Saturday, March 18
Davis, Calif.
11:00 a.m.
California State University at Northridge
10-4, 0
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UC Davis
6-9, 0
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CSUN
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UC Davis
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Photo by: Will Navarro
Matadors Clinch Series with Doubleheader Split at UC Davis
3/18/2023 10:07:00 PM | Baseball
DAVIS, Calif.---CSUN Baseball (11-4, 2-1 Big West) clinched a series victory with a doubleheader split at UC Davis on Saturday at Dobbins Stadium. The Matadors dropped a 6-5 decision in the opener before claiming a 9-3 win in the nightcap.
Nathan Barraza and Bren Wilkinson each drove in three runs on the day on the hitting side while CSUN's bullpen combined to toss 8.1 innings with one run allowed. The Matadors secured their first road series win to start Big West play since 2002.
GAME 1 RECAP
The Matadors struck first in the second inning as Mason Le hit a two-out, two-run triple to plate Barraza and Brandon Leon. Jakob Simons would follow with an RBI single to give CSUN an early 3-0 lead.
Thomas Bainton held the Aggies to an infield single through the first two frames, but UC Davis racked up three hits in the third, highlighted by a two-run single from James Williams III to cut the lead to 3-2.
After Barraza extended the lead to two with a solo homer in the fourth, the Aggies responded in the home half of the inning when Jack Gallagher hit a two-run home run. Williams III would cap a four-run fourth inning with a two-run double to put UC Davis ahead 6-4.
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CSUN got a run back in the top of the fifth on a sacrifice fly from Graysen Tarlow but the Matadors would be held off the scoreboard the rest of the way.
Later in the fifth inning, the Matadors had an opportunity to possibly tie the game when Ali Camarillo doubled and moved to third on a wild pitch, but Luc Stuka was retired on a popup. The Matadors would also leave the bases loaded in the sixth inning as Kaden Hogan retired Shunsuke Sakaino on a grounder.
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Jon Mocherman, who took over on the mound in the fourth, gave CSUN a lift by logging 4.1 innings with no runs allowed. The left-hander stranded two runners in the sixth, one in the seventh and two more in the eighth inning during his stint on the mound.
GAME 2 RECAP
In similar fashion to game one, the Matadors jumped on the Aggies at the outset. Sakaino got the Matadors' offense started with an RBI single to plate Simons who led off with a walk. Barraza later added to the lead with an RBI single of his own then Wilkinson capped off the frame with a two-run bloop single to extend the lead to 4-0.
Kenji Pallares retired the first six Aggie batters to open his outing on the mound but would run into trouble in the third. UC Davis loaded the bases with one out in the frame before Pallares walked Joey Wright to force in a run. Williams III would hit a sacrifice fly to trim the CSUN lead to 4-2.
The Aggies appeared it would strike again in the fifth after loading the bases with nobody out. Wright stepped to the plate and hit a hard liner toward the right-field line, but Joey Kramer snagged the ball and stepped on the first base bag for a critical double play. Pallares then retired Williams III on a flyout to escape the jam.
Kept off the scoreboard since the first, the Matadors finally broke through in the seventh on a two-run single from Kevin Fitzer with the bases loaded. Barraza would make it a 7-2 game with another RBI hit in the frame.
Out of the bullpen, Ryan Wentz limited the Aggies to a single tally over the final four innings. Wentz though had to tip-toe out of a bases loaded jam in the eighth as he struck out Nick Iverson and Gallagher.
CSUN plated single tallies over the final two innings on RBI hits from Tarlow and Wilkinson to extend the lead to 9-3. In the bottom of the ninth, Wentz allowed the first two batters to reach base, but the right-hander bounced back to strike out Wright and induce a double play off the bat of Williams III to secure the win.
GAME NOTES
Jakob Simons extended his on-base streak to 15 games while Graysen Tarlow stretched his on-base streak to 14 games. Nathan Barraza finished the weekend series 5-for-9 at the plate with a team-high six RBI. Barraza also hit his first career home run in game one on Saturday.
Kenji Pallares improved to 4-0 on the season after working five innings and allowing two runs on three hits in game two.
ACCORDING TO COACH EDDIE CORNEJO
"We had our ups and downs offensively. We struck early and then got comfortable. Our bullpen was excellent today, battling through some situations and keeping the games close.
I liked how our team responded after the game one loss. Our defense continued to make tough plays. We struck first again, and guys like Barraza and Wilkinson, who have been role players, performed really well."
UP NEXT
Weather permitting, CSUN is scheduled to host Pepperdine on Tuesday at 3 p.m. Ghizal Hasan has the call on ESPN+ and GoMatadors.com/Radio.
#GoMatadors
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Nathan Barraza and Bren Wilkinson each drove in three runs on the day on the hitting side while CSUN's bullpen combined to toss 8.1 innings with one run allowed. The Matadors secured their first road series win to start Big West play since 2002.
GAME 1 RECAP
The Matadors struck first in the second inning as Mason Le hit a two-out, two-run triple to plate Barraza and Brandon Leon. Jakob Simons would follow with an RBI single to give CSUN an early 3-0 lead.
