Friday, May 12
Northridge, Calif.
3:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
28-15, 14-8
15
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10
UC Irvine
31-15, 12-10
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UC Irvine
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CSUN
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21
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Photo by: Dianne Wentz
Matadors Win Slugfest with UC Irvine, 15-10
5/12/2023 6:32:00 PM | Baseball
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball (28-15, 14-8 Big West) racked up 21 hits in a 15-10 series-opening victory over UC Irvine (31-15, 12-10 Big West) on Friday afternoon at Matador Field. Kevin Fitzer homered twice and drove in three runs while Camron Mercurio went 4-for-5 with two RBI and two doubles. CSUN scored three or more runs in three innings and tallied at least one run in six frames en route to taking the series opener.
The first inning would be the only inning where no team would score on the Friday as UCI opened up the scoring in the top of the second. Luke Spillane collected an RBI single to put the Anteaters on top 1-0 while another run later scored on a wild pitch from Lucas Braun for a two-run Anteater lead.
The Matadors though answered quickly in the home half of the second. After the first two batters reached to start the inning, Mason Le legged out a bunt single. A throwing error on the Le single allowed CSUN to score the first of five times in the inning. Moments later, Nathan Barraza singled in the Matadors' second run followed by two-straight bunt attempts, one of which from Mercurio who brought home Le from third base. The Matadors took a 4-2 lead on a Brandon Leon groundout then Graysen Tarlow capped a five-run inning with an RBI single.
CSUN's 5-2 lead was trimmed to one in the third inning when Anthony Martinez belted a two-run homer. However, the Matadors went back on the attack in the bottom of the third. Following singles from Camarillo and Jakob Simons, Le walked to load the bases with nobody out. Barraza would drive in a run on a fielder's choice then Mercurio delivered a double to plate another run. Sakaino would extend the lead to 8-4 on a sacrifice fly.
Braun bounced back after a rough second and third inning to blank the Anteaters over the next two frames. Fitzer helped pick up Braun in the fifth when Chase Call collected a single with a runner in scoring position. Dub Gleed attempted to score from second base on the play but Fitzer threw him out at home plate.
The Matadors kept on tacking on runs, eventually extending their lead to as big as 13-4. In the fourth, Camarillo hit a single through an infield playing in to score Tarlow with two outs. CSUN's offense broke out in the fifth with a four-run frame, highlighted by a two-run home run from Fitzer. Le stroked an RBI single in the fifth while Tarlow hit a sacrifice fly.
Trailing by nine in the sixth, the Anteaters began to fight their way back into the game. UCI loaded the bases with one out for Caden Kendle who delivered an RBI single. After a sacrifice fly, Gleed belted a three-run homer to trim the deficit to 13-9.
Fitzer gave the Matadors a bit more breathing room with a solo homer in the seventh inning. UCI would get that run back in the top of the eighth on a Gleed RBI single but the Matadors scored again in the home half on a Sakaino single.
Kenji Pallares gave the Matadors a lift out of the bullpen with 1.1 shutout innings of work including a flashy stop on a comebacker off the bat of Auggie Gutierrez in the seventh. After Xavier Martinez worked the eighth, Joshua Romero would shut the door in the ninth with a 1-2-3 frame.
GAME NOTES
A total of seven Matadors posted multiple-hit performances while all nine had at least one hit on the day. In addition to Camron Mercurio's four-hit day, the trio of Graysen Tarlow, Ali Camarillo and Jakob Simons had three-hit games while the group of Kevin Fitzer, Mason Le and Nathan Barraza had two-hit efforts.
Kevin Fitzer has now homered in three consecutive games. Jakob Simons notched his team-best 18th multiple-hit game of the year while Fitzer recorded his 13th multiple-RBI game. Camarillo extended his on-base streak to 13 games.
ACCORDING TO COACH EDDIE CORNEJO
"It was a combination of everything today. We had to come up big on the pitching side. There were some innings where Braun was good but the biggest thing for him was being able to minimize early on. Having the outfield assists reduced the momentum and we had a couple good defensive plays with runners on. Offensively, we were able to inside game and put pressure on them. We ended up hitting some balls out and causing havoc offensively.
If I was Irvine, I would be walking away somewhat content with my effort. We overcame some things. From our standpoint, I think they've usually staffed it on Friday so Saturday and Sunday will be more of a difficult challenge. It got a little scary in the middle innings because I'm trying to save our betters arms with a lead and we weren't able to do that. I think that may be lesson we will have to learn later on this weekend."
UP NEXT
CSUN continues its weekend series with UC Irvine on Saturday at 2 p.m. Ghizal Hasan has the call in an audio broadcast at GoMatadors.com/Radio beginning at 1:50 p.m.
#GoMatadors
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The first inning would be the only inning where no team would score on the Friday as UCI opened up the scoring in the top of the second. Luke Spillane collected an RBI single to put the Anteaters on top 1-0 while another run later scored on a wild pitch from Lucas Braun for a two-run Anteater lead.
The Matadors though answered quickly in the home half of the second. After the first two batters reached to start the inning, Mason Le legged out a bunt single. A throwing error on the Le single allowed CSUN to score the first of five times in the inning. Moments later, Nathan Barraza singled in the Matadors' second run followed by two-straight bunt attempts, one of which from Mercurio who brought home Le from third base. The Matadors took a 4-2 lead on a Brandon Leon groundout then Graysen Tarlow capped a five-run inning with an RBI single.
