Friday, March 25
Northridge, Calif.
3:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
8
vs
11
Long Beach State
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
Photo by: Mikaella Salazar
Matadors Drop Series Opener to Long Beach State, 11-8
3/25/2022 6:55:00 PM | Baseball
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball (11-10, 0-4 Big West) suffered an 11-8 defeat to Long Beach State (12-8, 3-1 Big West) on Friday at Matador Field. Bart West finished with two hits including a grand slam while Gabe Gonzalez scored three times and drove in two runs. The Matadors scored multiple times in three separate innings but could not overcome the Dirtbags who racked up 16 hits on the afternoon.
The Dirtbags jumped on CSUN starter Blake Sodersten in the opening inning in what would be a five-run frame. Taking advantage of a hit batter and a CSUN error, Long Beach State picked up three consecutive one-out hits, highlighted by a two-run double from Eddie Saldivar and an RBI single from Tyler Porter. A fourth run would come on a groundout followed by an RBI single from Connor Burns.
Trailing by a 5-0 margin, CSUN battled back in the home half of the first. In a similar fashion to the top of the first, a hit batter and an error followed by a Gonzalez walk loaded the bases. West stepped to the plate next and hammered an opposite field grand slam to bring the Matadors to within 5-4.
After a rough first inning, Sodersten rallied back with back-to-back shutout innings including an impressive third where he struck out the side. In the fourth inning though Chase Luttrell hit a leadoff home run that extended the lead to two runs (6-4). Sodersten surrendered two more hits in the fourth as well as a walk but escaped further trouble by retiring Charlie Loust.
In the fifth, Long Beach State broke through again with a pair of two-outs hits from Jonathon Long and Saldivar that extended the lead to 9-4. The Dirtbags added a 10th run on dropped catch at first base in what would have been the third out of the inning.
Off the scoreboard since the first, the Matadors would come through in the sixth inning with a two-out RBI single from Brandon Bohning. Jakob Simons was later hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force in another CSUN run.
The Long Beach State lead stood at 10-6 with Andrew Sojka at the plate and the bases loaded in what would be a turning point in the sixth inning. Sojka hit a slow grounder in front of home plate where pitcher Marques Johnson fielded the ball cleanly. Johnson made a throw to first base but the ball hit Sojka down the first base line. Instead of an error, the first base umpire called Sojka out for running outside the base line, ending the bottom of the sixth inning.
The Matadors entered the bottom of the ninth trailing 11-6 but continued to battle to the final out. After Simons hit a leadoff single, the next two Matadors were retired. Gonzalez would step to the plate next and smack a two-run home run, cutting the lead to three. Moments later, West picked up a single but Nathan Barraza was retired on a flyout to end the game.
GAME NOTES
West is the third Matador to hit a grand slam this season joining Kai Moody and Gonzalez. Simons finished 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI while Gonzalez went 2-for-3 with two walks.
Chad Wilson gave CSUN a lift out of the bullpen, tossing 3.2 innings in relief with only one run allowed.
ACCORDING TO COACH DAVE SERRANO
"They threw a big punch in the first inning to drop a five on us. I commend them, I thought their approach was phenomenal against Sodersten. I have to go back and look but it seemed like that Sodersten was executing some good pitches, they just did a good job of committing to the outer half of the plate, and they made us pay for it. But they throw a big punch and we come back with a jab in the bottom half. This team has been notorious for that. We come back and get back in the game a little bit even late we are fighting to the very end. We're one at-bat away from having the tying run at the plate. Through the middle part of the game, I don't think anyone would have thought that could happen. Chad Wilson was a big part of that. His three-plus innings of relief were huge for us. It saved our bullpen for the rest of the weekend.
"The message we shared with the team though was we've got to take care of the baseball more. That continues to be a bugaboo for us. We're giving away outs, dropping baseballs whether it's a line drive or a play at first. That's concerning and a lack of focus sometimes. If you unravel the mess today, if you take care of the baseball, the scoreboard may be a little different."
