Friday, March 31
Northridge, Calif.
3:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
15-6, 4-3
18
vs
6
UC Riverside
6-15, 0-4
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
UC Riverside
0
0
1
0
1
0
1
2
1
6
14
3
CSUN
6
0
1
0
1
1
3
6
X
18
23
0
Photo by: Dianne Wentz
Matador Offense Pounds Out 23 Hits in Win Over UC Riverside
3/31/2023 6:57:00 PM | Baseball
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball (15-6, 4-3 Big West) registered a season-high 23 hits and took the series opener from UC Riverside 18-6 on Friday at Matador Field. Jakob Simons led the way offensively going 5-for-6 with five RBI and a home run. Ali Camarillo finished 4-for-6 with four RBI and a home run while Ben Griffin and Andrew Sojka each went 3-for-5. Lucas Braun earned the victory, tossing six quality innings and allowing two runs to go with 10 strikeouts.
A UCR error opened the door for a huge six-run Matador outburst in the bottom of the first as 11 batters came to the plate.
Simons reached to start the first on a throwing error at third base. From there, Shunsuke Sakaino put down a well-placed bunt single up the third base line and Graysen Tarlow was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Kevin Fitzer followed with an RBI single and Camarillo singled in two more runs for a three-run lead. CSUN added three more runs on two out hits from Ben Griffin, Andrew Sojka and Simons for a 6-0 lead. Â
Simons' big day at the plate continued in the third when he stroked an RBI double to plate CSUN's seventh run of the afternoon.
After Camarillo homered in the bottom of the sixth, the Matadors added three more runs in the bottom of the seventh. In that frame, Simons hammered a two-run home run to left field while Fitzer knocked in another run via a sacrifice fly.
On the mound, Braun kept the Highlanders off balanced throughout the afternoon. The right hander struck out four batters over two shutout innings to start before UCR picked up a solo homer from Marcellus Pearson in the third. However, Braun went on to retire eight of the next 10 batters. A Jayden Lopez two-out homer in the top of the fifth would be the only other blemish on the day as Braun blanked UCR once more in the sixth before exiting the game.
The Matadors took a 12-5 lead to the bottom of the eighth when CSUN sent 10 more batters to plate in the team's second six-run frame. After pinch hitter Emanuel Dean led off the inning with a single, Joey Kramer belted a two-run home run to left field. Another Sojka single and Simons double produced CSUN's 15th run while Kamau Neighbors brought in one more run moments later on an infield single. Camarillo would drive in his fourth run of the afternoon on a single and Dean capped off the scoring spree with a sacrifice fly.
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UCR pushed across four runs over the final three innings against CSUN's bullpen but it would not be enough to catch the Matadors.Â
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GAME NOTES
CSUN's 23 hits are the team's most in a game since Feb. 24, 2018, when the Matadors had 25 hits against Manhattan. A total of 11 Matadors had at least one hit while 11 scored runs and eight drove in at least one run.
Graysen Tarlow stretched his on-base streak to 20 games while Ali Camarillo extended his hit streak to nine games. Emanuel Dean made his first appearance on the field since March 10 as he finished 1-for-1 with an RBI and a run scored.
Matador pitching combined to strikeout 12 batters in the game. Lucas Braun has struck out 10 batters in three of his last five starts.
ACCORDING TO COACH EDDIE CORNEJO
"We wanted to be aggressive [early]. We knew [Tucker Juline] doesn't walk a lot of hitters. We knew he had a low ERA so we wanted to make him uncomfortable early. We went really aggressive in the zone and we had a hard ball put in play by Jake that led to an error. Then we laid a lot of a good bunts down that put the pressure on them.Â
I thought [Braun's] slider was effective. He got himself in trouble when he elevated the fastball to the first hitter that hit a home run. That second home run was a fastball away. Sometimes, that ends up happening. I thought he was able to recover well from it. In the past, he would kind of struggle with that where he would kind of nibble and pitch away from contact. I give a lot of credit to our defense. Look at all of the great defensive plays that we had behind him. That has to be encouraging for our entire pitching staff."
UP NEXT
CSUN continues its weekend series with UC Riverside on Sunday at 2 p.m. Ghizal Hasan has the call in an audio broadcast at GoMatadors.com/Radio.
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#GoMatadors
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A UCR error opened the door for a huge six-run Matador outburst in the bottom of the first as 11 batters came to the plate.
Simons reached to start the first on a throwing error at third base. From there, Shunsuke Sakaino put down a well-placed bunt single up the third base line and Graysen Tarlow was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Kevin Fitzer followed with an RBI single and Camarillo singled in two more runs for a three-run lead. CSUN added three more runs on two out hits from Ben Griffin, Andrew Sojka and Simons for a 6-0 lead. Â
Simons' big day at the plate continued in the third when he stroked an RBI double to plate CSUN's seventh run of the afternoon.
