Friday, May 5
La Jolla, Calif.
6:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
25-14, 0
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UC San Diego
27-16, 0
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11
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CSUN
0
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3
1
0
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0
4
8
1
UC San Diego
0
0
0
3
1
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5
8
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Photo by: Dianne Wentz
Matadors Drop Opener at UCSD in 11 Innings
5/5/2023 9:51:00 PM | Baseball
LA JOLLA, Calif.---CSUN Baseball (25-14, 11-8 Big West) dropped a back-and-forth series opener to UC San Diego (27-16, 15-7 Big West) by a 5-4 score in 11 innings on Friday evening at Triton Ballpark. Xavier Martinez tossed 3.1 shutout innings out of the bullpen, fanning six batters. Mason Le belted a three-run homer in the game while Nathan Barraza has two hits.
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CSUN starter Lucas Braun got off to a solid start on the night, tossing three shutout innings. Braun retired the side in the first and third innings while he stranded two base runners in the bottom of the second.
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CSUN would manage two hits through the first three innings but broke through in the top of the fourth. Both Kevin Fitzer and Ali Camarillo drew one-out walks in the inning before Le belted a three-run home run to right field.
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The Matadors' 3-0 lead though was short-lived as the Tritons answered right back in the home half of the fourth. After a one-out hit from Doyle Kane, Brandon Larson belted a two-run home run to cut the lead to one. Later in the frame, with a runner at first base and two outs, Brock Leszcz hit a grounder to short, but an attempted force out at second base was not caught. The tying run scored on the error, nodding the game at 3-3.
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CSUN reclaimed the lead in the top of the fifth on another two-out hit. The Matadors collected two walks in the inning, setting the table for Fitzer to drive in the go-ahead run with a single. However, the Tritons quickly responded with the equalizer as Michael Fuhrman stroked an RBI double in the bottom of the fifth.
After the fifth inning, runs would be hard to come by as each side would trade zeroes on the scoreboard.
UCSD's Izaak Martinez entered the game with two runners on in the fifth before retiring Camarillo on a flyout. The Matadors threatened to break the tie in the sixth after a pair of singles put runners on the corners with one out. Martinez though struck out Camron Mercurio then retired Andrew Sojka on a flyout. CSUN also left two base runners on base in the seventh and one more in the eighth.
On the flip side, CSUN turned to Xavier Martinez who worked his way in and out of a jam in the sixth, leaving the bases loaded with two consecutive strikeouts. Martinez left another Triton in scoring position in the seventh before tossing a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth.
UC San Diego threatened once more in the bottom of the ninth when Martinez and Joshua Romero combined to walk three batters. Romero though escaped trouble by retiring Emiliano Gonzalez.
In the 10th, Romero retired all three batters in succession, all on strikeouts. However, the Tritons came through with the big hit of the night in the 11th inning. After a leadoff double from Patrick Hackworth, Romero struck out Fuhrman but gave up an RBI single to Matt Halbach to clinch the game for UCSD.
The Matadors were unable to get a base runner aboard in the ninth, 10th and 11 innings as UCSD's Martinez retired the final 12 batters he faced.
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GAME NOTES
Lucas Braun worked five-plus innings, allowing four runs with three earned to go with six strikeouts. Joshua Romero took the loss after working two innings and allowing one run.
Ali Camarillo went 1-for-4 with a run scored to extend his hit streak to nine games. Nathan Barraza posted his seventh multiple-hit game of the season. Mason Le's home run was his third of the year.
ACCORDING TO COACH EDDIE CORNEJO
 "As much as we pitched ourselves out of jams, most of those situations were self-inflicted. We didn't do the little things and it is causing us to have to work harder. I'll say it again, our inability to be fundamental is costing us games. We will have to continue to get better if we want to turn this around."
UP NEXT
CSUN continues its weekend series with UC San Diego on Saturday at 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
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CSUN starter Lucas Braun got off to a solid start on the night, tossing three shutout innings. Braun retired the side in the first and third innings while he stranded two base runners in the bottom of the second.
Â
CSUN would manage two hits through the first three innings but broke through in the top of the fourth. Both Kevin Fitzer and Ali Camarillo drew one-out walks in the inning before Le belted a three-run home run to right field.
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The Matadors' 3-0 lead though was short-lived as the Tritons answered right back in the home half of the fourth. After a one-out hit from Doyle Kane, Brandon Larson belted a two-run home run to cut the lead to one. Later in the frame, with a runner at first base and two outs, Brock Leszcz hit a grounder to short, but an attempted force out at second base was not caught. The tying run scored on the error, nodding the game at 3-3.
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CSUN reclaimed the lead in the top of the fifth on another two-out hit. The Matadors collected two walks in the inning, setting the table for Fitzer to drive in the go-ahead run with a single. However, the Tritons quickly responded with the equalizer as Michael Fuhrman stroked an RBI double in the bottom of the fifth.
After the fifth inning, runs would be hard to come by as each side would trade zeroes on the scoreboard.
UCSD's Izaak Martinez entered the game with two runners on in the fifth before retiring Camarillo on a flyout. The Matadors threatened to break the tie in the sixth after a pair of singles put runners on the corners with one out. Martinez though struck out Camron Mercurio then retired Andrew Sojka on a flyout. CSUN also left two base runners on base in the seventh and one more in the eighth.
On the flip side, CSUN turned to Xavier Martinez who worked his way in and out of a jam in the sixth, leaving the bases loaded with two consecutive strikeouts. Martinez left another Triton in scoring position in the seventh before tossing a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth.
UC San Diego threatened once more in the bottom of the ninth when Martinez and Joshua Romero combined to walk three batters. Romero though escaped trouble by retiring Emiliano Gonzalez.
In the 10th, Romero retired all three batters in succession, all on strikeouts. However, the Tritons came through with the big hit of the night in the 11th inning. After a leadoff double from Patrick Hackworth, Romero struck out Fuhrman but gave up an RBI single to Matt Halbach to clinch the game for UCSD.
The Matadors were unable to get a base runner aboard in the ninth, 10th and 11 innings as UCSD's Martinez retired the final 12 batters he faced.
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GAME NOTES
Lucas Braun worked five-plus innings, allowing four runs with three earned to go with six strikeouts. Joshua Romero took the loss after working two innings and allowing one run.
Ali Camarillo went 1-for-4 with a run scored to extend his hit streak to nine games. Nathan Barraza posted his seventh multiple-hit game of the season. Mason Le's home run was his third of the year.
ACCORDING TO COACH EDDIE CORNEJO
 "As much as we pitched ourselves out of jams, most of those situations were self-inflicted. We didn't do the little things and it is causing us to have to work harder. I'll say it again, our inability to be fundamental is costing us games. We will have to continue to get better if we want to turn this around."
UP NEXT
CSUN continues its weekend series with UC San Diego on Saturday at 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Martinez, Izaak (6-1)
L: Romero, Joshua (0-2)
Batting:
2B: Camarillo, Ali 1
HR: Le, Mason 1
RBI: Fitzer, Kevin 1 ; Le, Mason 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Simons, Jakob 1 ; Fitzer, Kevin 1 ; Camarillo, Ali 1 ; Le, Mason 1
SB: Fitzer, Kevin 1
Batting:
2B: Hackworth, Patrick 1 ; Fuhrman, Michael 1 ; Larson, Brandon 1 ; Robinson, Crew 1
HR: Larson, Brandon 1
RBI: Fuhrman, Michael 1 ; Halbach, Matt 1 ; Larson, Brandon 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Hackworth, Patrick 2 ; Kane, Doyle 1 ; Larson, Brandon 1 ; Robinson, Crew 1
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
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