Sunday, May 14
Northridge, Calif.
1:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
29-16, 15-9
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UC Irvine
32-16, 13-11
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CSUN
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Photo by: Dianne Wentz
CSUN Clinches Series Over UC Irvine with 9-7 Win
5/14/2023 4:22:00 PM | Baseball
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball (29-16, 15-9 Big West) clinched its sixth series win of the league season with a 9-7 victory over UC Irvine on Mother's Day Sunday afternoon at Matador Field. Mason Le and Andrew Sojka collected three hits and two RBI while three other Matadors had two-hit efforts. The trio of Kenji Pallares, Xavier Martinez and Joshua Romero combined to toss three shutout innings out of the bullpen.
In a back-and-fourth rubber game on Sunday, UCI would strike first in the opening frame when Dub Gleed hit a sacrifice fly for a 1-0 lead. A double play prevented the Matadors from breaking through in the home half of the first, but CSUN responded with a two-spot in the second inning. The Matadors evened the game on a Le RBI single, plating Jakob Simons who singled earlier in the frame. Le eventually scored after he stole second, advanced to third on a throwing error and touched home plate on a Camron Mercurio groundout.
Jon Mocherman allowed two of the first three Anteaters to reach in the third inning but limited the damage by retiring the next two batters. However, UCI squared the game up on an Anthony Martinez sacrifice fly. An inning later, the Anteaters leaned on the long ball as Chase Call hit a towering two-run homer to left field for a 4-2 UCI lead.
CSUN though quickly answered back in the home half of the fourth. After back-to-back singles from Nathan Barraza and Le, Mercurio sacrificed both runners up on a bunt. Shunsuke Sakaino would punch through a single on the right side to trim the deficit to one. CSUN then executed a double steal as Sakaino got into a run down in-between first and second base, allowing Le to race home with the tying run. Sojka capped off a three-run frame with an RBI single.
In the fifth, the Anteaters tied up the game once more, scoring a run on zero hits. Hayden Cody would hit Martinez with a pitch before throwing a wild pitch moments later. A throwing error on a failed pickoff attempt allowed Martinez to reach third base then Thomas McCaffrey hit a sacrifice fly to square the game at 5-5.
The seesaw battle continued in the home half of the fifth when the Matadors took advantage of two UCI errors to reclaim the lead. After Kevin Fitzer reached on an error, Ali Camarillo singled and Simons doubled to produce a run. Two batters later, Le hit a dribbler up the third-base line that was fielded by Auggie Gutierrez. Camarillo was able to beat a throw home, pushing the lead to 7-5.
CSUN would get two more runs in fifth after another UCI miscue with two outs. Sakaino would strike out but reach first base when McCaffrey bobbled a tag then made a high throw to first base, allowing Simons to score. Sojka closed the scoring spree with an RBI single to stretch the lead to 9-5.
UCI threatened to get those runs right back in the sixth. The first three batters reached to start, prompting a change on the mound. Pallares entered the fray and forced Jo Oyama to bounce into a fielder's choice. After a walk, Martinez came in out of the CSUN bullpen and induced another fielder's choice that trimmed the lead to 9-7. Marintez would walk Gleed but get McCaffrey to bounce into another fielder's choice to end the inning.
Following four-straight innings where UCI scored, Martinez cooled off the hot Anteater bats over the seventh and eighth innings. Martinez would retire six of seven batters over those innings, bridging the gap to closer Joshua Romero. In the ninth, Romero sat down UCI in order, ending the game with a strikeout of Myles Smith to secure the win.
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GAME NOTES
Joshua Romero notched his 10th save of the season, which ties him with Conner O'Neil for the second-most saves in a season in team history. O'Neil has the school record for most saves as well with 12 recorded in 2015.
CSUN posted its first series win over UC Irvine at Matador Field since 2012.
Jacob Simons recorded his 19th multiple-hit game of the season while Ali Camarillo extended his on-base streak to 15 games.
ACCORDING TO COACH EDDIE CORNEJO
"Today, I was going to continue to put the pressure on and see if we could repeat a little bit of what happened on Friday. When we put the pressure, they gave us some free 90's. I still want to build and get better. We were really sloppy in a lot of ways and I felt like sometimes we wanted to lose but we have enough guys that were able to contain. I think that's a good step forward when things are going wrong, we can still find a way. That's what good teams do. It's important to remember that this isn't a rebuilding year, it's a step forward type of year."
UP NEXT
CSUN opens its final home series of the season next Friday, May 19 against Hawai'i at 3 p.m. Ghizal Hasan has the call on ESPN+ and GoMatadors.com/Radio.
Â
#GoMatadors
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In a back-and-fourth rubber game on Sunday, UCI would strike first in the opening frame when Dub Gleed hit a sacrifice fly for a 1-0 lead. A double play prevented the Matadors from breaking through in the home half of the first, but CSUN responded with a two-spot in the second inning. The Matadors evened the game on a Le RBI single, plating Jakob Simons who singled earlier in the frame. Le eventually scored after he stole second, advanced to third on a throwing error and touched home plate on a Camron Mercurio groundout.
