Wednesday, February 21
San Diego, Calif.
5:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
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San Diego State
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CSUN
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San Diego State
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Photo by: Connor Clark
Matadors Edge San Diego State 7-5
2/21/2024 9:20:00 PM | Baseball
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball rallied from a one-run deficit late to pull out a 7-5 victory over San Diego State on Wednesday at Tony Gwynn Stadium. Jakob Simons and Kevin Fitzer had two hits apiece while Simons belted his second homer of the season. Diego Gutierrez made his first start in two seasons and tossed 4.1 innings with one run allowed.
HOW IT HAPPENED
CSUN tallied two runs in the first inning on just one hit, all with two outs. Simons kept the inning alive with a two-out double then Fitzer followed with a walk. A passed ball and a wild pitch on a Conner Stewart walk, plated CSUN's first run. Stewart would get himself hung up in-between first and second base, allowing Fitzer to race home for the Matadors' second run.
After missing all of last season with injury, Gutierrez shined on the mound for CSUN. The right hander retired the first six batters to begin the game before giving up a leadoff hit in the third. He struck out two batters in the third, but the Aztecs pushed across an unearned run on a sacrifice fly. Gutierrez went on to sit down the final five batters he faced in the game, finishing with six strikeouts on the day.
The Matadors scratched across single tallies in the fifth and sixth innings, taking advantage of errors. In the fifth, Kamau Neighbors reached second base on a throwing error before Shunsuke Sakaino laid down a sacrifice bunt and Trent Abel collected an RBI on a grounder. An inning later, Andrew Gauna and Simons reached on hit-by-pitches to start the frame. Fitzer executed a bunt, leading to another Aztec error, to put CSUN on top 4-1.
CSUN looked as though it would hold on to its 4-1 lead, but the Aztecs roared back with a big hit in the seventh. SDSU loaded the bases with one out against Adan Perez, leading to a change on the mound. Hayden Hall was called on from the bullpen, but he would be greeted unkindly as Jacob McCombs smashed a pinch hit grand slam to put the Aztecs ahead 5-4.
Trailing for the first time, the Matadors battled back in the eighth. Fitzer quickly doubled to start the inning. From there, the Aztecs' defense committed three consecutive errors over the next three batters. Stewart, Roberto Gonzalez and Neighbors all executed bunts, leading to miscues by San Diego State pitchers. Abel eventually brought home the go-ahead run on a groundout.
CSUN picked up insurance in the top of the ninth when Simons belted a one-out solo homer for a 7-5 lead.
After CSUN took the lead, the Matadors turned to closer Joshua Romero who took control on the mound. Romero retired six of seven batters, all of which on strikeouts to secure the save.
NOTES OF THE GAME
ACCORDING TO COACH EDDIE CORNEJO
"A big congratulations to Diego Gutierrez for not only his first start coming back from Tommy John surgery, but for an excellent outing.
We are not out of the woods even with this win. We need to find our rhythm offensively and get back to being tough outs throughout the lineup. Bridging the middle innings on the mound is still a hole we also need to fill. Nonetheless, I did like our response when they got back in the game. We are showing positive signs of moving in the right direction.
UP NEXT
CSUN travels to Utah Tech this weekend for a three-game series starting Friday at 5:05 p.m.
#GoMatadors
Â
HOW IT HAPPENED
CSUN tallied two runs in the first inning on just one hit, all with two outs. Simons kept the inning alive with a two-out double then Fitzer followed with a walk. A passed ball and a wild pitch on a Conner Stewart walk, plated CSUN's first run. Stewart would get himself hung up in-between first and second base, allowing Fitzer to race home for the Matadors' second run.
After missing all of last season with injury, Gutierrez shined on the mound for CSUN. The right hander retired the first six batters to begin the game before giving up a leadoff hit in the third. He struck out two batters in the third, but the Aztecs pushed across an unearned run on a sacrifice fly. Gutierrez went on to sit down the final five batters he faced in the game, finishing with six strikeouts on the day.
