Friday, April 14
Long Beach, Calif.
6:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
20-8, 7-3
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Long Beach State
21-11, 8-5
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CSUN
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Long Beach State
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Photo by: Dianne Wentz
CSUN Offense Explodes in Series-Opening Win at Long Beach State
4/14/2023 9:06:00 PM | Baseball
LONG BEACH, Calif.---CSUN Baseball (20-8, 7-3 Big West) scored 11 times over a three-inning stretch en route to a series-opening 12-6 win at Long Beach State (21-11, 8-5 Big West) on Friday evening at Bohl Diamond at Blair Field.
The Matadors racked up 18 hits on the night with seven different players producing multiple-hit efforts. Jakob Simons belted a grand slam while Shunsuke Sakaino and Graysen Tarlow had three-hit games and Andrew Sojka finished 4-for-5. Lucas Braun picked up the win by tossing seven innings and allowing two runs to go with five strikeouts.
Through the first two innings, the Dirtbags looked to be in control. Long Beach State struck first on an RBI double from Rocco Peppi before taking a 2-0 lead when Jack Hammond drove in Peppi on a groundball.
It appeared The Dirtbags went ahead 3-0 in the bottom of the second inning when Ty Borgogno hit a solo home run to left field. However, Borgogno was called out on the play when he missed stepping on second base.
Trailing by a 2-0 margin in the third, the Matadors would respond with a three-run frame to take the lead. After a leadoff single from Sojka, Sakaino drove in the Matadors' first run on an RBI double. CSUN eventually loaded the bases with two outs on walks to Simons and Kevin Fitzer before Ali Camarillo put the Matadors on top with a two-run single.
CSUN though was far from done scoring. In the fourth, Ben Griffin and Sojka set the table with back-to-back singles. A sacrifice bunt moved both runners into scoring position then Sakaino delivered again with an RBI single. Tarlow and Fitzer later extended the lead to 6-2 on RBI base hits.
An inning later, the Matadors broke the game open with a five-run outburst. Griffin and Sojka again opened the frame with hits before Nathan Barraza drove in CSUN's seventh run on a sacrifice bunt. CSUN loaded the bases on a hit by pitch and a walk leading to Simons belting a two-out grand slam for an 11-2 lead.
On the mound, Braun found his rhythm beginning in the third inning as the right hander retired the side in order on six pitches. Braun would go on to sit down 13 of 14 batters after Borgogno's home run was called back. Long Beach State picked up a one-out single in the top of the seventh, but Braun rebounded to strike out the next two batters to end the frame.
The Matadors took a 12-2 lead to the bottom of the ninth before the Dirtbags rallied for four runs on two-run hits from Joey Walls and Borgogno. Matador reliever Kenji Pallares finally put an end to the uprising by retiring Jonathon Long on a flyout to conclude the game.
GAME NOTES
The first five Matador hitters finished 12-for-24 at the plate with 10 RBI in the contest. Jakob Simons' homer was his Big West-leading 10th of the season. In addition to Simons, Andrew Sojka, Shunsuke Sakaino and Graysen Tarlow, the trio of Kevin Fitzer, Ali Camarillo and Ben Griffin had two-hit games.
Lucas Braun improved to 3-4 on the season after his seven-plus inning quality start. Braun did not walk a batter on the night.
ACCORDING TO COACH EDDIE CORNEJO
"Offensively, we put some good at bats together. We were able to execute enough bunts to move runners and deliver in bunches. Defensively, we came out scuffling but regained our composure as the game went on.
Lucas was consistent enough through seven-plus innings but having the home run get called out was a big momentum shift for us in the game."
UP NEXT
The Matadors continue their weekend series with Long Beach State on Saturday evening at 6 p.m.
#GoMatadors
Â
The Matadors racked up 18 hits on the night with seven different players producing multiple-hit efforts. Jakob Simons belted a grand slam while Shunsuke Sakaino and Graysen Tarlow had three-hit games and Andrew Sojka finished 4-for-5. Lucas Braun picked up the win by tossing seven innings and allowing two runs to go with five strikeouts.
