Thursday, May 25
Bakersfield, Calif.
6:05 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
32-17, 18-10
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CSU Bakersfield
18-32, 9-19
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CSUN
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CSU Bakersfield
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Photo by: Dianne Wentz
Matadors Down CSUB 6-3 in Series Opener
5/25/2023 10:22:00 PM | Baseball
BAKERSFIELD, Calif.---CSUN Baseball (32-17, 18-10 Big West) scored three runs over the last two frames en route to a 6-3 win over CSU Bakersfield (18-32, 9-19 Big West) on Thursday evening at Hardt Field. Mason Le hit the go-ahead RBI single to break a 3-3 tie in the eighth inning while Shunsuke Sakaino finished with three hits and an RBI. Lucas Braun tossed eight quality innings, allowing three runs to go with eight strikeouts.
Ali Camarillo would get the Matador offense started with a leadoff home run to start the second inning. In the early innings, Braun was dominant on the mound in protecting that slim lead. After striking out the side in the bottom of the first, Braun held the Roadrunners hitless over the second and third innings.
Braun struck out the first two batters in the fourth inning but would deliver a walk to Konnor Palmeria to keep the inning alive. Moments later, Braun committed a balk before James Bell came through with an RBI single up the middle to even the game up at 1-1.
CSUN would answer the Roadrunners' run with a two-spot in the top of the fifth. Andrew Sojka began the frame with a double then Jakob Simons singled to left to put runners at the corners. Sakaino stepped to the plate next and legged out a bunt single, pushing across the go-ahead run. After Graysen Tarlow sacrificed both runners into scoring position, Kevin Fitzer hit a sacrifice fly for a 3-1 CSUN lead.
Braun stranded a runner at third base in the home half of the fifth, however, the Roadrunners struck again with two-out hitting in the sixth. Two of the first three batters were retired on groundouts before Bell hit another RBI single. AJ Miller capped the inning with a game-tying RBI double into the right-center gap.
The score remained tied at 3-3 until the eighth when CSUN delivered its own timely two-out hitting. Fitzer began the rally with a leadoff single. Camarillo executed a sacrifice bunt to move Fitzer into scoring position before CSUB's Ryan Figueroa retired Brandon Leon on strikes for the second out. Le followed next with a line drive single up the middle to plate the go-ahead run.
Now back with the lead, Braun marched back to the mound in the top of the eighth. Braun would toss one of his best innings of the entire night, retiring the side in order including punctuating his outing with back-to-back strikeouts.
CSUN added two key insurance runs in the top of the ninth, taking advantage of miscues. Simons and Sakaino began the frame with infield singles then Tarlow moved both into scoring position with a bunt. A wild pitch allowed Simons to touch home plate before Sakaino later scored on an error when catcher Matt Kurata could not handle a throw to the plate.
In the bottom of the ninth, Joshua Romero closed the door by retiring three of four batters. Simons would give Romero a lift though with a diving catch on a flyball in center to end the game.
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GAME NOTES
Joshua Romero tied the Matadors' single-season save mark with his 12th save of the season. Romero matched Conner O'Neil's (2015-18) save mark first set during the 2015 season.
In quite possibly his final appearance of the regular season, Lucas Braun improved his record to 6-5 on the mound. Braun also reached a career-high 100 strikeouts for the year. The right hander is the first Matador to hit 100 strikeouts for a season since Kenny Rosenberg had 118 in 2016.
Along with Shunsuke Sakaino's three-hit game, the trio of Jakob Simons, Kevin Fitzer and Andrew Sojka each had two-hit performances. Ali Camarillo, who homered for the seventh time of the season, extended his on-base streak to 19 games. Fitzer also became the first Matador since Albee Weiss in 2018 to tally 50 RBI in a season.
ACCORDING TO COACH EDDIE CORNEJO
"This was a good Friday night Big West game. I was proud of the way Lucas bounced back, got through some tough innings and went deep into the game for us. We had several contributors offensively and the defense played really well. Tonight was a solid overall team win."
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UP NEXT
CSUN continues its weekend series with CSU Bakersfield on Friday at 6:05 p.m. on ESPN+.
