Friday, May 26
Bakersfield, Calif.
6:05 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
33-17, 19-10
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CSU Bakersfield
18-33, 9-20
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CSUN
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CSU Bakersfield
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Photo by: Dianne Wentz
CSUN Clinches Series at CSUB, Romero Notches Historic 13th Save
5/26/2023 9:28:00 PM | Baseball
BAKERSFIELD, Calif.---CSUN Baseball (33-17, 19-10 Big West) clinched its eighth Big West series of the season with a 5-4 win over CSU Bakersfield (18-33, 9-20 Big West) on Friday evening at Hardt Field. Joshua Romero posted a single-season school record 13th save while Jon Mocherman went seven-plus innings, allowing one run for his third win of the year. On the hitting side, Jakob Simons homered for the 14th time this season and Joey Kramer belted his eighth homer.
While the Matadors notched another series win, Cal State Fullerton's victory at Cal Poly on Friday assured the Titans of the Big West's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
CSUN would leave six batters on the base paths through the first three innings before finally breaking through in the fourth. Mason Le began a two-out rally with an infield single before Simons blasted a two-run homer to left field for a 2-0 CSUN lead.
The Matadors flexed their muscles again in the top of the fifth inning to extend the lead. Ali Camarillo reached with a one-out double in the frame. After Shunsuke Sakaino was retired on strikes, Nathan Barraza came through with a two-out double to left to plate Camarillo. On the very next pitch, Kramer hammered a no doubt two-run homer, making it a 5-0 game.
The run support seemed it would be more than enough for Mocherman who was dominant over his seven innings of work. Mocherman did get off to a bit of a rocky start, allowing a walk and a single to open the first inning. From there, Mocherman would shut down the Roadrunner offense. First, he retired the next three CSUB batters to end the threat in the first. Mocherman then went on to toss four consecutive 1-2-3 frames.
Mocherman would strike out the first two batters to start the sixth inning, completing a string where he retired 17-straight batters. The next two CSUB batters reached with two outs in the sixth before Mocherman got out of the jam by sitting down James Bell.
In the seventh, Mocherman posted his fifth 1-2-3 scoreless inning of the night. Sakaino though may have made the highlight of the inning with an over the shoulder catch on a flyball down the right field line with his back toward home plate.
A leadoff walk in the eighth ended Mocherman's time on the mound. Moments later, Jacob Gutierrez broke up shutout with an RBI double. CSUN reliever Hayden Cody retired the next batter but yielded an RBI single to Matt Kurata to trim the Matador lead to 5-2. Kenji Pallares would finally end the scoring rally, sitting down the next two batters to end the eighth.
The Roadrunners took advantage of a CSUN error in the ninth to mount one final rally. Romero entered the game with a runner on base and nobody out before serving up a two-run homer to Jacob Ruley. After the blast, Romero settled in on the mound by retiring the next three batters in succession, breaking the school record for single-season saves.
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GAME NOTES
Joshua Romero notched his 13th save in 13 chances on Friday evening. His record-breaking 13th save surpassed Conner O'Neil 12-save mark set during the 2015 season.
Jon Mocherman's seven-inning performance and six strikeouts were season highs for the sophomore.
Ali Camarillo went 2-for-4 en route to extending his on-base streak to 20 games. Jakob Simons and Nathan Barraza also finished with two-hit efforts.
ACCORDING TO COACH EDDIE CORNEJO
"Jon [Mocherman] pitched at a different level tonight. He filled up the zone and was very efficient.
I don't think most people realize how difficult it is to close at this level. What Josh Romero has done so far has been one of the more impressive accomplishments I've seen in my coaching career.
I'm very proud of this team and the noise we've made within the conference. We have one more game, however, and I'd like to finish the job."
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UP NEXT
CSUN concludes its weekend series with CSU Bakersfield in the regular season finale on Saturday at 1 p.m. on ESPN+.
