Saturday, May 29
La Jolla, Calif.
1:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
21-19, 21-19
4
at
5
UC San Diego
24-28, 21-19
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
CSUN
1
1
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
4
8
2
UC San Diego
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
4
5
6
0
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Mitchell,Michael (4-1)
L: Cunningham, Jackson (3-3)
Batting:
3B: Ball, Ryan 1
HR: Bullard, Robert 1 ; Newman, Jayson 1 ; Doremus, Blake 1
RBI: Bullard, Robert 1 ; Ball, Ryan 1 ; Newman, Jayson 1 ; Doremus, Blake 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bullard, Robert 2 ; Newman, Jayson 1 ; Doremus, Blake 1
SB: Ball, Ryan 1
CS: Ball, Ryan 1
PO: Ball, Ryan 1
Batting:
2B: Soderstrom,Tate 1 ; Kritsch,Jackson 1 ; Bynum,Jo 1
HR: Lau,Everett 1
RBI: Lau,Everett 4
Base Running:
RUNS: Baumgartner,Blake 1 ; Soderstrom,Tate 1 ; Weiner,Tyler 1 ; Kritsch,Jackson 1 ; Lau,Everett 1
HBP: Kritsch,Jackson 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
2
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
1B
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF/OF
/ Baseball1B/RHP
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
UTIL
/ Baseball
Photo by: Braden Villanueva
Matadors Lose Heartbreaker to Close Season
5/29/2021 4:46:00 PM | Baseball
LA JOLLA, Calif.---CSUN Baseball (21-19, 21-19 Big West) fell to UC San Diego (24-28, 21-19 Big West) 5-4 on a walk-off grand slam in the 2021 season finale on Saturday at Triton Ballpark. The senior trio of Jayson Newman, Robert Bullard and Blake Doremus hit solo home runs in their final collegiate games while Ryan Ball finished 3-for-3 with an RBI. Blaine Traxel earned a no-decision after working eight-plus innings and allowing three runs to go with a career-high 11 strikeouts.
GAME BREAKDOWN
Mostly quieted throughout the first three games of the series, the Matadors' bats came alive in the early innings to build a four-run lead.
In the first, Bullard worked a leadoff walk to begin the game, setting the table for Ball who stroked an RBI triple. CSUN though would settle for one run in the inning as a double play and an interference call kept Ball at third base.
Over the next two frames, CSUN turned to the longball as three solo home runs from its seniors pushed the lead to 4-0. Bullard kicked off the display with a leadoff home run in the second inning. In the third, it would be Doremus and Newman belting home runs over the right-field fence.
It seems as though the early run support would be more than enough for Traxel. The right-hander baffled the Triton batters over his eight innings of work. Traxel faced one over the minimum over the first three innings and did not allow a hit until the fourth inning. After giving up his first hit though he struck out the next three batters.
The Tritons broke up Traxel's shutout bid in the sixth inning after consecutive batters reached base with two outs. Tate Soderstrom drove in UCSD's first run on a double to center field that just sailed over the glove of Denzel Clarke.Â
After the RBI double, Traxel found his groove on the mound and retired seven of the next eight batters to take a 4-1 lead to the ninth inning.
The momentum quickly shifted to the home team in the bottom of the ninth as the first two reached against Traxel. Jackson Cunningham relieved Traxel but could not slow the rally. Cunningham hit Jackson Kirtsch on a 2-2 pitch to load the bases with nobody out. Everett Lau stepped to the plate next and blasted a grand slam down the right-field line to give the Tritons a walk-off victory.
GAME NOTES
CSUN ends the 2021 season with a winning record for the second-straight season under head coach Dave Serrano. The Matadors finished the shortened 2020 campaign with a 10-5 record. The Matadors' 21-19 conference record in 2021 marks the fourth time in program history the team has posted a winning Big West record since joining the league in 2001.
