Sunday, March 5
Northridge, Calif.
11:30 a.m.
California State University at Northridge
7-2
4
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Creighton
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Creighton
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CSUN
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Photo by: Dianne Wentz
Matadors Take Series from Creighton with 4-3 Win
3/5/2023 3:43:00 PM | Baseball
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---Ali Camarillo homered and drove in three runs to help CSUN (7-2) win the rubber match with Creighton, 4-3, on Sunday at Matador Field. Kenji Pallares improved to 2-0 on the season with seven quality innings of work and three runs allowed. Three Matador pitchers combined to toss the final two innings, allowing no runs.
CSUN manufactured the game's first run in the home half of the second inning. In the frame, Camarillo drew a one-out walk and Kevin Fitzer followed with a single to put runners at the corners. Mason Le stepped to the plate next and put down a sacrifice bunt to bring home Camarillo from third base.
Pallares faced the minmum through the first two innings, but the Bluejays evened the contest at 1-1 in the third on a two-out double from Nolan Sailors. The Matadors' right hander though bounced back with three consecutive shutout innings.
CSUN's defense erased a Creighton threat in the top of the fourth when Pallares induced a 5-4-3 double play with two runners on base. Pallres went on to retire six of seven batters over the fifth and sixth innings.
The Matadors would break a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the fourth inning. In the frame, Luc Stuka hit a single the other way with a shot through the left side of the infield. Two batters later, Camarillo smacked a 0-1 pitch over the left field wall to put the Matadors on top 3-1.
Camarillo provided more offense in the sixth inning to stretch the lead to three. Joey Kramer started the rally with a one-out double in the gap in left-center field. After a pitching change on the mound, Camarillo greeted Dominic Cancellieri unkindly with a single to right field to bring home Kramer.
Cruising into the seventh inning, Pallares would retire two of the first three batters in the frame. However, Jack Grace came off the bench to belt a two-run home run to left, trimming the Matador lead to 4-3. Pallares sat down the next batter on the very next pitch before giving way to the bullpen in the eighth.
Isaac Ontiveros took over on the mound in the eighth inning. The left hander hit the first batter of the frame but bounced back to retire the next two batters. After another move to the bullpen, Xavier Martinez forced Tyler Lozano to hit into an inning groundout to third, leaving the tying run in scoring position.
The ninth inning would be less eventful as Joshua Romero retired the side in order, picking up a pair of swinging strikeouts to secure the save.
GAME NOTES
Ali Camarillo's homer was his second of the season. Joey Kramer finished 1-for-4 with a run scored to extend his hit streak to nine-straight games. The quartet of Kramer, Jakob Simons, Shunsuke Sakaino and Graysen Tarlow have reached base in all nine games on the year.
Kenji Pallares' seven-inning outing was a career high for the right hander. Joshua Romero's save was his second this season.
CSUN's win over Creighton was the program's 999th all-time win at Matador Field.
ACCORDING TO COACH EDDIE CORNEJO
"Kenji Pallares pitched really well. We're down an arm on the weekend and to have him fill a role is huge for us. I think Creighton is an NCAA Regional team. They're a good baseball club. They're big and physical. They know how to play defense and they're well coached. I think it's a confidence boost for our guys that we could be a regional team if we do things right.Â
We won the freebee war today. The only thing I wish we could take back was that two-run home run. [Grace] is great player and he's playing on one leg. But I was really happy with our guys. We played catch. Our defense came up big. Graysen Tarlow did a good job behind the plate. It was his third day catching in a row, and that should always be said. It was a little different in games two and three versus the first game when we were trying to outslug them. We played good team baseball."
UP NEXT
CSUN will play its next seven games on the road starting with a weekend series with Pacific. The opener is set for Friday, March 10 at 5 p.m.
