Sunday, May 21
Northridge, Calif.
1:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
31-17, 17-10
8
vs
6
Hawai'i
26-20, 15-12
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Hawai'i
0
0
1
1
0
0
3
0
1
6
11
1
CSUN
4
0
2
0
0
2
0
0
X
8
13
1
Photo by: Connor Clark
Matadors Knock Off Hawai'i 8-6 to Clinch Series on Senior Day
5/21/2023 4:45:00 PM | Baseball
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball (31-17, 17-10 Big West) held off a late charge from Hawai'i for an 8-6 win, clinching the weekend series on Sunday afternoon at Matador Field. Ali Camarillo and Jakob Simons both went 2-for-3 with three RBI and a home run while Kevin Fitzer finished 3-for-3 with two runs scored. Kenji Pallares picked up the win with three innings of relief while Joshua Romero worked the final 2.1 innings for his 11th save of the season.
The Matadors jumped on Hawai'i in the early innings for the second-straight day. In the first, CSUN took advantage of a two-out error from the Rainbow Warriors to plate its first run. Simons would deliver the big blow of the inning, a three-run homer to plate Fitzer and Camarillo for a 4-0 lead.Â
Hawai'i was retired in order in the first and second innings by Jon Mocherman but pushed across a single tally in the third on a sacrifice fly from Stone Miyao. Mocherman did limit the damage, retiring Jacob Igawa and stranding two base runners.
Camarillo would put the Matadors right back in the scoring column in the bottom of the third with a solo home run. Simons helped manufacture another run when he reached on an infield single, stole second base and moved to third on a groundout. Moments later, Mason Le drove in Simons on a single to push the lead to 6-1.
Hawai'i though did not go away throughout the contest. Matt Wong belted a leadoff solo home run to open the fourth inning. The next two batters reached on a singles, prompting a change on the mound. Pallares came out of the bullpen to retire the next three batters, two of which on strikeouts to weather the storm.
Pallares gave the Matadors three quality innings out of the bullpen, only allowing a single in the sixth and a leadoff walk in the seventh.
CSUN extended to an 8-2 lead in the bottom of the sixth on a two-out, two-run double from Camarillo. However, the Bows answered swiftly an inning later. In the top of the seventh, two walks set the table for Miyao to double in a run. Igawa then followed with a two-run single that trimmed the Matador lead to 8-5.
Romero entered the game with runners at the corners and two outs in the seventh inning. It would take Romero one pitch to get out of the jam before the right hander tossed a 1-2-3 eighth inning.
In the ninth though Hawai'i mounted one final rally. Romero yielded a leadoff walk then back-to-back singles to load the bases with nobody out. Wong would foul out before Romero struck out Kyson Donahue for the second out. However, a throwing error on a backpick allowed Dallas Duarte to score from third base. Two pitches later, Romero forced Ben Zeigler-Namoa to groundout to end the ballgame.
GAME NOTES
Kenji Pallares improved to 5-3 on the season after his three-inning stint where he struck out three batters. Joshua Romero notched his 11th save of the season, moving one save shy of tying Conner O'Neil (2015-17) for the single-season mark in team history.
Ali Camarillo extended his on-base streak to 18 games and his hit streak to six while Kevin Fitzer stretched his on-base streak to 10 games. Jakob Simons homered for the 13th time this season and posted his 21st multiple-hit game of the year.
CSUN earned its seventh Big West series win of the season and third-straight overall.
The Matadors honored Lucas Braun before the game in a Senior Day ceremony. Braun, who graduated this May with a degree in Economics, is completing his second year with the Matadors this season.
ACCORDING TO COACH EDDIE CORNEJO
"I think the key to today's game was having the ability to minimize the big innings. We did it in the first inning, the third inning, the seventh inning and the ninth inning. I think the last three outs any ballgame are the toughest. Josh [Romero] didn't have his best stuff. The message was you're not tired and this isn't that difficult. We can persevere, and we did just enough today to get the win.
We're kind of riding a hot hand with Kenji. He's different out of the 'pen. He's really aggressive and that's where he's going to be good. He also has a three-pitch mix. He's a starter where his stuff plays up as a reliever. That is huge, especially since our 'pen as of recent weekends has been a little light and a little fatigued."
UP NEXT
The Matadors conclude the regular season next weekend on the road with a three-game series at CSU Bakersfield. The series opens on Thursday at 6:05 p.m. on ESPN+.