Thomas Bainton held the Aggies to an infield single through the first two frames, but UC Davis racked up three hits in the third, highlighted by a two-run single from James Williams III to cut the lead to 3-2.
After Barraza extended the lead to two with a solo homer in the fourth, the Aggies responded in the home half of the inning when Jack Gallagher hit a two-run home run. Williams III would cap a four-run fourth inning with a two-run double to put UC Davis ahead 6-4.
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CSUN got a run back in the top of the fifth on a sacrifice fly from Graysen Tarlow but the Matadors would be held off the scoreboard the rest of the way.
Later in the fifth inning, the Matadors had an opportunity to possibly tie the game when Ali Camarillo doubled and moved to third on a wild pitch, but Luc Stuka was retired on a popup. The Matadors would also leave the bases loaded in the sixth inning as Kaden Hogan retired Shunsuke Sakaino on a grounder.
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Jon Mocherman, who took over on the mound in the fourth, gave CSUN a lift by logging 4.1 innings with no runs allowed. The left-hander stranded two runners in the sixth, one in the seventh and two more in the eighth inning during his stint on the mound.
GAME 2 RECAP
In similar fashion to game one, the Matadors jumped on the Aggies at the outset. Sakaino got the Matadors' offense started with an RBI single to plate Simons who led off with a walk. Barraza later added to the lead with an RBI single of his own then Wilkinson capped off the frame with a two-run bloop single to extend the lead to 4-0.
Kenji Pallares retired the first six Aggie batters to open his outing on the mound but would run into trouble in the third. UC Davis loaded the bases with one out in the frame before Pallares walked Joey Wright to force in a run. Williams III would hit a sacrifice fly to trim the CSUN lead to 4-2.
The Aggies appeared it would strike again in the fifth after loading the bases with nobody out. Wright stepped to the plate and hit a hard liner toward the right-field line, but Joey Kramer snagged the ball and stepped on the first base bag for a critical double play. Pallares then retired Williams III on a flyout to escape the jam.
Kept off the scoreboard since the first, the Matadors finally broke through in the seventh on a two-run single from Kevin Fitzer with the bases loaded. Barraza would make it a 7-2 game with another RBI hit in the frame.
Out of the bullpen, Ryan Wentz limited the Aggies to a single tally over the final four innings. Wentz though had to tip-toe out of a bases loaded jam in the eighth as he struck out Nick Iverson and Gallagher.
CSUN plated single tallies over the final two innings on RBI hits from Tarlow and Wilkinson to extend the lead to 9-3. In the bottom of the ninth, Wentz allowed the first two batters to reach base, but the right-hander bounced back to strike out Wright and induce a double play off the bat of Williams III to secure the win.
GAME NOTES
Jakob Simons extended his on-base streak to 15 games while Graysen Tarlow stretched his on-base streak to 14 games. Nathan Barraza finished the weekend series 5-for-9 at the plate with a team-high six RBI. Barraza also hit his first career home run in game one on Saturday.
Kenji Pallares improved to 4-0 on the season after working five innings and allowing two runs on three hits in game two.
ACCORDING TO COACH EDDIE CORNEJO
"We had our ups and downs offensively. We struck early and then got comfortable. Our bullpen was excellent today, battling through some situations and keeping the games close.
I liked how our team responded after the game one loss. Our defense continued to make tough plays. We struck first again, and guys like Barraza and Wilkinson, who have been role players, performed really well."
UP NEXT
Weather permitting, CSUN is scheduled to host Pepperdine on Tuesday at 3 p.m. Ghizal Hasan has the call on ESPN+ and GoMatadors.com/Radio.
#GoMatadors
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Pallares, Kenji (4-0)
L: Rowen Barnes (1-2)
S: Wentz, Ryan (2)
Batting:
2B: Tarlow, Graysen 1
RBI: Sakaino, Shunsuke 1 ; Tarlow, Graysen 1 ; Fitzer, Kevin 2 ; Barraza, Nathan 2 ; Wilkinson, Bren 3
SH: Sakaino, Shunsuke 1 ; Neighbors, Kamau 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Simons, Jakob 3 ; Sakaino, Shunsuke 1 ; Tarlow, Graysen 1 ; Fitzer, Kevin 1 ; Barraza, Nathan 1 ; Sojka, Andrew 1 ; Neighbors, Kamau 1
SB: Simons, Jakob 1 ; Wilkinson, Bren 1
CS: Barraza, Nathan 1 ; Wilkinson, Bren 1
HBP: Simons, Jakob 1 ; Le, Mason 1
Batting:
2B: Nick Iverson 1
RBI: Joey Wright 1 ; James Williams III 1 ; Leighton Helfrick 1
SH: Leighton Helfrick 1
SF: James Williams III 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Nick Iverson 2 ; Jack Gallagher 1
HBP: Damian Stone 2 ; Nick Iverson 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
0
H
3
RBI
3
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
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