Friday, March 11
Lake Charles, La.
12:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
9
at
6
McNeese State
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
Photo by: Braden Villanueva
CSUN Pounds Out 15 Hits in Series-Opening Win at McNeese
3/11/2022 3:29:00 PM | Baseball
LAKE CHARLES, La.---Jakob Simons finished with four hits to lead CSUN (8-5) to a series-opening 9-6 victory over McNeese State (8-6) on Friday at Joe Miller Ballpark. Simons finished 4-for-5 at the plate with two RBI while Ali Camarillo went 2-for-4 with two RBI. Blake Sodersten scatted 11 hits as he worked eight-plus innings to go with five strikeouts.
The Matadors struck first in the opening inning after Jakob Simons and Graysen Tarlow began the frame with hits. Andrew Sojka eventually brought home Tarlow on a sacrifice fly to give CSUN a 1-0 lead.
McNeese though responded with a two-run bottom of the first, taking advantage of a CSUN error at first base. After 'Tre Obregon III reached on the miscue with a runner at second base, the Cowboys executed a double steal leading to Brad Burckel scoring. Peyton Johnson gave the Cowboys the lead with a one-out RBI single to bring home Obregon for an unearned run.
The Cowboys added to their lead in the second inning on a two-out RBI double from Julian Gonzalez to put the Matadors in a 3-1 hole.
CSUN was turned away in the second and third inning but broke through with a big four-run fourth to reclaim the lead. The Matadors produced five consecutive singles to start the frame, highlighted by RBI hits from Bart West and Camarillo. Shunsuke Sakaino would bring in the go-ahead run on a grounder to second base, driving in Mason Le before Simons rifled an RBI single up the middle, giving the Matadors a 5-3 lead.
The Matadors extended their lead to three in the fifth inning after Sojka doubled and later scored on a sacrifice fly from Le.
After a rough first two innings, Sodersten would bounce back over his remaining time on the mound. He pitched around two singles in the third then stranded a runner at third base in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Sodersten retired six in a row during the middle innings before giving up a pair of two-out singles in the sixth but would strikeout Reid Bourque to end the threat. Sodersten also surrendered a two-out hit in the seventh inning before retiring Johnson for the third out of that frame.
The Matadors picked up three more insurance runs in the top of the eighth to extend to a 9-3 lead. Joey Kramer doubled and scored in the inning on a wild pitch while Camarillo and Simons picked up RBI singles.
Sodersten tossed a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth but gave up a single to start the ninth before being lifted from the game. Gavin Lizik retired two of the next four batters but Johnson hit a three-run double to cut the CSUN lead to 9-6. Diego Gutierrez came out of the bullpen to finally put an end to the rally when he forced Kade Morris to foul out for the final out.
GAME NOTES
Sojka, Kramer and West all had two hits and a run scored in the win. In total, eight of the nine Matador starters had at least one hit in the game. Tarlow has now reached base safely in nine-straight games and picked up a hit in seven consecutive games.
Sodersten finished with four runs allowed, three of which earned, in his eight-plus innings of work. His outing represented the deepest a Matador has pitched into a game this season. Gutierrez earned his first career save by working a third of an inning.
ACCORDING TO COACH DAVE SERRANO
"After the tough travel on Thursday across the country, I was very proud of how we fought through this game today. Even though, we scored the first run in the first inning we were sloppy on defense in the bottom of half, which led to two runs for McNeese State. But as this team has showed all year, they turned it around in all three phases. The offense kept coming at them, which was led by Jake Simons. Simons was inserted in the lineup last Tuesday at GCU and his energy and toughness has really sparked our lineup. From the mound, Blake Sodersten was affected by some errors early and didn't seem to be on his 'A' game in the early innings but like the team did, he poured it on in the middle innings and kept the momentum on our side.
"So overall, I was happy with how, again, we overcame some stuff and found a way to win. I still believe we need to find a way to close out games late. That's what we are still trying to figure out with the bullpen. Most imporantly, we get a chance to win our first road series tomorrow, which in the big picture will be good for this team."
UP NEXT
CSUN continues its weekend series with McNeese on Saturday at 12 p.m. (PST).
#UniteTheValley
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The Matadors struck first in the opening inning after Jakob Simons and Graysen Tarlow began the frame with hits. Andrew Sojka eventually brought home Tarlow on a sacrifice fly to give CSUN a 1-0 lead.
McNeese though responded with a two-run bottom of the first, taking advantage of a CSUN error at first base. After 'Tre Obregon III reached on the miscue with a runner at second base, the Cowboys executed a double steal leading to Brad Burckel scoring. Peyton Johnson gave the Cowboys the lead with a one-out RBI single to bring home Obregon for an unearned run.
The Cowboys added to their lead in the second inning on a two-out RBI double from Julian Gonzalez to put the Matadors in a 3-1 hole.
CSUN was turned away in the second and third inning but broke through with a big four-run fourth to reclaim the lead. The Matadors produced five consecutive singles to start the frame, highlighted by RBI hits from Bart West and Camarillo. Shunsuke Sakaino would bring in the go-ahead run on a grounder to second base, driving in Mason Le before Simons rifled an RBI single up the middle, giving the Matadors a 5-3 lead.
The Matadors extended their lead to three in the fifth inning after Sojka doubled and later scored on a sacrifice fly from Le.
After a rough first two innings, Sodersten would bounce back over his remaining time on the mound. He pitched around two singles in the third then stranded a runner at third base in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Sodersten retired six in a row during the middle innings before giving up a pair of two-out singles in the sixth but would strikeout Reid Bourque to end the threat. Sodersten also surrendered a two-out hit in the seventh inning before retiring Johnson for the third out of that frame.
The Matadors picked up three more insurance runs in the top of the eighth to extend to a 9-3 lead. Joey Kramer doubled and scored in the inning on a wild pitch while Camarillo and Simons picked up RBI singles.
Sodersten tossed a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth but gave up a single to start the ninth before being lifted from the game. Gavin Lizik retired two of the next four batters but Johnson hit a three-run double to cut the CSUN lead to 9-6. Diego Gutierrez came out of the bullpen to finally put an end to the rally when he forced Kade Morris to foul out for the final out.
GAME NOTES
Sojka, Kramer and West all had two hits and a run scored in the win. In total, eight of the nine Matador starters had at least one hit in the game. Tarlow has now reached base safely in nine-straight games and picked up a hit in seven consecutive games.
Sodersten finished with four runs allowed, three of which earned, in his eight-plus innings of work. His outing represented the deepest a Matador has pitched into a game this season. Gutierrez earned his first career save by working a third of an inning.
ACCORDING TO COACH DAVE SERRANO
"After the tough travel on Thursday across the country, I was very proud of how we fought through this game today. Even though, we scored the first run in the first inning we were sloppy on defense in the bottom of half, which led to two runs for McNeese State. But as this team has showed all year, they turned it around in all three phases. The offense kept coming at them, which was led by Jake Simons. Simons was inserted in the lineup last Tuesday at GCU and his energy and toughness has really sparked our lineup. From the mound, Blake Sodersten was affected by some errors early and didn't seem to be on his 'A' game in the early innings but like the team did, he poured it on in the middle innings and kept the momentum on our side.
"So overall, I was happy with how, again, we overcame some stuff and found a way to win. I still believe we need to find a way to close out games late. That's what we are still trying to figure out with the bullpen. Most imporantly, we get a chance to win our first road series tomorrow, which in the big picture will be good for this team."
UP NEXT
CSUN continues its weekend series with McNeese on Saturday at 12 p.m. (PST).
#UniteTheValley
Â
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