Tuesday, February 27
Northridge, Calif.
2:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
6-2
7
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San Diego
4-4
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San Diego
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CSUN
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Photo by: Chuck Marvel
CSUN Scores Five in the Seventh to Rally Past San Diego
2/27/2024 5:04:00 PM | Baseball
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball scored five times all with two outs in the seventh to rally past San Diego 7-4 on Tuesday at Matador Field. Ben Griffin hit a pinch-hit two-run single to even the game while Jakob Simons hammered a go-ahead homer. Joshua Romero worked the final two innings for the save.
HOW IT HAPPENED
San Diego would strike first on one swing of the bat in the top of the second. A leadoff walk and a two-out infield single set the table for Ariel Armas who belted a three-run home run.
Kenji Pallares took over on the mound in the third and yielded a single tally on a sacrifice fly from Austin Smith for a 4-0 deficit. After giving up the run, Pallares righted the ship on the mound, blanking the Toreros over the next four innings while allowing just one hit.
On the flip side, the Matador bats were quieted through much of Tuesday's contest. Andrew Sojka picked up CSUN's first hit in the third but he was later erased on a batter's interference call. CSUN broke up the shutout in the fourth on a two-out RBI single from Nathan Barraza to trim the deficit to 4-1. However, San Diego reliever Ivran Romero retired six of seven batters over the fifth and sixth innings to take the three-run lead to the seventh.
Romero made short work of the first two batters in the seventh before Kamau Neighbors kept the inning alive with a single. From there, Sojka worked the count full and drew a walk then Le followed with an RBI single. The Matadors called upon Griffin to pinch hit with runners at second and third base and he would deliver a single to left field to bring in the tying runs.
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Moments later, after a pitching change, Simons belted a two-run home run that just cleared the wall in left-center field to put CSUN on top for the first time at 6-4. The Matadors leaned on the long ball again in the bottom of the eighth when Kevin Fitzer hit a mammoth homer to left to stretch the lead to three.
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CSUN turned to its Romero to nail down the final six outs. The Toreros picked up leadoff single from Jack Gurevitch in the eighth, but Romero soon induced a 4-3 double play and retired Smith on a groundout. Romero had to work around a pair of walks in the top of the ninth before forcing Dustin Allen to ground out for the final out.
NOTES OF THE GAME
ACCORDING TO COACH EDDIE CORNEJO
"This place can play with your mind a little bit. There were times when the wind was really blowing in, and we prepared for it, trying to beat infielders and not trying to get too big. Early on, we weren't really doing that. [In the seventh inning], with Kamau staying aggressive, Sojka working a walk, Mason Le a two-strike base hit and obviously, Ben Griffin hitting a single, I was really pleased with our two-strike approach. I wasn't pleased with it early on, but we learned. It speaks to the resiliency of the offense that we're scoring a decent amount of runs in the later third of each game. They don't quit.
"For me, Kenji is the biggest unsung hero of the day because he allowed us to regain momentum in those middle innings. Especially since he's been struggling, I'm happy he was able to create some length and show he wants to start on the weekend."
UP NEXT
Weather permitting, CSUN will open a three-game series with Nevada starting Friday at 2 p.m. Stay tuned to GoMatadors.com for any potential updates to the series.
#GoMatadors
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HOW IT HAPPENED
San Diego would strike first on one swing of the bat in the top of the second. A leadoff walk and a two-out infield single set the table for Ariel Armas who belted a three-run home run.
Kenji Pallares took over on the mound in the third and yielded a single tally on a sacrifice fly from Austin Smith for a 4-0 deficit. After giving up the run, Pallares righted the ship on the mound, blanking the Toreros over the next four innings while allowing just one hit.
On the flip side, the Matador bats were quieted through much of Tuesday's contest. Andrew Sojka picked up CSUN's first hit in the third but he was later erased on a batter's interference call. CSUN broke up the shutout in the fourth on a two-out RBI single from Nathan Barraza to trim the deficit to 4-1. However, San Diego reliever Ivran Romero retired six of seven batters over the fifth and sixth innings to take the three-run lead to the seventh.