After Camarillo homered in the bottom of the sixth, the Matadors added three more runs in the bottom of the seventh. In that frame, Simons hammered a two-run home run to left field while Fitzer knocked in another run via a sacrifice fly.
On the mound, Braun kept the Highlanders off balanced throughout the afternoon. The right hander struck out four batters over two shutout innings to start before UCR picked up a solo homer from Marcellus Pearson in the third. However, Braun went on to retire eight of the next 10 batters. A Jayden Lopez two-out homer in the top of the fifth would be the only other blemish on the day as Braun blanked UCR once more in the sixth before exiting the game.
The Matadors took a 12-5 lead to the bottom of the eighth when CSUN sent 10 more batters to plate in the team's second six-run frame. After pinch hitter Emanuel Dean led off the inning with a single, Joey Kramer belted a two-run home run to left field. Another Sojka single and Simons double produced CSUN's 15th run while Kamau Neighbors brought in one more run moments later on an infield single. Camarillo would drive in his fourth run of the afternoon on a single and Dean capped off the scoring spree with a sacrifice fly.
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UCR pushed across four runs over the final three innings against CSUN's bullpen but it would not be enough to catch the Matadors.Â
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GAME NOTES
CSUN's 23 hits are the team's most in a game since Feb. 24, 2018, when the Matadors had 25 hits against Manhattan. A total of 11 Matadors had at least one hit while 11 scored runs and eight drove in at least one run.
Graysen Tarlow stretched his on-base streak to 20 games while Ali Camarillo extended his hit streak to nine games. Emanuel Dean made his first appearance on the field since March 10 as he finished 1-for-1 with an RBI and a run scored.
Matador pitching combined to strikeout 12 batters in the game. Lucas Braun has struck out 10 batters in three of his last five starts.
ACCORDING TO COACH EDDIE CORNEJO
"We wanted to be aggressive [early]. We knew [Tucker Juline] doesn't walk a lot of hitters. We knew he had a low ERA so we wanted to make him uncomfortable early. We went really aggressive in the zone and we had a hard ball put in play by Jake that led to an error. Then we laid a lot of a good bunts down that put the pressure on them.Â
I thought [Braun's] slider was effective. He got himself in trouble when he elevated the fastball to the first hitter that hit a home run. That second home run was a fastball away. Sometimes, that ends up happening. I thought he was able to recover well from it. In the past, he would kind of struggle with that where he would kind of nibble and pitch away from contact. I give a lot of credit to our defense. Look at all of the great defensive plays that we had behind him. That has to be encouraging for our entire pitching staff."
UP NEXT
CSUN continues its weekend series with UC Riverside on Sunday at 2 p.m. Ghizal Hasan has the call in an audio broadcast at GoMatadors.com/Radio.
Â
#GoMatadors
Â
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Braun, Lucas (2-3)
L: Tucker Juline (1-2)
Batting:
2B: Jacob Badawi 1 ; Dominic Martinez 1 ; Marcellus Pearson 1
HR: Jayden Lopez 1 ; Marcellus Pearson 1
RBI: Tyler Weaver 1 ; Jayden Lopez 1 ; Alfredo Capacete 1 ; Dominic Martinez 1 ; Mason Grace 1 ; Marcellus Pearson 1
SF: Mason Grace 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jayden Lopez 2 ; Alfredo Capacete 1 ; Jacob Badawi 1 ; Dominic Martinez 1 ; Marcellus Pearson 1
Batting:
2B: Simons, Jakob 2 ; Sakaino, Shunsuke 1 ; Griffin, Ben 1
HR: Simons, Jakob 1 ; Camarillo, Ali 1 ; Kramer, Joey 1
RBI: Simons, Jakob 5 ; Neighbors, Kamau 1 ; Fitzer, Kevin 2 ; Camarillo, Ali 4 ; Dean, Emanuel 1 ; Kramer, Joey 2 ; Griffin, Ben 1 ; Sojka, Andrew 1
SH: Barraza, Nathan 1
SF: Fitzer, Kevin 1 ; Dean, Emanuel 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Simons, Jakob 3 ; Leon, Brandon 1 ; Sakaino, Shunsuke 2 ; Neighbors, Kamau 1 ; Tarlow, Graysen 1 ; Camarillo, Ali 2 ; Dean, Emanuel 1 ; Le, Mason 2 ; Kramer, Joey 1 ; Griffin, Ben 3 ; Sojka, Andrew 1
SB: Simons, Jakob 1 ; Fitzer, Kevin 1 ; Barraza, Nathan 1 ; Dean, Emanuel 1
HBP: Tarlow, Graysen 1 ; Fitzer, Kevin 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
6
R
3
H
5
RBI
5
AB
6
R
2
H
4
RBI
4
AB
5
R
3
H
3
RBI
1
AB
5
R
1
H
3
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
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