Saturday, March 4
Northridge, Calif.
2:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
6-2
12
vs
8
Creighton
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8
9
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Creighton
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3
CSUN
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X
12
11
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Photo by: Dianne Wentz
Matadors Battle Back to Even Series with Creighton
3/4/2023 6:01:00 PM | Baseball
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball (6-2) scored nine runs over its last three at-bats en route to a 12-8 victory over Creighton on Saturday afternoon at Matador Field. Shunsuke Sakaino had two hits and two RBI including a game-tying hit in the sixth while Ali Camarillo scored twice and drove in two runs. Jon Mocherman was credited with his first career win with the Matadors after working 1.2 shutout innings out of the bullpen.
CSUN would strike first in the opening inning on Saturday when Andrew Sojka walked and eventually scored on a pair of Creighton errors. The Matadors added to their lead later in the first inning on a two-out RBI single from Camarillo.
The lead though was short lived as the Bluejays answered with a four-spot in the top of the second. Nolan Clifford put Creighton on the scoreboard with a one-out homer off Thomas Bainton. Creighton would load the bases with two outs before tying the game on a wild pitch and taking the lead on a two-run single from Andrew Meggs.
Trailing 4-2, the Matadors would cut the lead in half in the bottom half of the second. Kevin Fitzer and Sakaino started the inning with hits before Jakob Simons put down a sacrifice bunt and Sojka hit an RBI groundout to cut the lead to one.
Creighton threatened in the fifth to add to its lead but Mocherman, who came on in relief Bainton, worked his way out of a bases loaded jam.
With the deficit still at 4-3, CSUN's offense came alive beginning in the sixth. A Camarillo walk and Joey Kramer hit by pitch started the frame then Sakaino brought in the tying run with an RBI single. Simons would break the tie with a squeeze bunt that plated Kramer.
In the seventh, Graysen Tarlow kick started another two-run frame with a leadoff double. Emanuel Dean would bring home Tarlow on an RBI single. Kramer capped the inning with a two-out RBI single of his own to extend the lead to 7-4.
The Bluejays answered with two runs in the eighth inning, capitalizing on a leadoff walk and hit-by-pitch to start the frame. Nolan Sailors cut the lead to 7-6 on a two-out RBI hit for Creighton.
The Matadors though put the game away in the bottom of the eighth. Simons belted a one-out solo homer and Tarlow had an RBI double early in the inning to push the lead to three. CSUN's next four hitters would all reach on walks, producing two runs, then Sakaino reached on a hit-by-pitch to close a five-run frame that stretched the lead to 12-6.
Creighton came away with two runs in the ninth, highlighted by an RBI double from Canales. CSUN reliever Joshua Romero would shut the door on any more runs coming across by striking out Ben Gbur for the final out.
GAME NOTES
Along with Shunsuke Sakaino, Graysen Tarlow and Luc Stuka had two hit games. Tarlow reached base three times and scored three runs in the game. Joey Kramer went 1-for-3 in the game with an RBI to extend his hit streak to eight games.
CSUN's bullpen surrendered its first earned runs of the season on Saturday. Matador relievers had tossed 27.1 innings without an earned run scoring until Creighton plated a pair of runs in the eighth.
ACCORDING TO COACH EDDIE CORNEJO
"We've shown we can bounce back even with the other team puts up a crooked number. What I didn't like was that we were still falling into that trap of trying to do too much or trying to be special when all we had to do was be ourselves. That was the message after the game.
This team has been bizarre where they'll show you some ugly baseball and then they flip it around the next inning. Even though we won the game, I told them in left field I didn't like this game. It's not up to our standard and we're not playing fundamental baseball like we want to play. We want to continue to strive and get better. Now, is it better to learn when you win a game, sure, but for me, and for where we're trying to take this program, we didn't meet our standard."
UP NEXT
CSUN and Creighton play the rubber match of their series on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. on ESPN+. Ghizal Hasan has the call on ESPN+ and GoMatadors.com/Radio.
#UniteTheValley
CSUN would strike first in the opening inning on Saturday when Andrew Sojka walked and eventually scored on a pair of Creighton errors. The Matadors added to their lead later in the first inning on a two-out RBI single from Camarillo.
The lead though was short lived as the Bluejays answered with a four-spot in the top of the second. Nolan Clifford put Creighton on the scoreboard with a one-out homer off Thomas Bainton. Creighton would load the bases with two outs before tying the game on a wild pitch and taking the lead on a two-run single from Andrew Meggs.