Through the first two innings, the Dirtbags looked to be in control. Long Beach State struck first on an RBI double from Rocco Peppi before taking a 2-0 lead when Jack Hammond drove in Peppi on a groundball.
It appeared The Dirtbags went ahead 3-0 in the bottom of the second inning when Ty Borgogno hit a solo home run to left field. However, Borgogno was called out on the play when he missed stepping on second base.
Trailing by a 2-0 margin in the third, the Matadors would respond with a three-run frame to take the lead. After a leadoff single from Sojka, Sakaino drove in the Matadors' first run on an RBI double. CSUN eventually loaded the bases with two outs on walks to Simons and Kevin Fitzer before Ali Camarillo put the Matadors on top with a two-run single.
CSUN though was far from done scoring. In the fourth, Ben Griffin and Sojka set the table with back-to-back singles. A sacrifice bunt moved both runners into scoring position then Sakaino delivered again with an RBI single. Tarlow and Fitzer later extended the lead to 6-2 on RBI base hits.
An inning later, the Matadors broke the game open with a five-run outburst. Griffin and Sojka again opened the frame with hits before Nathan Barraza drove in CSUN's seventh run on a sacrifice bunt. CSUN loaded the bases on a hit by pitch and a walk leading to Simons belting a two-out grand slam for an 11-2 lead.
On the mound, Braun found his rhythm beginning in the third inning as the right hander retired the side in order on six pitches. Braun would go on to sit down 13 of 14 batters after Borgogno's home run was called back. Long Beach State picked up a one-out single in the top of the seventh, but Braun rebounded to strike out the next two batters to end the frame.
The Matadors took a 12-2 lead to the bottom of the ninth before the Dirtbags rallied for four runs on two-run hits from Joey Walls and Borgogno. Matador reliever Kenji Pallares finally put an end to the uprising by retiring Jonathon Long on a flyout to conclude the game.
GAME NOTES
The first five Matador hitters finished 12-for-24 at the plate with 10 RBI in the contest. Jakob Simons' homer was his Big West-leading 10th of the season. In addition to Simons, Andrew Sojka, Shunsuke Sakaino and Graysen Tarlow, the trio of Kevin Fitzer, Ali Camarillo and Ben Griffin had two-hit games.
Lucas Braun improved to 3-4 on the season after his seven-plus inning quality start. Braun did not walk a batter on the night.
ACCORDING TO COACH EDDIE CORNEJO
"Offensively, we put some good at bats together. We were able to execute enough bunts to move runners and deliver in bunches. Defensively, we came out scuffling but regained our composure as the game went on.
Lucas was consistent enough through seven-plus innings but having the home run get called out was a big momentum shift for us in the game."
UP NEXT
The Matadors continue their weekend series with Long Beach State on Saturday evening at 6 p.m.
#GoMatadors
Â
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Braun, Lucas (3-4)
L: Osman, Graham (5-1)
Batting:
2B: Sakaino, Shunsuke 2 ; Camarillo, Ali 1
HR: Simons, Jakob 1
RBI: Sakaino, Shunsuke 2 ; Tarlow, Graysen 1 ; Simons, Jakob 4 ; Leon, Brandon 1 ; Fitzer, Kevin 1 ; Camarillo, Ali 2 ; Barraza, Nathan 1
SH: Barraza, Nathan 3
SF: Leon, Brandon 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Sakaino, Shunsuke 4 ; Tarlow, Graysen 1 ; Simons, Jakob 2 ; Griffin, Ben 2 ; Sojka, Andrew 3
SB: Leon, Brandon 1
HBP: Sakaino, Shunsuke 1
Batting:
2B: Peppi, Rocco 1 ; Walls, Joey 1
RBI: Peppi, Rocco 1 ; Hammond, Jack 1 ; Walls, Joey 2 ; Borgogno, Ty 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Saldivar, Eddie 1 ; Peppi, Rocco 1 ; Marinconz, Nick 1 ; White, Tyler 1 ; Champagne, Alex 1 ; Walls, Joey 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
3
H
4
RBI
0
AB
5
R
4
H
3
RBI
2
AB
5
R
1
H
3
RBI
1
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
4
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