Jon Mocherman allowed two of the first three Anteaters to reach in the third inning but limited the damage by retiring the next two batters. However, UCI squared the game up on an Anthony Martinez sacrifice fly. An inning later, the Anteaters leaned on the long ball as Chase Call hit a towering two-run homer to left field for a 4-2 UCI lead.
CSUN though quickly answered back in the home half of the fourth. After back-to-back singles from Nathan Barraza and Le, Mercurio sacrificed both runners up on a bunt. Shunsuke Sakaino would punch through a single on the right side to trim the deficit to one. CSUN then executed a double steal as Sakaino got into a run down in-between first and second base, allowing Le to race home with the tying run. Sojka capped off a three-run frame with an RBI single.
In the fifth, the Anteaters tied up the game once more, scoring a run on zero hits. Hayden Cody would hit Martinez with a pitch before throwing a wild pitch moments later. A throwing error on a failed pickoff attempt allowed Martinez to reach third base then Thomas McCaffrey hit a sacrifice fly to square the game at 5-5.
The seesaw battle continued in the home half of the fifth when the Matadors took advantage of two UCI errors to reclaim the lead. After Kevin Fitzer reached on an error, Ali Camarillo singled and Simons doubled to produce a run. Two batters later, Le hit a dribbler up the third-base line that was fielded by Auggie Gutierrez. Camarillo was able to beat a throw home, pushing the lead to 7-5.
CSUN would get two more runs in fifth after another UCI miscue with two outs. Sakaino would strike out but reach first base when McCaffrey bobbled a tag then made a high throw to first base, allowing Simons to score. Sojka closed the scoring spree with an RBI single to stretch the lead to 9-5.
UCI threatened to get those runs right back in the sixth. The first three batters reached to start, prompting a change on the mound. Pallares entered the fray and forced Jo Oyama to bounce into a fielder's choice. After a walk, Martinez came in out of the CSUN bullpen and induced another fielder's choice that trimmed the lead to 9-7. Marintez would walk Gleed but get McCaffrey to bounce into another fielder's choice to end the inning.
Following four-straight innings where UCI scored, Martinez cooled off the hot Anteater bats over the seventh and eighth innings. Martinez would retire six of seven batters over those innings, bridging the gap to closer Joshua Romero. In the ninth, Romero sat down UCI in order, ending the game with a strikeout of Myles Smith to secure the win.
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GAME NOTES
Joshua Romero notched his 10th save of the season, which ties him with Conner O'Neil for the second-most saves in a season in team history. O'Neil has the school record for most saves as well with 12 recorded in 2015.
CSUN posted its first series win over UC Irvine at Matador Field since 2012.
Jacob Simons recorded his 19th multiple-hit game of the season while Ali Camarillo extended his on-base streak to 15 games.
ACCORDING TO COACH EDDIE CORNEJO
"Today, I was going to continue to put the pressure on and see if we could repeat a little bit of what happened on Friday. When we put the pressure, they gave us some free 90's. I still want to build and get better. We were really sloppy in a lot of ways and I felt like sometimes we wanted to lose but we have enough guys that were able to contain. I think that's a good step forward when things are going wrong, we can still find a way. That's what good teams do. It's important to remember that this isn't a rebuilding year, it's a step forward type of year."
UP NEXT
CSUN opens its final home series of the season next Friday, May 19 against Hawai'i at 3 p.m. Ghizal Hasan has the call on ESPN+ and GoMatadors.com/Radio.
Â
#GoMatadors
Â
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Cody, Hayden (4-0)
L: Brooks, Tanner (2-3)
S: Romero, Joshua (10)
Batting:
2B: Martinez, Anthony 1
HR: Call, Chase 1
RBI: Oyama, Jo 1 ; Martinez, Anthony 2 ; Gleed, Dub. 1 ; McCaffrey, Thomas 1 ; Call, Chase 2
SH: Oyama, Jo 1
SF: Martinez, Anthony 1 ; Gleed, Dub. 1 ; McCaffrey, Thomas 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kendle, Caden 1 ; Martinez, Anthony 1 ; Smith, Myles 1 ; Call, Chase 2 ; Spillane, Luke 1 ; Gutierrez, Auggie 1
HBP: Martinez, Anthony 1 ; Smith, Myles 1
Batting:
2B: Simons, Jakob 1
RBI: Sakaino, Shunsuke 1 ; Sojka, Andrew 2 ; Simons, Jakob 1 ; Le, Mason 2 ; Mercurio, Camron 1
SH: Barraza, Nathan 1 ; Mercurio, Camron 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Sakaino, Shunsuke 1 ; Fitzer, Kevin 1 ; Camarillo, Ali 1 ; Simons, Jakob 2 ; Barraza, Nathan 1 ; Le, Mason 3
SB: Sakaino, Shunsuke 1 ; Le, Mason 3
Game Leaders
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