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Ali Camarillo would get the Matador offense started with a leadoff home run to start the second inning. In the early innings, Braun was dominant on the mound in protecting that slim lead. After striking out the side in the bottom of the first, Braun held the Roadrunners hitless over the second and third innings.
Braun struck out the first two batters in the fourth inning but would deliver a walk to Konnor Palmeria to keep the inning alive. Moments later, Braun committed a balk before James Bell came through with an RBI single up the middle to even the game up at 1-1.
CSUN would answer the Roadrunners' run with a two-spot in the top of the fifth. Andrew Sojka began the frame with a double then Jakob Simons singled to left to put runners at the corners. Sakaino stepped to the plate next and legged out a bunt single, pushing across the go-ahead run. After Graysen Tarlow sacrificed both runners into scoring position, Kevin Fitzer hit a sacrifice fly for a 3-1 CSUN lead.
Braun stranded a runner at third base in the home half of the fifth, however, the Roadrunners struck again with two-out hitting in the sixth. Two of the first three batters were retired on groundouts before Bell hit another RBI single. AJ Miller capped the inning with a game-tying RBI double into the right-center gap.
The score remained tied at 3-3 until the eighth when CSUN delivered its own timely two-out hitting. Fitzer began the rally with a leadoff single. Camarillo executed a sacrifice bunt to move Fitzer into scoring position before CSUB's Ryan Figueroa retired Brandon Leon on strikes for the second out. Le followed next with a line drive single up the middle to plate the go-ahead run.
Now back with the lead, Braun marched back to the mound in the top of the eighth. Braun would toss one of his best innings of the entire night, retiring the side in order including punctuating his outing with back-to-back strikeouts.
CSUN added two key insurance runs in the top of the ninth, taking advantage of miscues. Simons and Sakaino began the frame with infield singles then Tarlow moved both into scoring position with a bunt. A wild pitch allowed Simons to touch home plate before Sakaino later scored on an error when catcher Matt Kurata could not handle a throw to the plate.
In the bottom of the ninth, Joshua Romero closed the door by retiring three of four batters. Simons would give Romero a lift though with a diving catch on a flyball in center to end the game.
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GAME NOTES
Joshua Romero tied the Matadors' single-season save mark with his 12th save of the season. Romero matched Conner O'Neil's (2015-18) save mark first set during the 2015 season.
In quite possibly his final appearance of the regular season, Lucas Braun improved his record to 6-5 on the mound. Braun also reached a career-high 100 strikeouts for the year. The right hander is the first Matador to hit 100 strikeouts for a season since Kenny Rosenberg had 118 in 2016.
Along with Shunsuke Sakaino's three-hit game, the trio of Jakob Simons, Kevin Fitzer and Andrew Sojka each had two-hit performances. Ali Camarillo, who homered for the seventh time of the season, extended his on-base streak to 19 games. Fitzer also became the first Matador since Albee Weiss in 2018 to tally 50 RBI in a season.
ACCORDING TO COACH EDDIE CORNEJO
"This was a good Friday night Big West game. I was proud of the way Lucas bounced back, got through some tough innings and went deep into the game for us. We had several contributors offensively and the defense played really well. Tonight was a solid overall team win."
Â
UP NEXT
CSUN continues its weekend series with CSU Bakersfield on Friday at 6:05 p.m. on ESPN+.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Braun, Lucas (6-5)
L: Figueroa, Ryan (2-2)
S: Romero, Joshua (12)
Batting:
2B: Sojka, Andrew 1
HR: Camarillo, Ali 1
RBI: Sakaino, Shunsuke 1 ; Fitzer, Kevin 1 ; Camarillo, Ali 1 ; Le, Mason 1
SH: Tarlow, Graysen 2 ; Camarillo, Ali 1
SF: Fitzer, Kevin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Simons, Jakob 2 ; Sakaino, Shunsuke 1 ; Fitzer, Kevin 1 ; Camarillo, Ali 1 ; Sojka, Andrew 1
HBP: Kramer, Joey 1
Batting:
2B: Kasper, Riley 1 ; Miller, AJ 1
RBI: Bell, James 2 ; Miller, AJ 1
SH: Ruley, Jacob 1 ; Stancato, Kyler 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kurata, Matt 1 ; Palmeira, Konnor 1 ; Bell, James 1
HBP: Kurata, Matt 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
1
H
3
RBI
1
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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