California State University at Northridge
1-0
Utah Valley
0-1
CSUN Baseball Rallies for Season Opening Win
2/16/2024 8:37:00 PM | Baseball
HOW IT HAPPENED
CSUN got on the scoreboard first in the bottom of the second inning. After singles from Simons and Kamau Neighbors to start the inning, Fitzer was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Ben Griffin would draw a walk to force in a run then Brandon Leon hit a sacrifice fly for a 2-0 lead.
On the mound, Thomas Bainton retired six of the first seven batters to begin the game, but Isaac Lovings belted a solo homer to kick off the third. Two of the next three Wolverines reached base to continue the third inning before Nate Bach evened the game at 2-2 with a sacrifice fly.
Fitzer would answer for CSUN in the home half of the third, depositing a no-doubt homer to left field after Neighbors walked to give CSUN a 4-2 lead.
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TWO-RUN FITZER ??!
— CSUN Baseball (@CSUNBaseball) February 16, 2024
4-2 CSUN in the bottom of the third.#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/4tAFjI4nhb
Bainton pitched into the fifth inning before Kenji Pallares took over the mound and went on to retire the first four batters he faced. However, the Wolverines leaned on the long ball again in the fifth as Lovings hit his second homer, a two-run shot, to tie the game once more at 4-4.
CSUN took advantage of a Utah Valley failed pickoff throw to scratch across a run in the bottom of the sixth as Mason Le drove in Nathan Barraza on a sacrifice fly. The lead though quickly evaporated on a leadoff solo homer from Burke Camper in the seventh. The Wolverines eventually took their first lead of the game later in the seventh on a Pallares balk with two outs.
The Matadors stranded the tying run in scoring position in the seventh, but CSUN bounced back with a big eighth inning to turn the tide of the game. Andrew Sojka reached to start the inning on an error before making it to second base on a groundout and to third on a Roberto Gonzalez infield hit.
CSUN would tie and take the lead on walks and miscues at the plate. Mason Le's walk also resulted in a passed ball, bringing in Sojka with the tying run. Bren Wilkinson also drew a walk along with a wild pitch, leading to Gonzalez coming around to score the go-ahead run. Simons would punctuate the eighth with a three-run homer to left for a 10-6 lead.
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JAKOB. SIMONS.
— CSUN Baseball (@CSUNBaseball) February 17, 2024
The reigning @BigWestSports Field Player of the Year unleashes a 3-run HR to give CSUN a 10-6 lead.#GoMatadors x @jakepsimons pic.twitter.com/2kQKtELQLC
Romero, who came out of the bullpen to strand two runners in the eighth, pitched around a one-out double in the ninth to secure the win.
NOTES OF THE GAME
- CSUN has now won six straight games dating back to last season.
- Romero faced five batters, retiring four to pick up the win. Also out of the bullpen, Hayden Hall made his CSUN debut and pitched a shutout frame.
- Bainton made the opening day start and tossed four innings, allowing two runs on five hits with four strikeouts.
- Neighbors finished 2-for-5 with two runs scored.
"I still believe in our offense, we're dangerous regardless of the inning. I can bring in our closer again down by one run because I believe our guys will continue to fight. I did like that. What I didn't like was that we have some details to clean up defensively and on the mound.
Experience matters and discipline matters more than anything. In that last inning where we were able to sacrifice bunt the tying run to second base after getting on via an error, it will mess up pitchers that aren't sound."
UP NEXT
CSUN continues its weekend series with Utah Valley on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.
#GoMatadors
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Romero, Joshua (1-0)
L: Sundquist, Eli (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Schwarz, Matthew 2 ; Jordan, Cole 1 ; Broussard, Garrett 1
HR: Camper, Burke 1 ; Lovings, Isaac 2
RBI: Camper, Burke 1 ; Bach, Nate 1 ; Lovings, Isaac 3
SF: Bach, Nate 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Dickinson, Daniel 1 ; Camper, Burke 1 ; Schwarz, Matthew 1 ; Broussard, Garrett 1 ; Lovings, Isaac 2
HBP: Dickinson, Daniel 1
Batting:
2B: Simons, Jakob 1 ; Neighbors, Kamau 1
HR: Simons, Jakob 1 ; Fitzer, Kevin 1
RBI: Simons, Jakob 3 ; Fitzer, Kevin 2 ; Griffin, Ben 1 ; Leon, Brandon 1 ; Le, Mason 1
SF: Leon, Brandon 1 ; Le, Mason 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Simons, Jakob 2 ; Neighbors, Kamau 2 ; Fitzer, Kevin 1 ; Sojka, Andrew 1 ; Barraza, Nathan 1 ; Gonzalez, Roberto 1 ; Le, Mason 1 ; Wilkinson, Bren 1
SB: Neighbors, Kamau 1 ; Le, Mason 1
HBP: Fitzer, Kevin 1
