Friday, May 28
La Jolla, Calif.
1:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
20-18, 20-18
2
at
5
UC San Diego
23-27, 20-18
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
CSUN
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
2
7
0
UC San Diego
1
1
0
1
0
1
1
0
X
5
8
0
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Conlon,Noah (3-5)
L: Lizik, Gavin (1-3)
Batting:
2B: Newman, Jayson 1
RBI: Newman, Jayson 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Bullard, Robert 1 ; Ruiz, Jose 1
CS: Bullard, Robert 1 ; Bohning, Brandon 1
Batting:
2B: Lucchetti,Anthony 1 ; White,Logan 1
HR: Stewart,Brandon 1
RBI: Lucchetti,Anthony 1 ; Kim,Aaron 1 ; Kritsch,Jackson 1 ; Stewart,Brandon 1
SH: Stewart,Brandon 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Lucchetti,Anthony 2 ; Soderstrom,Tate 1 ; White,Logan 1 ; Stewart,Brandon 1
HBP: Fuhrman,Michael 1 ; Baumgartner,Blake 1 ; Kritsch,Jackson 2 ; Lau,Everett 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
0
H
3
RBI
2
AB
2
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball1B/RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
Photo by: Marvin Jimenez
CSUN Earns Doubleheader Split at UC San Diego
5/28/2021 8:05:00 PM | Baseball
LA JOLLA, Calif.---CSUN Baseball (21-17, 21-17 Big West) secured a winning conference record by splitting its Friday doubleheader with UC San Diego (23-28, 20-19 Big Wes) at Triton Ballpark. The Matadors dropped the opener 5-2 but bounced back with a 2-0 victory in the nightcap.
Seniors Robert Bullard and Jayson Newman finished with three hits apiece in the twin bill while freshman Luke Powell had two hits and an RBI in game two. CSUN pitching tossed a combined six-hit shutout led by Jackson Cunningham who worked a career-high four shutout innings to pick up his third win of the season.
GAME ONE RECAP
For the second-straight game, the Matadors could not figure out UCSD pitching as the Tritons took the opener of the doubleheader.
CSUN would strike first in the opening inning on an RBI single from Newman, scoring Bullard. However, the Matadors would be held scoreless over the next seven innings.
Noah Conlon baffled the Matador bats throughout the game as he went the distance. Conlon scattered seven hits and only allowed two runs to go with nine strikeouts.
CSUN pitching only recorded one 1-2-3 inning in the contest and would have to escape several jams along the way. Gavin Lizik prevented a big inning in the first with only one run coming across for the Tritons. UCSD loaded the bases with two outs before Lizik hit Jackson Kritsch to force in a run.
UCSD took the lead an inning later on a one-out Anthony Luccetti RBI single. After Chad Wilson relieved Lizik in the third inning and stranded two base runners, Wilson surrendered a run in the fourth on an RBI single from Aaron Kim. UCSD scratched across a run in the sixth and added another on a solo home run from Brandon Stewart in the seventh to take a 5-1 lead.
CSUN pitching issued out nine walks and hit five batters in the contest. However, the Matadors prevented the game from getting out of hand by stranding 15 runners on base. Zuko Tillman recorded the final five outs, allowing only a walk for CSUN.
The Matadors finally picked up a run in the ninth inning when Ruiz and Newman collected consecutive two-out hits against Conlon. Newman recorded the Matadors' first extra base hit of the series with a double to score Jose Ruiz. Conlon though would retire Ryan Ball to secure the victory.
GAME TWO RECAP
CSUN pitching would be the story in the nightcap. Jeremy Hassel gave the Matadors four solid innings to begin the game but would have to work out of a jam early in the contest.
The Tritons picked up a pair of two-out walks to load the bases against Hassel in the bottom of the first. The right-hander though collected a key strikeout of Paul Gozzo to end the threat. After the shaky start, Hassel settled down to retire 10 of 11 batters including notching a pair of strikeouts.
Meanwhile, the Matadors left two runners on base in the third but would break the scoreless tie an inning later. Moments after Newman was thrown out at the plate attempting to score on a single from Mason Le, Powell gave the Matadors a 1-0 lead on an RBI single.
The Tritons threatened to even the game in the bottom of the fifth inning after the first two batters reached base. Head coach Dave Serrano made the move to his bullpen and brought in Cunningham looking to snuff out the rally. A sacrifice bunt moved both runners up a base before Cunningham went to work on the mound and retired the next two batters in order.
Cunningham would be outstanding in possibly his final appearance as a Matador. He scattered three hits and managed to strand four base runners in scoring position over his four innings. Cunningham kept the tying run at second base in the sixth inning and received a big defensive play behind him to keep UCSD scoreless in the seventh.
UCSD had runners at first and second base with two outs in the seventh when Blake Baumgartner reached on a grounder up the middle. Brandon Bohning cut off the ball but was unable to get a force out at second base. Bohning noticed the lead runner attempting to score on the play and made a strong throw home to pick up the final out.
After Cunningham stranded another runner in the bottom of the eighth, CSUN picked up a pivotal insurance run in the ninth. The freshmen tandem of Powell and CJ Yogi reached on hits to kick off the inning before Bullard was intentionally walked. Ball came through with a grounder to second base, allowing Powell to score just ahead of a throw home.
Blaine Traxel relieved Cunningham in the ninth and nailed down his third save of the season with a perfect inning.
GAME NOTES
The victory secured a winning record for CSUN this season and the program's fourth winning conference season since joining the Big West. CSUN also finished with a winning conference record in 2002, 2013 and 2018.
Cunningham lowered his season ERA to 1.20 after his four shutout innings. With one game to play, Cunningham's ERA ranks as the lowest for a season in team history. Lew Lerner has held the season ERA mark of 1.25 in the CSUN record books since 1970.
