Sunday, February 26
Northridge, Calif.
2:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
4-1
4
vs
5
Pepperdine
2-3
1
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5
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7
8
9
R
H
E
Pepperdine
0
0
5
0
0
0
0
0
0
5
7
0
CSUN
0
0
0
2
0
0
0
0
2
4
9
1
Photo by: Dianne Wentz
Matador Rally Falls Short Against Pepperdine
2/26/2023 5:15:00 PM | Baseball
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball's (4-1) comeback fell a run short as the Matadors dropped a 5-4 decision to Pepperdine on Sunday afternoon at Matador Field. Graysen Tarlow finished with three hits and two RBI while Joey Kramer hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning. CSUN nearly erased a five-run deficit in the contest but would leave 14 runners on base on the day including the tying run in the ninth.
The Waves struck first in the third inning when Jack Goodman hit a leadoff home run off Lucas Braun. Pepperdine eventually loaded the bases with one out before Ryan Johnson made it a 2-0 game with an RBI single. Braun appeared he might work his way out of the jam after picking up a strikeout and forcing Jack Basseer to hit a flyball to left, but the ball was dropped, allowing all three runners to score for a 5-0 Waves' lead.
CSUN left four runners on base through the first three innings before breaking through in the fourth inning. Ben Griffin and Shunsuke Sakaino drew walks to begin the inning then Mason Le hit a liner to short for an infield single to load the bases. The next two Matadors were retired but Tarlow rifled a 1-2 pitch to right field for a two-run single to bring CSUN to within 5-2.
Entering out of the bullpen in the fourth, Thomas Bainton gave the Matadors a lift with his five innings of work. Bainton retired seven-straight batters during his stretch on the mound while he stranded two runners on base in the seventh when he struck out John Peck and Greg Mehlhaff in succession. The right hander also retired the side in order in the top of the eighth.
On the flip side, CSUN would threaten to score in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings but could not come away with runs. In the sixth, Sakaino was stranded at second base while the Matadors left the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh. CSUN picked up a pair of singles in the eighth but Jack Baird came out of the bullpen to collect the third out, leaving two more on the base paths.
The Matadors forged one last rally in the bottom of the ninth. Emanuel Dean drew a leadoff walk then Kramer belted a two-run homer to left field to cut the deficit to 5-4. Griffin followed with a single, however, Baird struck out Sakaino and forced Le into a fielder's choice. Luc Stuka would pinch hit for Kamau Neighbors and hit a grounder to first base that was initially misplayed by Basseer. The Pepperdine first baseman though recovered to throw out Stuka for the final out.Â
GAME NOTES
Hayden Cody worked a clean top of the ninth out of the bullpen, picking up two strikeouts. Thomas Bainton finished with two hits allowed and five strikeouts over five shutout innings.
Graysen Tarlow has driven in 11 runs through five games this season. Tarlow along with Jakob Simons and Shunsuke Sakaino have hit safely in all five games this season.
ACCORDING TO COACH EDDIE CORNEJO
"We continued to put pressure on them. We showed flashes of the discipline we've been having and the consistency with that, and then we would get out of character at times. I thought with numerous runners on base we saw guys a little bit out of character. That was my message to them that we're good enough. There's nothing more we need to do then be ourselves because other teams feel the pressure when we're at our best. Baseball is unforgiving with crooked numbers at the end of the day. We can look back and say maybe we won eight innings but we have to play nine innings. Unfortunately, that crooked number really ended up getting us in the end.
UP NEXT
CSUN heads to Pepperdine to complete a short two-game series on Monday at 2 p.m.
#UniteTheValley
Â
The Waves struck first in the third inning when Jack Goodman hit a leadoff home run off Lucas Braun. Pepperdine eventually loaded the bases with one out before Ryan Johnson made it a 2-0 game with an RBI single. Braun appeared he might work his way out of the jam after picking up a strikeout and forcing Jack Basseer to hit a flyball to left, but the ball was dropped, allowing all three runners to score for a 5-0 Waves' lead.
CSUN left four runners on base through the first three innings before breaking through in the fourth inning. Ben Griffin and Shunsuke Sakaino drew walks to begin the inning then Mason Le hit a liner to short for an infield single to load the bases. The next two Matadors were retired but Tarlow rifled a 1-2 pitch to right field for a two-run single to bring CSUN to within 5-2.
Entering out of the bullpen in the fourth, Thomas Bainton gave the Matadors a lift with his five innings of work. Bainton retired seven-straight batters during his stretch on the mound while he stranded two runners on base in the seventh when he struck out John Peck and Greg Mehlhaff in succession. The right hander also retired the side in order in the top of the eighth.
On the flip side, CSUN would threaten to score in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings but could not come away with runs. In the sixth, Sakaino was stranded at second base while the Matadors left the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh. CSUN picked up a pair of singles in the eighth but Jack Baird came out of the bullpen to collect the third out, leaving two more on the base paths.
The Matadors forged one last rally in the bottom of the ninth. Emanuel Dean drew a leadoff walk then Kramer belted a two-run homer to left field to cut the deficit to 5-4. Griffin followed with a single, however, Baird struck out Sakaino and forced Le into a fielder's choice. Luc Stuka would pinch hit for Kamau Neighbors and hit a grounder to first base that was initially misplayed by Basseer. The Pepperdine first baseman though recovered to throw out Stuka for the final out.Â
GAME NOTES
Hayden Cody worked a clean top of the ninth out of the bullpen, picking up two strikeouts. Thomas Bainton finished with two hits allowed and five strikeouts over five shutout innings.
Graysen Tarlow has driven in 11 runs through five games this season. Tarlow along with Jakob Simons and Shunsuke Sakaino have hit safely in all five games this season.
ACCORDING TO COACH EDDIE CORNEJO
"We continued to put pressure on them. We showed flashes of the discipline we've been having and the consistency with that, and then we would get out of character at times. I thought with numerous runners on base we saw guys a little bit out of character. That was my message to them that we're good enough. There's nothing more we need to do then be ourselves because other teams feel the pressure when we're at our best. Baseball is unforgiving with crooked numbers at the end of the day. We can look back and say maybe we won eight innings but we have to play nine innings. Unfortunately, that crooked number really ended up getting us in the end.
UP NEXT
CSUN heads to Pepperdine to complete a short two-game series on Monday at 2 p.m.
#UniteTheValley
Â
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: SCAVONE, TOMMY (1-1)
L: Braun, Lucas (1-1)
S: BAIRD, JACK (1)
Batting:
2B: JOHNSON, RYAN 1
HR: GOODMAN, JACK 1
RBI: JOHNSON, RYAN 1 ; GOODMAN, JACK 1
Base Running:
RUNS: MASINO, CHARLES 1 ; MEHLHAFF, GREG 1 ; JOHNSON, RYAN 1 ; GOODMAN, JACK 1 ; SHEEHAN, COLE 1
Batting:
HR: Kramer, Joey 1
RBI: Tarlow, Graysen 2 ; Kramer, Joey 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Dean, Emanuel 1 ; Kramer, Joey 1 ; Griffin, Ben 1 ; Sakaino, Shunsuke 1
SB: Sakaino, Shunsuke 1 ; Le, Mason 1
HBP: Sojka, Andrew 1 ; Griffin, Ben 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
0
H
3
RBI
2
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
5
R
1
H
1
RBI
2
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
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