Sunday, February 18
Northridge, Calif.
10:00 a.m.
California State University at Northridge
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Utah Valley
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Utah Valley
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10
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CSUN
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Photo by: Connor Clark
Matadors Drop Rubber Game to Utah Valley
2/18/2024 2:31:00 PM | Baseball
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball dropped the finale of its weekend series with Utah Valley, 10-6, on Sunday at Matador Field. Ben Griffin homered for the first time as a Matador and scored twice while Andrew Sojka hit a solo homer. The Matadors threatened at the plate throughout the day but would leave a total of 12 runners on base.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Each side put up a single tally in the first inning with Utah Valley taking a brief 1-0 lead on a Cole Jordan sacrifice fly before Sojka answered with a solo homer in the home half. Ryan Wentz, who earned the Sunday start on the mound, rebounded from two early walks to retire the next six batters. However, a pair of hit by pitches to begin the third opened the door for the Wolverines to plate another run on a sacrifice fly by Calyn Halvorson.
The turning point of the game came in the fifth inning when the Wolverines broke open the game with a five-run fifth. Two of the first three batters reached on hits before Burke Camper doubled in a run. A fielding error later in the inning gave Utah Valley an opportunity to cash in on more scoring chances as Garrett Broussard and Luke Iverson each produced two-run hits with two outs to increase the lead to 7-1.
CSUN would have scoring opportunities as well in nearly each inning. The Matadors had a base runner reach in eight of nine innings, but Wolverine pitching collected timely outs to limit the damage. In the third, CSUN loaded the bases with two outs, however, Aaron Rice picked up the final out on a liner. The Matadors left runners on the corners as well in the fourth.
CSUN though broke through in the bottom of the fifth when Jakob Simons hit an RBI single to plate Sojka. Simons would be thrown out trying to stretch the hit to a double, but Fitzer followed with an infield hit, and Griffin belted a two-run homer to cut the deficit to 7-4.
The Wolverines quickly responded in the sixth on a two-out three-run homer from Halvorson that extended the lead to 10-4. CSUN again got a run back in the bottom of the frame on a wild pitch to score Will Linberg, but the Matadors ended up leaving the bases loaded.
The Matadors pulled to within 10-6 in the seventh on a passed ball that brought home Griffin. However, Conner Stewart would be stranded at second. CSUN also left two more on base in the eighth and one more runner in scoring position in the ninth.
NOTES OF THE GAME
ACCORDING TO COACH EDDIE CORNEJO
"I don't think we came ready to play today on almost every side of the ball. We didn't deserve to win that game and we deserved to lose. We have to be fundamentally sound. We have to be the most skilled team on the field to have a chance of being good. We have the capability, but we didn't show it and we showed a lot of our immaturity."
UP NEXT
CSUN hits the road for the first time this season when it visits San Diego State for a midweek contest on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
#GoMatadors
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HOW IT HAPPENED
Each side put up a single tally in the first inning with Utah Valley taking a brief 1-0 lead on a Cole Jordan sacrifice fly before Sojka answered with a solo homer in the home half. Ryan Wentz, who earned the Sunday start on the mound, rebounded from two early walks to retire the next six batters. However, a pair of hit by pitches to begin the third opened the door for the Wolverines to plate another run on a sacrifice fly by Calyn Halvorson.
The turning point of the game came in the fifth inning when the Wolverines broke open the game with a five-run fifth. Two of the first three batters reached on hits before Burke Camper doubled in a run. A fielding error later in the inning gave Utah Valley an opportunity to cash in on more scoring chances as Garrett Broussard and Luke Iverson each produced two-run hits with two outs to increase the lead to 7-1.
CSUN would have scoring opportunities as well in nearly each inning. The Matadors had a base runner reach in eight of nine innings, but Wolverine pitching collected timely outs to limit the damage. In the third, CSUN loaded the bases with two outs, however, Aaron Rice picked up the final out on a liner. The Matadors left runners on the corners as well in the fourth.
CSUN though broke through in the bottom of the fifth when Jakob Simons hit an RBI single to plate Sojka. Simons would be thrown out trying to stretch the hit to a double, but Fitzer followed with an infield hit, and Griffin belted a two-run homer to cut the deficit to 7-4.
The Wolverines quickly responded in the sixth on a two-out three-run homer from Halvorson that extended the lead to 10-4. CSUN again got a run back in the bottom of the frame on a wild pitch to score Will Linberg, but the Matadors ended up leaving the bases loaded.
The Matadors pulled to within 10-6 in the seventh on a passed ball that brought home Griffin. However, Conner Stewart would be stranded at second. CSUN also left two more on base in the eighth and one more runner in scoring position in the ninth.
NOTES OF THE GAME
- CSUN falls to 1-2 on the season while Utah Valley improves to 2-1.
- Ryan Wentz worked three innings, allowing no hits but two earned runs as he walked two and hit two batters.
- Hayden Hall came out of the bullpen and worked 2.1 shutout innings, yielding just one hit. Joshua Martinez made his CSUN debut and worked a clean inning.
- Jakob Simons reached base three times, driving in a run while walking twice.
ACCORDING TO COACH EDDIE CORNEJO
"I don't think we came ready to play today on almost every side of the ball. We didn't deserve to win that game and we deserved to lose. We have to be fundamentally sound. We have to be the most skilled team on the field to have a chance of being good. We have the capability, but we didn't show it and we showed a lot of our immaturity."
UP NEXT
CSUN hits the road for the first time this season when it visits San Diego State for a midweek contest on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
#GoMatadors
Â
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Rice, Aaron (1-0)
L: Wentz, Ryan (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Camper, Burke 1
3B: Iverson, Luke 1
HR: Halvorson, Calyn 1
RBI: Camper, Burke 1 ; Halvorson, Calyn 4 ; Jordan, Cole 1 ; Broussard, Garrett 2 ; Iverson, Luke 2
SF: Halvorson, Calyn 1 ; Jordan, Cole 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Dickinson, Daniel 2 ; Camper, Burke 2 ; Halvorson, Calyn 2 ; Jordan, Cole 1 ; Broussard, Garrett 1 ; Smith, Jayden 1 ; Cooke, Cougar 1
HBP: Dickinson, Daniel 1 ; Smith, Jayden 1 ; Cooke, Cougar 1
Batting:
HR: Sojka, Andrew 1 ; Griffin, Ben 1
RBI: Sojka, Andrew 1 ; Simons, Jakob 1 ; Griffin, Ben 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Sojka, Andrew 2 ; Fitzer, Kevin 1 ; Griffin, Ben 2 ; Linberg, Will 1
SB: Gonzalez, Roberto 1
HBP: Sojka, Andrew 1 ; Simons, Jakob 1 ; Griffin, Ben 1 ; Stewart, Conner 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
2
H
1
RBI
1
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
5
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
2
H
1
RBI
2
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