CSUN's 5-2 lead was trimmed to one in the third inning when Anthony Martinez belted a two-run homer. However, the Matadors went back on the attack in the bottom of the third. Following singles from Camarillo and Jakob Simons, Le walked to load the bases with nobody out. Barraza would drive in a run on a fielder's choice then Mercurio delivered a double to plate another run. Sakaino would extend the lead to 8-4 on a sacrifice fly.
Braun bounced back after a rough second and third inning to blank the Anteaters over the next two frames. Fitzer helped pick up Braun in the fifth when Chase Call collected a single with a runner in scoring position. Dub Gleed attempted to score from second base on the play but Fitzer threw him out at home plate.
The Matadors kept on tacking on runs, eventually extending their lead to as big as 13-4. In the fourth, Camarillo hit a single through an infield playing in to score Tarlow with two outs. CSUN's offense broke out in the fifth with a four-run frame, highlighted by a two-run home run from Fitzer. Le stroked an RBI single in the fifth while Tarlow hit a sacrifice fly.
Trailing by nine in the sixth, the Anteaters began to fight their way back into the game. UCI loaded the bases with one out for Caden Kendle who delivered an RBI single. After a sacrifice fly, Gleed belted a three-run homer to trim the deficit to 13-9.
Fitzer gave the Matadors a bit more breathing room with a solo homer in the seventh inning. UCI would get that run back in the top of the eighth on a Gleed RBI single but the Matadors scored again in the home half on a Sakaino single.
Kenji Pallares gave the Matadors a lift out of the bullpen with 1.1 shutout innings of work including a flashy stop on a comebacker off the bat of Auggie Gutierrez in the seventh. After Xavier Martinez worked the eighth, Joshua Romero would shut the door in the ninth with a 1-2-3 frame.
GAME NOTES
A total of seven Matadors posted multiple-hit performances while all nine had at least one hit on the day. In addition to Camron Mercurio's four-hit day, the trio of Graysen Tarlow, Ali Camarillo and Jakob Simons had three-hit games while the group of Kevin Fitzer, Mason Le and Nathan Barraza had two-hit efforts.
Kevin Fitzer has now homered in three consecutive games. Jakob Simons notched his team-best 18th multiple-hit game of the year while Fitzer recorded his 13th multiple-RBI game. Camarillo extended his on-base streak to 13 games.
ACCORDING TO COACH EDDIE CORNEJO
"It was a combination of everything today. We had to come up big on the pitching side. There were some innings where Braun was good but the biggest thing for him was being able to minimize early on. Having the outfield assists reduced the momentum and we had a couple good defensive plays with runners on. Offensively, we were able to inside game and put pressure on them. We ended up hitting some balls out and causing havoc offensively.
If I was Irvine, I would be walking away somewhat content with my effort. We overcame some things. From our standpoint, I think they've usually staffed it on Friday so Saturday and Sunday will be more of a difficult challenge. It got a little scary in the middle innings because I'm trying to save our betters arms with a lead and we weren't able to do that. I think that may be lesson we will have to learn later on this weekend."
UP NEXT
CSUN continues its weekend series with UC Irvine on Saturday at 2 p.m. Ghizal Hasan has the call in an audio broadcast at GoMatadors.com/Radio beginning at 1:50 p.m.
#GoMatadors
Â
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Braun, Lucas (5-4)
L: Wall, Finnegan (2-2)
Batting:
2B: Gleed, Dub. 1
HR: Martinez, Anthony 1 ; Gleed, Dub. 1
RBI: Kendle, Caden 1 ; Martinez, Anthony 3 ; Gleed, Dub. 4 ; Spillane, Luke 1
SF: Martinez, Anthony 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Oyama, Jo 1 ; Kendle, Caden 3 ; Martinez, Anthony 1 ; Gleed, Dub. 2 ; Spillane, Luke 2 ; Gutierrez, Auggie 1
HBP: Kendle, Caden 1 ; Call, Chase 1 ; Spillane, Luke 1 ; Gutierrez, Auggie 1 ; Bermudez, Will 1
Batting:
2B: Camarillo, Ali 1 ; Mercurio, Camron 2
HR: Fitzer, Kevin 2
RBI: Sakaino, Shunsuke 2 ; Leon, Brandon 2 ; Tarlow, Graysen 2 ; Fitzer, Kevin 3 ; Camarillo, Ali 1 ; Barraza, Nathan 2 ; Mercurio, Camron 2
SH: Sakaino, Shunsuke 2
SF: Sakaino, Shunsuke 1 ; Tarlow, Graysen 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Leon, Brandon 1 ; Tarlow, Graysen 1 ; Fitzer, Kevin 2 ; Camarillo, Ali 2 ; Simons, Jakob 1 ; Le, Mason 2 ; Barraza, Nathan 3 ; Mercurio, Camron 3
SB: Tarlow, Graysen 1
CS: Sakaino, Shunsuke 1
HBP: Camarillo, Ali 1 ; Simons, Jakob 1
Game Leaders
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3
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Players Mentioned
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