Romero made short work of the first two batters in the seventh before Kamau Neighbors kept the inning alive with a single. From there, Sojka worked the count full and drew a walk then Le followed with an RBI single. The Matadors called upon Griffin to pinch hit with runners at second and third base and he would deliver a single to left field to bring in the tying runs.
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BEN. GRIFFIN.
— CSUN Baseball (@CSUNBaseball) February 28, 2024
A clutch 2-RBI single ties the game in the bottom of the seventh.#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/lhStJAwYLR
Moments later, after a pitching change, Simons belted a two-run home run that just cleared the wall in left-center field to put CSUN on top for the first time at 6-4. The Matadors leaned on the long ball again in the bottom of the eighth when Kevin Fitzer hit a mammoth homer to left to stretch the lead to three.
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Jake Simons is NOT HUMAN. ??
— CSUN Baseball (@CSUNBaseball) February 28, 2024
His 5th home run in 8 games gives CSUN the lead in the bottom of the seventh.
We've scored 5 runs in the inning, all with 2 outs.#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/UpNYfrPE1q
CSUN turned to its Romero to nail down the final six outs. The Toreros picked up leadoff single from Jack Gurevitch in the eighth, but Romero soon induced a 4-3 double play and retired Smith on a groundout. Romero had to work around a pair of walks in the top of the ninth before forcing Dustin Allen to ground out for the final out.
NOTES OF THE GAME
- CSUN improves to 6-2 while San Diego falls to 4-4 on the season. The Matadors have won five-straight games.
- Simons has homered five times this season while he has reached base safely in all eight games.
- Fitzer hit his third homer of the season and reached base for the sixth-straight game.
- Freshman Joshua Martinez earned his first career win by throwing one pitch and retiring the final batter of the seventh. Pallares worked 4.2 innings, allowing a run.
- Romero nailed down his second save of 2024.
ACCORDING TO COACH EDDIE CORNEJO
"This place can play with your mind a little bit. There were times when the wind was really blowing in, and we prepared for it, trying to beat infielders and not trying to get too big. Early on, we weren't really doing that. [In the seventh inning], with Kamau staying aggressive, Sojka working a walk, Mason Le a two-strike base hit and obviously, Ben Griffin hitting a single, I was really pleased with our two-strike approach. I wasn't pleased with it early on, but we learned. It speaks to the resiliency of the offense that we're scoring a decent amount of runs in the later third of each game. They don't quit.
"For me, Kenji is the biggest unsung hero of the day because he allowed us to regain momentum in those middle innings. Especially since he's been struggling, I'm happy he was able to create some length and show he wants to start on the weekend."
UP NEXT
Weather permitting, CSUN will open a three-game series with Nevada starting Friday at 2 p.m. Stay tuned to GoMatadors.com for any potential updates to the series.
#GoMatadors
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Martinez, Joshua (1-0)
L: ROMERO, Ivran (0-1)
S: Romero, Joshua (2)
Batting:
2B: GUREVITCH, Jack 1 ; COSTELLO, Jack 1
HR: ARMAS, Ariel 1
RBI: SMITH, Austin 1 ; ARMAS, Ariel 3
SF: SMITH, Austin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: PERAZA, Angelo 1 ; SMITH, Austin 1 ; WORTHINGTON, Will 1 ; ARMAS, Ariel 1
CS: ALLEN, Dustin 1 ; PERAZA, Angelo 1
Batting:
HR: Simons, Jakob 1 ; Fitzer, Kevin 1
RBI: Simons, Jakob 2 ; Fitzer, Kevin 1 ; Barraza, Nathan 1 ; Le, Mason 1 ; Griffin, Ben 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Simons, Jakob 2 ; Fitzer, Kevin 1 ; Neighbors, Kamau 1 ; Sojka, Andrew 1 ; Le, Mason 1 ; Griffin, Ben 1
SB: Simons, Jakob 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
2
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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