Friday, May 6
Northridge, Calif.
3:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
24-19, 12-10
9
vs
1
UC Davis
4-25, 3-16
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
UC Davis
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
6
2
CSUN
3
0
0
1
0
3
0
2
X
9
11
0
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Traxel, Blaine (5-4)
L: Peng, Nathan (0-3)
Batting:
2B: Wolbert, Mark 2
RBI: Piazza, Luke 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Wolbert, Mark 1
Batting:
2B: Sojka, Andrew 2 ; West, Bart 1
RBI: Camarillo, Ali 2 ; Sakaino, Shunsuke 1 ; Fitzer, Kevin 1 ; West, Bart 3 ; Barraza, Nathan 1
SH: Camarillo, Ali 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Sojka, Andrew 3 ; Camarillo, Ali 2 ; Moody, Kai 1 ; Fitzer, Kevin 1 ; Bohning, Brandon 2
SB: Fitzer, Kevin 1
HBP: Fitzer, Kevin 1 ; Thomas, Matt 1 ; Kramer, Joey 1
Game Leaders
cf/rf
AB
4
R
3
H
3
RBI
0
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
Photo by: Braden Villanueva
Matadors Take Opener from UC Davis Behind Traxel's Gem
5/6/2022 6:06:00 PM | Baseball
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---Blaine Traxel tossed seven scoreless innings while striking out nine as CSUN (24-19, 12-10 Big West) defeated UC Davis (4-25, 3-16 Big West) 9-1 on Friday at Matador Field. Bart West finished 4-for-5 with three RBI while Ali Camarillo had a 2-for-3 day with two RBI and two runs scored. Traxel limited the Aggies to four hits, three of which were singles.
The Matadors jumped on the Aggies in the bottom of the first inning, quickly loading the bases with nobody out. Kevin Fitzer would put CSUN on scoreboard by reaching on a fielder's choice before West drove in another run on a single. Two batters later, with runners at the corners, Fitzer stole home plate on a play where Joey Kramer was caught in a run down between first and second base.
Traxel worked out of early trouble in the top of the first, stranding two Aggies when he struck out Nick Leehey and Nathan Peng. After pitching around a one-out single, Traxel faced another threat in the third when UC Davis had runners at second and third base and only one out. Traxel though picked up another strukeout of Leehey before forcing Peng to groundout to short to end the inning.
After the third, Traxel settled in and found his rhythm on the mound. The right-hander did not allow another base runner following a one-out double by Mark Wolbert in the third inning. Traxel would strike out one in the fourth, two more in the fifth and another in the sixth over three straight 1-2-3 innings. In the seventh, he retired the side in order once more completing a stretch where he sat down 14-straight UC Davis batters.
The Matadors increased their lead to 4-0 in the fourth on an RBI groundout from Camarillo before breaking the game open in the sixth. In that inning, singles by Brandon Bohning and Andrew Sojka put runners at the corners with one out. Camarillo drove in another run on a safey squeeze bunt then a Kai Moody walk and Fitzer hit-by-pitch loaded the bases. West capped off the inning with a two-run single to push the lead to 7-0.
CSUN collected three more hits in a two-run inning in the eighth. Shunsuke Sakaino collected an RBI on a groundout that scored Sojka who doubled to start the inning. Three batters later, the Matadors went ahead 9-0 on a groundball from Nathan Barraza that Leehey at shortstop midhandled.
Chad Wilson worked the final two innings, allowing a run on two hits. The Aggies broke up the Matadors' shutout bid with a two-out RBI single from Luke Piazza in the ninth.
GAME NOTES
Sojka, who finished 3-for-4 with three runs scored, extended his on-base streak to 26 games. Sojka also notched his team-leading 17th multiple-hit game of the season. West set a new career-high in hits in the game with four while he recorded his team-high eighth multiple-RBI game.
Traxel moved his career strikeout total to 196, which brings him one shy of the Matadors' all-time career top-10 strikeout list.