#GoMatadors
Â
The Matadors jumped on Hawai'i in the early innings for the second-straight day. In the first, CSUN took advantage of a two-out error from the Rainbow Warriors to plate its first run. Simons would deliver the big blow of the inning, a three-run homer to plate Fitzer and Camarillo for a 4-0 lead.Â
Hawai'i was retired in order in the first and second innings by Jon Mocherman but pushed across a single tally in the third on a sacrifice fly from Stone Miyao. Mocherman did limit the damage, retiring Jacob Igawa and stranding two base runners.
Camarillo would put the Matadors right back in the scoring column in the bottom of the third with a solo home run. Simons helped manufacture another run when he reached on an infield single, stole second base and moved to third on a groundout. Moments later, Mason Le drove in Simons on a single to push the lead to 6-1.
Hawai'i though did not go away throughout the contest. Matt Wong belted a leadoff solo home run to open the fourth inning. The next two batters reached on a singles, prompting a change on the mound. Pallares came out of the bullpen to retire the next three batters, two of which on strikeouts to weather the storm.
Pallares gave the Matadors three quality innings out of the bullpen, only allowing a single in the sixth and a leadoff walk in the seventh.
CSUN extended to an 8-2 lead in the bottom of the sixth on a two-out, two-run double from Camarillo. However, the Bows answered swiftly an inning later. In the top of the seventh, two walks set the table for Miyao to double in a run. Igawa then followed with a two-run single that trimmed the Matador lead to 8-5.
Romero entered the game with runners at the corners and two outs in the seventh inning. It would take Romero one pitch to get out of the jam before the right hander tossed a 1-2-3 eighth inning.
In the ninth though Hawai'i mounted one final rally. Romero yielded a leadoff walk then back-to-back singles to load the bases with nobody out. Wong would foul out before Romero struck out Kyson Donahue for the second out. However, a throwing error on a backpick allowed Dallas Duarte to score from third base. Two pitches later, Romero forced Ben Zeigler-Namoa to groundout to end the ballgame.
GAME NOTES
Kenji Pallares improved to 5-3 on the season after his three-inning stint where he struck out three batters. Joshua Romero notched his 11th save of the season, moving one save shy of tying Conner O'Neil (2015-17) for the single-season mark in team history.
Ali Camarillo extended his on-base streak to 18 games and his hit streak to six while Kevin Fitzer stretched his on-base streak to 10 games. Jakob Simons homered for the 13th time this season and posted his 21st multiple-hit game of the year.
CSUN earned its seventh Big West series win of the season and third-straight overall.
The Matadors honored Lucas Braun before the game in a Senior Day ceremony. Braun, who graduated this May with a degree in Economics, is completing his second year with the Matadors this season.
ACCORDING TO COACH EDDIE CORNEJO
"I think the key to today's game was having the ability to minimize the big innings. We did it in the first inning, the third inning, the seventh inning and the ninth inning. I think the last three outs any ballgame are the toughest. Josh [Romero] didn't have his best stuff. The message was you're not tired and this isn't that difficult. We can persevere, and we did just enough today to get the win.
We're kind of riding a hot hand with Kenji. He's different out of the 'pen. He's really aggressive and that's where he's going to be good. He also has a three-pitch mix. He's a starter where his stuff plays up as a reliever. That is huge, especially since our 'pen as of recent weekends has been a little light and a little fatigued."
UP NEXT
The Matadors conclude the regular season next weekend on the road with a three-game series at CSU Bakersfield. The series opens on Thursday at 6:05 p.m. on ESPN+.
#GoMatadors
Â
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Pallares, Kenji (5-3)
L: Harrison Bodendorf (5-2)
S: Romero, Joshua (11)
Batting:
2B: Stone Miyao 1 ; Tai Walton 1
HR: Matt Wong 1
RBI: Stone Miyao 2 ; Jacob Igawa 2 ; Matt Wong 1
SF: Stone Miyao 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Dallas Duarte 1 ; Stone Miyao 1 ; Matt Wong 1 ; Sean Rimmer 1 ; Jared Quandt 1 ; Aaron Ujimori 1
Batting:
2B: Fitzer, Kevin 1 ; Camarillo, Ali 1
HR: Camarillo, Ali 1 ; Simons, Jakob 1
RBI: Camarillo, Ali 3 ; Simons, Jakob 3 ; Le, Mason 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Sakaino, Shunsuke 1 ; Tarlow, Graysen 1 ; Fitzer, Kevin 2 ; Camarillo, Ali 2 ; Simons, Jakob 2
SB: Fitzer, Kevin 1 ; Simons, Jakob 1
HBP: Sakaino, Shunsuke 1 ; Camarillo, Ali 1 ; Simons, Jakob 1
PO: Fitzer, Kevin 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
2
H
3
RBI
0
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
3
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
3
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
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