While Newman saw his hit streak end at 19 games in game two, he extended his on-base streak to 20 games.
ACCORDING TO HEAD COACH DAVE SERRANO
"Kind of like in the opener on Thursday, we had our struggles on the mound and at the plate in the first game today. In game two of the doubleheader, the tone was set by Jeremy Hassel's start on the mound and more importantly by the four innings of shutout relief by Jackson Cunningham. Then Blaine Traxel pitched a scoreless ninth to close it out. Offensively, we just did enough to come out on top.
Tomorrow we close out our season with Blaine Traxel getting the start. My hope is for the many guys who will be playing their last game as a Matador that we can finish the job and get the split with the series."
UP NEXT
CSUN concludes the 2021 season on Saturday afternoon against UC San Diego. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. on ESPN3.
#UniteTheValley
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Seniors Robert Bullard and Jayson Newman finished with three hits apiece in the twin bill while freshman Luke Powell had two hits and an RBI in game two. CSUN pitching tossed a combined six-hit shutout led by Jackson Cunningham who worked a career-high four shutout innings to pick up his third win of the season.
GAME ONE RECAP
For the second-straight game, the Matadors could not figure out UCSD pitching as the Tritons took the opener of the doubleheader.
CSUN would strike first in the opening inning on an RBI single from Newman, scoring Bullard. However, the Matadors would be held scoreless over the next seven innings.
Noah Conlon baffled the Matador bats throughout the game as he went the distance. Conlon scattered seven hits and only allowed two runs to go with nine strikeouts.
CSUN pitching only recorded one 1-2-3 inning in the contest and would have to escape several jams along the way. Gavin Lizik prevented a big inning in the first with only one run coming across for the Tritons. UCSD loaded the bases with two outs before Lizik hit Jackson Kritsch to force in a run.
UCSD took the lead an inning later on a one-out Anthony Luccetti RBI single. After Chad Wilson relieved Lizik in the third inning and stranded two base runners, Wilson surrendered a run in the fourth on an RBI single from Aaron Kim. UCSD scratched across a run in the sixth and added another on a solo home run from Brandon Stewart in the seventh to take a 5-1 lead.
CSUN pitching issued out nine walks and hit five batters in the contest. However, the Matadors prevented the game from getting out of hand by stranding 15 runners on base. Zuko Tillman recorded the final five outs, allowing only a walk for CSUN.
The Matadors finally picked up a run in the ninth inning when Ruiz and Newman collected consecutive two-out hits against Conlon. Newman recorded the Matadors' first extra base hit of the series with a double to score Jose Ruiz. Conlon though would retire Ryan Ball to secure the victory.
GAME TWO RECAP
CSUN pitching would be the story in the nightcap. Jeremy Hassel gave the Matadors four solid innings to begin the game but would have to work out of a jam early in the contest.
The Tritons picked up a pair of two-out walks to load the bases against Hassel in the bottom of the first. The right-hander though collected a key strikeout of Paul Gozzo to end the threat. After the shaky start, Hassel settled down to retire 10 of 11 batters including notching a pair of strikeouts.
Meanwhile, the Matadors left two runners on base in the third but would break the scoreless tie an inning later. Moments after Newman was thrown out at the plate attempting to score on a single from Mason Le, Powell gave the Matadors a 1-0 lead on an RBI single.
The Tritons threatened to even the game in the bottom of the fifth inning after the first two batters reached base. Head coach Dave Serrano made the move to his bullpen and brought in Cunningham looking to snuff out the rally. A sacrifice bunt moved both runners up a base before Cunningham went to work on the mound and retired the next two batters in order.
Cunningham would be outstanding in possibly his final appearance as a Matador. He scattered three hits and managed to strand four base runners in scoring position over his four innings. Cunningham kept the tying run at second base in the sixth inning and received a big defensive play behind him to keep UCSD scoreless in the seventh.
UCSD had runners at first and second base with two outs in the seventh when Blake Baumgartner reached on a grounder up the middle. Brandon Bohning cut off the ball but was unable to get a force out at second base. Bohning noticed the lead runner attempting to score on the play and made a strong throw home to pick up the final out.
After Cunningham stranded another runner in the bottom of the eighth, CSUN picked up a pivotal insurance run in the ninth. The freshmen tandem of Powell and CJ Yogi reached on hits to kick off the inning before Bullard was intentionally walked. Ball came through with a grounder to second base, allowing Powell to score just ahead of a throw home.
Blaine Traxel relieved Cunningham in the ninth and nailed down his third save of the season with a perfect inning.
GAME NOTES
The victory secured a winning record for CSUN this season and the program's fourth winning conference season since joining the Big West. CSUN also finished with a winning conference record in 2002, 2013 and 2018.
Cunningham lowered his season ERA to 1.20 after his four shutout innings. With one game to play, Cunningham's ERA ranks as the lowest for a season in team history. Lew Lerner has held the season ERA mark of 1.25 in the CSUN record books since 1970.
While Newman saw his hit streak end at 19 games in game two, he extended his on-base streak to 20 games.
ACCORDING TO HEAD COACH DAVE SERRANO
"Kind of like in the opener on Thursday, we had our struggles on the mound and at the plate in the first game today. In game two of the doubleheader, the tone was set by Jeremy Hassel's start on the mound and more importantly by the four innings of shutout relief by Jackson Cunningham. Then Blaine Traxel pitched a scoreless ninth to close it out. Offensively, we just did enough to come out on top.
Tomorrow we close out our season with Blaine Traxel getting the start. My hope is for the many guys who will be playing their last game as a Matador that we can finish the job and get the split with the series."
UP NEXT
CSUN concludes the 2021 season on Saturday afternoon against UC San Diego. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. on ESPN3.
#UniteTheValley
Â
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