Trailing 4-2, the Matadors would cut the lead in half in the bottom half of the second. Kevin Fitzer and Sakaino started the inning with hits before Jakob Simons put down a sacrifice bunt and Sojka hit an RBI groundout to cut the lead to one.
Creighton threatened in the fifth to add to its lead but Mocherman, who came on in relief Bainton, worked his way out of a bases loaded jam.
With the deficit still at 4-3, CSUN's offense came alive beginning in the sixth. A Camarillo walk and Joey Kramer hit by pitch started the frame then Sakaino brought in the tying run with an RBI single. Simons would break the tie with a squeeze bunt that plated Kramer.
In the seventh, Graysen Tarlow kick started another two-run frame with a leadoff double. Emanuel Dean would bring home Tarlow on an RBI single. Kramer capped the inning with a two-out RBI single of his own to extend the lead to 7-4.
The Bluejays answered with two runs in the eighth inning, capitalizing on a leadoff walk and hit-by-pitch to start the frame. Nolan Sailors cut the lead to 7-6 on a two-out RBI hit for Creighton.
The Matadors though put the game away in the bottom of the eighth. Simons belted a one-out solo homer and Tarlow had an RBI double early in the inning to push the lead to three. CSUN's next four hitters would all reach on walks, producing two runs, then Sakaino reached on a hit-by-pitch to close a five-run frame that stretched the lead to 12-6.
Creighton came away with two runs in the ninth, highlighted by an RBI double from Canales. CSUN reliever Joshua Romero would shut the door on any more runs coming across by striking out Ben Gbur for the final out.
GAME NOTES
Along with Shunsuke Sakaino, Graysen Tarlow and Luc Stuka had two hit games. Tarlow reached base three times and scored three runs in the game. Joey Kramer went 1-for-3 in the game with an RBI to extend his hit streak to eight games.
CSUN's bullpen surrendered its first earned runs of the season on Saturday. Matador relievers had tossed 27.1 innings without an earned run scoring until Creighton plated a pair of runs in the eighth.
ACCORDING TO COACH EDDIE CORNEJO
"We've shown we can bounce back even with the other team puts up a crooked number. What I didn't like was that we were still falling into that trap of trying to do too much or trying to be special when all we had to do was be ourselves. That was the message after the game.
This team has been bizarre where they'll show you some ugly baseball and then they flip it around the next inning. Even though we won the game, I told them in left field I didn't like this game. It's not up to our standard and we're not playing fundamental baseball like we want to play. We want to continue to strive and get better. Now, is it better to learn when you win a game, sure, but for me, and for where we're trying to take this program, we didn't meet our standard."
UP NEXT
CSUN and Creighton play the rubber match of their series on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. on ESPN+. Ghizal Hasan has the call on ESPN+ and GoMatadors.com/Radio.
#UniteTheValley
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Mocherman, Jon (1-0)
L: Cade Lommel (0-2)
Batting:
2B: Nolan Sailors 1 ; Colby Canales 1
HR: Nolan Clifford 1
RBI: Andrew Meggs 3 ; Nolan Sailors 1 ; Nolan Clifford 1 ; Colby Canales 1 ; Ben North 1
SH: Sterling Hayes 1 ; Ben Gbur 1 ; Tate Gillen 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Nolan Clifford 2 ; Jack Grace 1 ; Colby Canales 1 ; Ben North 2 ; Ben Gbur 2
CS: Nolan Sailors 1 ; Nolan Clifford 1
HBP: Nolan Sailors 1 ; Jack Grace 1 ; Ben Gbur 1
Batting:
2B: Tarlow, Graysen 2
HR: Simons, Jakob 1
RBI: Simons, Jakob 2 ; Sojka, Andrew 1 ; Tarlow, Graysen 1 ; Dean, Emanuel 1 ; Camarillo, Ali 2 ; Kramer, Joey 1 ; Le, Mason 1 ; Sakaino, Shunsuke 2
SH: Simons, Jakob 2 ; Fitzer, Kevin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Simons, Jakob 1 ; Sojka, Andrew 2 ; Tarlow, Graysen 3 ; Stuka, Luc 1 ; Dean, Emanuel 1 ; Camarillo, Ali 2 ; Kramer, Joey 1 ; Fitzer, Kevin 1
SB: Sojka, Andrew 1 ; Tarlow, Graysen 1 ; Stuka, Luc 1 ; Dean, Emanuel 1
HBP: Kramer, Joey 1 ; Sakaino, Shunsuke 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
3
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
2
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
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