UP NEXT
CSUN continues its weekend series with Long Beach State on Saturday at 2 p.m. Ghizal Hasan has the call on ESPN+ and GoMatadors.com.Radio.
#UniteTheValley
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The Dirtbags jumped on CSUN starter Blake Sodersten in the opening inning in what would be a five-run frame. Taking advantage of a hit batter and a CSUN error, Long Beach State picked up three consecutive one-out hits, highlighted by a two-run double from Eddie Saldivar and an RBI single from Tyler Porter. A fourth run would come on a groundout followed by an RBI single from Connor Burns.
Trailing by a 5-0 margin, CSUN battled back in the home half of the first. In a similar fashion to the top of the first, a hit batter and an error followed by a Gonzalez walk loaded the bases. West stepped to the plate next and hammered an opposite field grand slam to bring the Matadors to within 5-4.
After a rough first inning, Sodersten rallied back with back-to-back shutout innings including an impressive third where he struck out the side. In the fourth inning though Chase Luttrell hit a leadoff home run that extended the lead to two runs (6-4). Sodersten surrendered two more hits in the fourth as well as a walk but escaped further trouble by retiring Charlie Loust.
In the fifth, Long Beach State broke through again with a pair of two-outs hits from Jonathon Long and Saldivar that extended the lead to 9-4. The Dirtbags added a 10th run on dropped catch at first base in what would have been the third out of the inning.
Off the scoreboard since the first, the Matadors would come through in the sixth inning with a two-out RBI single from Brandon Bohning. Jakob Simons was later hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force in another CSUN run.
The Long Beach State lead stood at 10-6 with Andrew Sojka at the plate and the bases loaded in what would be a turning point in the sixth inning. Sojka hit a slow grounder in front of home plate where pitcher Marques Johnson fielded the ball cleanly. Johnson made a throw to first base but the ball hit Sojka down the first base line. Instead of an error, the first base umpire called Sojka out for running outside the base line, ending the bottom of the sixth inning.
The Matadors entered the bottom of the ninth trailing 11-6 but continued to battle to the final out. After Simons hit a leadoff single, the next two Matadors were retired. Gonzalez would step to the plate next and smack a two-run home run, cutting the lead to three. Moments later, West picked up a single but Nathan Barraza was retired on a flyout to end the game.
GAME NOTES
West is the third Matador to hit a grand slam this season joining Kai Moody and Gonzalez. Simons finished 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI while Gonzalez went 2-for-3 with two walks.
Chad Wilson gave CSUN a lift out of the bullpen, tossing 3.2 innings in relief with only one run allowed.
ACCORDING TO COACH DAVE SERRANO
"They threw a big punch in the first inning to drop a five on us. I commend them, I thought their approach was phenomenal against Sodersten. I have to go back and look but it seemed like that Sodersten was executing some good pitches, they just did a good job of committing to the outer half of the plate, and they made us pay for it. But they throw a big punch and we come back with a jab in the bottom half. This team has been notorious for that. We come back and get back in the game a little bit even late we are fighting to the very end. We're one at-bat away from having the tying run at the plate. Through the middle part of the game, I don't think anyone would have thought that could happen. Chad Wilson was a big part of that. His three-plus innings of relief were huge for us. It saved our bullpen for the rest of the weekend.
"The message we shared with the team though was we've got to take care of the baseball more. That continues to be a bugaboo for us. We're giving away outs, dropping baseballs whether it's a line drive or a play at first. That's concerning and a lack of focus sometimes. If you unravel the mess today, if you take care of the baseball, the scoreboard may be a little different."
UP NEXT
CSUN continues its weekend series with Long Beach State on Saturday at 2 p.m. Ghizal Hasan has the call on ESPN+ and GoMatadors.com.Radio.
#UniteTheValley
Â
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