Newman finished 2-for-4 in his final collegiate game to push his season batting average to .392. Bullard went 1-for-3 with two runs scored while Doremus and Sean Skelly had a hit and Jose Ruiz drew two walks to wrap up his career. Dalton Vanhille, Carlos Arellano, Jason Ajamian and Jackson Cunningham also played in their final games with the Matadors.
Traxel threw 121 pitches over his eight innings, which came a day after he tossed a shutout inning in Friday's game two of the doubleheader.
ACCORDING TO HEAD COACH DAVE SERRANO
"I've been a part of some tough losses and I believe I've become immune to some of that. I feel for these kids. It was a tough year in many cases, the pandemic and the delay. It's unfair that someone has to feel that pain at the end of the season especially for the seniors, who are exiting, but as I shared with them, it happens in life. You get hit with adversity and you become stronger. You become a stronger program and they'll become stronger. There's a lot of other good memories they can remember besides that last hit and the last pitch that was thrown in the 2021 season. I thank these guys. With the way the season ended, it may feel unsuccessful but there were a lot of successful things that happened this year for this baseball program and these baseball players."
#UniteTheValley
Â
GAME BREAKDOWN
Mostly quieted throughout the first three games of the series, the Matadors' bats came alive in the early innings to build a four-run lead.
In the first, Bullard worked a leadoff walk to begin the game, setting the table for Ball who stroked an RBI triple. CSUN though would settle for one run in the inning as a double play and an interference call kept Ball at third base.
Over the next two frames, CSUN turned to the longball as three solo home runs from its seniors pushed the lead to 4-0. Bullard kicked off the display with a leadoff home run in the second inning. In the third, it would be Doremus and Newman belting home runs over the right-field fence.
It seems as though the early run support would be more than enough for Traxel. The right-hander baffled the Triton batters over his eight innings of work. Traxel faced one over the minimum over the first three innings and did not allow a hit until the fourth inning. After giving up his first hit though he struck out the next three batters.
The Tritons broke up Traxel's shutout bid in the sixth inning after consecutive batters reached base with two outs. Tate Soderstrom drove in UCSD's first run on a double to center field that just sailed over the glove of Denzel Clarke.Â
After the RBI double, Traxel found his groove on the mound and retired seven of the next eight batters to take a 4-1 lead to the ninth inning.
The momentum quickly shifted to the home team in the bottom of the ninth as the first two reached against Traxel. Jackson Cunningham relieved Traxel but could not slow the rally. Cunningham hit Jackson Kirtsch on a 2-2 pitch to load the bases with nobody out. Everett Lau stepped to the plate next and blasted a grand slam down the right-field line to give the Tritons a walk-off victory.
GAME NOTES
CSUN ends the 2021 season with a winning record for the second-straight season under head coach Dave Serrano. The Matadors finished the shortened 2020 campaign with a 10-5 record. The Matadors' 21-19 conference record in 2021 marks the fourth time in program history the team has posted a winning Big West record since joining the league in 2001.
Newman finished 2-for-4 in his final collegiate game to push his season batting average to .392. Bullard went 1-for-3 with two runs scored while Doremus and Sean Skelly had a hit and Jose Ruiz drew two walks to wrap up his career. Dalton Vanhille, Carlos Arellano, Jason Ajamian and Jackson Cunningham also played in their final games with the Matadors.
Traxel threw 121 pitches over his eight innings, which came a day after he tossed a shutout inning in Friday's game two of the doubleheader.
ACCORDING TO HEAD COACH DAVE SERRANO
"I've been a part of some tough losses and I believe I've become immune to some of that. I feel for these kids. It was a tough year in many cases, the pandemic and the delay. It's unfair that someone has to feel that pain at the end of the season especially for the seniors, who are exiting, but as I shared with them, it happens in life. You get hit with adversity and you become stronger. You become a stronger program and they'll become stronger. There's a lot of other good memories they can remember besides that last hit and the last pitch that was thrown in the 2021 season. I thank these guys. With the way the season ended, it may feel unsuccessful but there were a lot of successful things that happened this year for this baseball program and these baseball players."
#UniteTheValley
Â
A Conversation With Dave Serrano
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