#GoMatadors
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While the Matadors notched another series win, Cal State Fullerton's victory at Cal Poly on Friday assured the Titans of the Big West's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
CSUN would leave six batters on the base paths through the first three innings before finally breaking through in the fourth. Mason Le began a two-out rally with an infield single before Simons blasted a two-run homer to left field for a 2-0 CSUN lead.
The Matadors flexed their muscles again in the top of the fifth inning to extend the lead. Ali Camarillo reached with a one-out double in the frame. After Shunsuke Sakaino was retired on strikes, Nathan Barraza came through with a two-out double to left to plate Camarillo. On the very next pitch, Kramer hammered a no doubt two-run homer, making it a 5-0 game.
The run support seemed it would be more than enough for Mocherman who was dominant over his seven innings of work. Mocherman did get off to a bit of a rocky start, allowing a walk and a single to open the first inning. From there, Mocherman would shut down the Roadrunner offense. First, he retired the next three CSUB batters to end the threat in the first. Mocherman then went on to toss four consecutive 1-2-3 frames.
Mocherman would strike out the first two batters to start the sixth inning, completing a string where he retired 17-straight batters. The next two CSUB batters reached with two outs in the sixth before Mocherman got out of the jam by sitting down James Bell.
In the seventh, Mocherman posted his fifth 1-2-3 scoreless inning of the night. Sakaino though may have made the highlight of the inning with an over the shoulder catch on a flyball down the right field line with his back toward home plate.
A leadoff walk in the eighth ended Mocherman's time on the mound. Moments later, Jacob Gutierrez broke up shutout with an RBI double. CSUN reliever Hayden Cody retired the next batter but yielded an RBI single to Matt Kurata to trim the Matador lead to 5-2. Kenji Pallares would finally end the scoring rally, sitting down the next two batters to end the eighth.
The Roadrunners took advantage of a CSUN error in the ninth to mount one final rally. Romero entered the game with a runner on base and nobody out before serving up a two-run homer to Jacob Ruley. After the blast, Romero settled in on the mound by retiring the next three batters in succession, breaking the school record for single-season saves.
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GAME NOTES
Joshua Romero notched his 13th save in 13 chances on Friday evening. His record-breaking 13th save surpassed Conner O'Neil 12-save mark set during the 2015 season.
Jon Mocherman's seven-inning performance and six strikeouts were season highs for the sophomore.
Ali Camarillo went 2-for-4 en route to extending his on-base streak to 20 games. Jakob Simons and Nathan Barraza also finished with two-hit efforts.
ACCORDING TO COACH EDDIE CORNEJO
"Jon [Mocherman] pitched at a different level tonight. He filled up the zone and was very efficient.
I don't think most people realize how difficult it is to close at this level. What Josh Romero has done so far has been one of the more impressive accomplishments I've seen in my coaching career.
I'm very proud of this team and the noise we've made within the conference. We have one more game, however, and I'd like to finish the job."
Â
UP NEXT
CSUN concludes its weekend series with CSU Bakersfield in the regular season finale on Saturday at 1 p.m. on ESPN+.
#GoMatadors
Â
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Mocherman, Jon (3-1)
L: Comnos, Matt (3-6)
S: Romero, Joshua (13)
Batting:
2B: Camarillo, Ali 1 ; Barraza, Nathan 1
HR: Simons, Jakob 1 ; Kramer, Joey 1
RBI: Simons, Jakob 2 ; Barraza, Nathan 1 ; Kramer, Joey 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Simons, Jakob 1 ; Camarillo, Ali 1 ; Barraza, Nathan 1 ; Kramer, Joey 1 ; Le, Mason 1
CS: Simons, Jakob 1
Batting:
2B: Gutierrez, Jacob 1
HR: Ruley, Jacob 1
RBI: Kurata, Matt 1 ; Ruley, Jacob 2 ; Gutierrez, Jacob 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Miller, AJ 1 ; Ruley, Jacob 1 ; Hendriks, Cody 1 ; Moore, Walker 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
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