The Matadors scratched across single tallies in the fifth and sixth innings, taking advantage of errors. In the fifth, Kamau Neighbors reached second base on a throwing error before Shunsuke Sakaino laid down a sacrifice bunt and Trent Abel collected an RBI on a grounder. An inning later, Andrew Gauna and Simons reached on hit-by-pitches to start the frame. Fitzer executed a bunt, leading to another Aztec error, to put CSUN on top 4-1.
CSUN looked as though it would hold on to its 4-1 lead, but the Aztecs roared back with a big hit in the seventh. SDSU loaded the bases with one out against Adan Perez, leading to a change on the mound. Hayden Hall was called on from the bullpen, but he would be greeted unkindly as Jacob McCombs smashed a pinch hit grand slam to put the Aztecs ahead 5-4.
Trailing for the first time, the Matadors battled back in the eighth. Fitzer quickly doubled to start the inning. From there, the Aztecs' defense committed three consecutive errors over the next three batters. Stewart, Roberto Gonzalez and Neighbors all executed bunts, leading to miscues by San Diego State pitchers. Abel eventually brought home the go-ahead run on a groundout.
CSUN picked up insurance in the top of the ninth when Simons belted a one-out solo homer for a 7-5 lead.
After CSUN took the lead, the Matadors turned to closer Joshua Romero who took control on the mound. Romero retired six of seven batters, all of which on strikeouts to secure the save.
NOTES OF THE GAME
- CSUN improves to 2-2 on the season while San Diego State falls to 1-3.
- Romero notched his first save of the season. He has 14 saves in 14 chances in his CSUN career.
- A total of six of CSUN's seven runs were unearned. San Diego State committed six errors total in the game.
- Blake Ignaciak gave CSUN 1.2 shutout innings with one hit allowed.
- CSUN pitching racked up 13 total strikeouts.
ACCORDING TO COACH EDDIE CORNEJO
"A big congratulations to Diego Gutierrez for not only his first start coming back from Tommy John surgery, but for an excellent outing.
We are not out of the woods even with this win. We need to find our rhythm offensively and get back to being tough outs throughout the lineup. Bridging the middle innings on the mound is still a hole we also need to fill. Nonetheless, I did like our response when they got back in the game. We are showing positive signs of moving in the right direction.
UP NEXT
CSUN travels to Utah Tech this weekend for a three-game series starting Friday at 5:05 p.m.
#GoMatadors
Â
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hall, Hayden (1-0)
L: GUZMAN, Jonny (0-2)
S: Romero, Joshua (1)
Batting:
2B: Simons, Jakob 1 ; Fitzer, Kevin 2
HR: Simons, Jakob 1
RBI: Simons, Jakob 1 ; Abel, Trent 2
SH: Fitzer, Kevin 1 ; Stewart, Conner 1 ; Gonzalez, Roberto 1 ; Neighbors, Kamau 1 ; Sakaino, Shunsuke 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Gauna, Andrew 1 ; Simons, Jakob 2 ; Fitzer, Kevin 2 ; Chandler, Smith 1 ; Neighbors, Kamau 1
SB: Fitzer, Kevin 1 ; Wilkinson, Bren 1
CS: Simons, Jakob 1 ; Stewart, Conner 1
HBP: Gauna, Andrew 1 ; Simons, Jakob 1 ; Neighbors, Kamau 1 ; Sakaino, Shunsuke 1 ; Abel, Trent 1
Batting:
2B: BETHANCOURT, Tino 1 ; BATES, Finley 1
HR: MCCOMBS, Jacob 1
RBI: MCCOMBS, Jacob 4 ; BATES, Finley 1
SF: BATES, Finley 1
Base Running:
RUNS: TURNER, Colby 1 ; WHITTLE, David 1 ; BETHANCOURT, Tino 1 ; RUTTER, Drew 1 ; MCCOMBS, Jacob 1
HBP: MONTOYA, Shaun 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
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H
2
RBI
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AB
3
R
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H
2
RBI
0
AB
5
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
0
RBI
0
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