happened but it's the complete baseball game and we didn't play the complete baseball game. We gave them too much again, put our backs against the wall and fought but the game wasn't going to reward us late."
UP NEXT
CSUN continues its series with UC Riverside with a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 11 a.m. Fans can listen to all of the action at GoMatadors.com/Radio with Ghizal Hasan on the call.
#UniteTheValley
Â
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