ACCORDING TO COACH DAVE SERRANO
"From a numbers perspective, Blaine was good. He always gives us an opportunity. I thought that was a learning moment for our pitching staff because in my opinion, and Blaine would say the same thing if he was standing next to me, his stuff wasn't great, but it shows his mentality of how be battles. He started the game with average stuff but his stuff did get better. In a normal situation, I would probably let him go, he was at 99 pitches after seven innings, but we have a Thursday game next week on the road in Hawai'i. Blaine did what Blaine does, and what we expect of him and what he expects from himself.
"When you look at the scoreboard, we scored nine runs, but I think if you ask any coach who works with the offense, like me with Blaine, we want to continue to get better. That's our theme for the rest of the opportunities we have for the rest of the year – to continue to get better."
UP NEXT
CSUN continues its weekend series with UC Davis on Saturday at 2 p.m. Ghizal Hasan has the call on GoMatadors.com/Radio.
#UniteTheValley
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The Matadors jumped on the Aggies in the bottom of the first inning, quickly loading the bases with nobody out. Kevin Fitzer would put CSUN on scoreboard by reaching on a fielder's choice before West drove in another run on a single. Two batters later, with runners at the corners, Fitzer stole home plate on a play where Joey Kramer was caught in a run down between first and second base.
Traxel worked out of early trouble in the top of the first, stranding two Aggies when he struck out Nick Leehey and Nathan Peng. After pitching around a one-out single, Traxel faced another threat in the third when UC Davis had runners at second and third base and only one out. Traxel though picked up another strukeout of Leehey before forcing Peng to groundout to short to end the inning.
After the third, Traxel settled in and found his rhythm on the mound. The right-hander did not allow another base runner following a one-out double by Mark Wolbert in the third inning. Traxel would strike out one in the fourth, two more in the fifth and another in the sixth over three straight 1-2-3 innings. In the seventh, he retired the side in order once more completing a stretch where he sat down 14-straight UC Davis batters.
The Matadors increased their lead to 4-0 in the fourth on an RBI groundout from Camarillo before breaking the game open in the sixth. In that inning, singles by Brandon Bohning and Andrew Sojka put runners at the corners with one out. Camarillo drove in another run on a safey squeeze bunt then a Kai Moody walk and Fitzer hit-by-pitch loaded the bases. West capped off the inning with a two-run single to push the lead to 7-0.
CSUN collected three more hits in a two-run inning in the eighth. Shunsuke Sakaino collected an RBI on a groundout that scored Sojka who doubled to start the inning. Three batters later, the Matadors went ahead 9-0 on a groundball from Nathan Barraza that Leehey at shortstop midhandled.
Chad Wilson worked the final two innings, allowing a run on two hits. The Aggies broke up the Matadors' shutout bid with a two-out RBI single from Luke Piazza in the ninth.
GAME NOTES
Sojka, who finished 3-for-4 with three runs scored, extended his on-base streak to 26 games. Sojka also notched his team-leading 17th multiple-hit game of the season. West set a new career-high in hits in the game with four while he recorded his team-high eighth multiple-RBI game.
Traxel moved his career strikeout total to 196, which brings him one shy of the Matadors' all-time career top-10 strikeout list.
ACCORDING TO COACH DAVE SERRANO
"From a numbers perspective, Blaine was good. He always gives us an opportunity. I thought that was a learning moment for our pitching staff because in my opinion, and Blaine would say the same thing if he was standing next to me, his stuff wasn't great, but it shows his mentality of how be battles. He started the game with average stuff but his stuff did get better. In a normal situation, I would probably let him go, he was at 99 pitches after seven innings, but we have a Thursday game next week on the road in Hawai'i. Blaine did what Blaine does, and what we expect of him and what he expects from himself.
"When you look at the scoreboard, we scored nine runs, but I think if you ask any coach who works with the offense, like me with Blaine, we want to continue to get better. That's our theme for the rest of the opportunities we have for the rest of the year – to continue to get better."
UP NEXT
CSUN continues its weekend series with UC Davis on Saturday at 2 p.m. Ghizal Hasan has the call on GoMatadors.com/Radio.
#UniteTheValley
Â
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