#UniteTheValley
Â
CSUN manufactured the game's first run in the home half of the second inning. In the frame, Camarillo drew a one-out walk and Kevin Fitzer followed with a single to put runners at the corners. Mason Le stepped to the plate next and put down a sacrifice bunt to bring home Camarillo from third base.
Pallares faced the minmum through the first two innings, but the Bluejays evened the contest at 1-1 in the third on a two-out double from Nolan Sailors. The Matadors' right hander though bounced back with three consecutive shutout innings.
CSUN's defense erased a Creighton threat in the top of the fourth when Pallares induced a 5-4-3 double play with two runners on base. Pallres went on to retire six of seven batters over the fifth and sixth innings.
The Matadors would break a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the fourth inning. In the frame, Luc Stuka hit a single the other way with a shot through the left side of the infield. Two batters later, Camarillo smacked a 0-1 pitch over the left field wall to put the Matadors on top 3-1.
Camarillo provided more offense in the sixth inning to stretch the lead to three. Joey Kramer started the rally with a one-out double in the gap in left-center field. After a pitching change on the mound, Camarillo greeted Dominic Cancellieri unkindly with a single to right field to bring home Kramer.
Cruising into the seventh inning, Pallares would retire two of the first three batters in the frame. However, Jack Grace came off the bench to belt a two-run home run to left, trimming the Matador lead to 4-3. Pallares sat down the next batter on the very next pitch before giving way to the bullpen in the eighth.
Isaac Ontiveros took over on the mound in the eighth inning. The left hander hit the first batter of the frame but bounced back to retire the next two batters. After another move to the bullpen, Xavier Martinez forced Tyler Lozano to hit into an inning groundout to third, leaving the tying run in scoring position.
The ninth inning would be less eventful as Joshua Romero retired the side in order, picking up a pair of swinging strikeouts to secure the save.
GAME NOTES
Ali Camarillo's homer was his second of the season. Joey Kramer finished 1-for-4 with a run scored to extend his hit streak to nine-straight games. The quartet of Kramer, Jakob Simons, Shunsuke Sakaino and Graysen Tarlow have reached base in all nine games on the year.
Kenji Pallares' seven-inning outing was a career high for the right hander. Joshua Romero's save was his second this season.
CSUN's win over Creighton was the program's 999th all-time win at Matador Field.
ACCORDING TO COACH EDDIE CORNEJO
"Kenji Pallares pitched really well. We're down an arm on the weekend and to have him fill a role is huge for us. I think Creighton is an NCAA Regional team. They're a good baseball club. They're big and physical. They know how to play defense and they're well coached. I think it's a confidence boost for our guys that we could be a regional team if we do things right.Â
We won the freebee war today. The only thing I wish we could take back was that two-run home run. [Grace] is great player and he's playing on one leg. But I was really happy with our guys. We played catch. Our defense came up big. Graysen Tarlow did a good job behind the plate. It was his third day catching in a row, and that should always be said. It was a little different in games two and three versus the first game when we were trying to outslug them. We played good team baseball."
UP NEXT
CSUN will play its next seven games on the road starting with a weekend series with Pacific. The opener is set for Friday, March 10 at 5 p.m.
#UniteTheValley
Â
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Pallares, Kenji (2-0)
L: Anthony Watts (0-1)
S: Romero, Joshua (2)
Batting:
2B: Nolan Sailors 1
HR: Jack Grace 1
RBI: Nolan Sailors 1 ; Jack Grace 2
SH: Andrew Meggs 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Ben North 1 ; Jack Grace 1 ; Ben Gbur 1
HBP: Nolan Sailors 1
Batting:
2B: Kramer, Joey 1
HR: Camarillo, Ali 1
RBI: Camarillo, Ali 3 ; Le, Mason 1
SH: Le, Mason 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Stuka, Luc 1 ; Kramer, Joey 1 ; Camarillo, Ali 2
SB: Simons, Jakob 1
HBP: Fitzer, Kevin 2
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
3
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Baseball
INF/OF
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP/C
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
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