Saturday, March 23
Riverside, Calif.
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California State University at Northridge
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UC Riverside
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UC Riverside
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Photo by: Connor Clark
CSUN Scores Four in the Ninth to Clinch Series at UC Riverside
3/23/2024 8:35:00 PM | Baseball
RIVERSIDE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball scored four times while down to its last out to rally past UC Riverside 15-13 to clinch the weekend series on Saturday at Riverside Sports Complex. Kevin Fitzer finished with four hits including the go-ahead two-run single in the ninth inning while Jarren Sanderson finished 4-for-5 with two RBI and Jakob Simons drove in three runs and homered.
CSUN trailed by three different deficits in the game and by as many as four runs on the night.
HOW IT HAPPENED
In a wild back-and-forth game, Simons gave CSUN the early lead in the top of the first on a two-run homer. The Highlanders though quickly answered back in a big way in the home half of the first by batting around and scoring six times. UCR picked up RBI hits from Dominic Martinez and Bubba Rocha while Jayden Sanchez capped the inning with a three-run homer.
The Matadors got a run back in the second inning on an RBI groundout from Will Linberg, but the Highlanders answered that run in the fourth when Anthony Mata stole home plate.
Trailing 7-3 in the fifth, CSUN battled back with a four-run frame. Two of the first three batters reached to start the inning before Ben Griffin came through with an RBI single. Andrew Gauna drove in another later in the frame on a fielder's choice then Sanderson delivered a timely two-out double to plate two more runs to tie the game at 7-7.
The seesaw game continued in the home half of the fifth when the Highlanders picked up three hits and took advantage of a CSUN error to go back in front 9-7.
That lead was short-lived though as CSUN put together a two-out rally to plate four in the sixth. Fitzer singles with two outs to begin a stretch where four-straight Matadors reached base. Shunsuke Sakaino would be hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Gauna delivered the big blow, a three-run double to give the Matadors an 11-9 edge.
UC Riverside would answer that two-out rally with one of its own in the bottom of the sixth. After giving up a pair of hits, Ryan Wentz was a strike away from escaping the jam, but Rocha rifled a two-run single up the middle to square the game once more.
After the Matadors had a runner thrown out at home in the eighth, UCR reclaimed the lead in the bottom half of the inning. Martinez and Rocha picked up RBI hits in the frame as UCR took an 11-9 lead to the top of the ninth.
In CSUN's last at bat, Sanderson singled and Andrew Sojka drew a walk with one out. Kamau Neighbors appeared to reach base when he was hit by a pitch with two strikes, but the home plate umpire ruled Neighbors was out for not attempting to avoid the pitch.
CSUN shook off that play and began a stretch where the next three batters faced two strikes. Linberg would draw a walk to load the bases then Simons was hit by a pitch on a 3-2 count. Fitzer battled back from a 0-2 count before hitting a 3-2 pitch through the left side to plate two runs. A third run would score on the play via throwing error.
Hall would protect the 11-9 lead in a spotless bottom of the ninth to nail down his first career win.
NOTES OF THE GAME
ACCORDING TO COACH EDDIE CORNEJO
"This team continues to show how resilient they are as games get down to the wire The offensive effort really picked us up today. We had big offensive days by Kevin Fitzer, Jarren Sanderson and Jakob Simons. Will Linberg and Kamau Neighbors also contributed. Being down to the last strike and produce four runs was special."
UP NEXT
CSUN wraps up its weekend series with UC Riverside on Sunday at 11 a.m.
#GoMatadors
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CSUN trailed by three different deficits in the game and by as many as four runs on the night.
HOW IT HAPPENED
In a wild back-and-forth game, Simons gave CSUN the early lead in the top of the first on a two-run homer. The Highlanders though quickly answered back in a big way in the home half of the first by batting around and scoring six times. UCR picked up RBI hits from Dominic Martinez and Bubba Rocha while Jayden Sanchez capped the inning with a three-run homer.
The Matadors got a run back in the second inning on an RBI groundout from Will Linberg, but the Highlanders answered that run in the fourth when Anthony Mata stole home plate.
Trailing 7-3 in the fifth, CSUN battled back with a four-run frame. Two of the first three batters reached to start the inning before Ben Griffin came through with an RBI single. Andrew Gauna drove in another later in the frame on a fielder's choice then Sanderson delivered a timely two-out double to plate two more runs to tie the game at 7-7.
The seesaw game continued in the home half of the fifth when the Highlanders picked up three hits and took advantage of a CSUN error to go back in front 9-7.
That lead was short-lived though as CSUN put together a two-out rally to plate four in the sixth. Fitzer singles with two outs to begin a stretch where four-straight Matadors reached base. Shunsuke Sakaino would be hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Gauna delivered the big blow, a three-run double to give the Matadors an 11-9 edge.
UC Riverside would answer that two-out rally with one of its own in the bottom of the sixth. After giving up a pair of hits, Ryan Wentz was a strike away from escaping the jam, but Rocha rifled a two-run single up the middle to square the game once more.
After the Matadors had a runner thrown out at home in the eighth, UCR reclaimed the lead in the bottom half of the inning. Martinez and Rocha picked up RBI hits in the frame as UCR took an 11-9 lead to the top of the ninth.
In CSUN's last at bat, Sanderson singled and Andrew Sojka drew a walk with one out. Kamau Neighbors appeared to reach base when he was hit by a pitch with two strikes, but the home plate umpire ruled Neighbors was out for not attempting to avoid the pitch.
CSUN shook off that play and began a stretch where the next three batters faced two strikes. Linberg would draw a walk to load the bases then Simons was hit by a pitch on a 3-2 count. Fitzer battled back from a 0-2 count before hitting a 3-2 pitch through the left side to plate two runs. A third run would score on the play via throwing error.
Hall would protect the 11-9 lead in a spotless bottom of the ninth to nail down his first career win.
NOTES OF THE GAME
- CSUN improves to 12-9 overall and 3-2 in Big West play while UC Riverside falls to 9-11 overall and 0-2 in conference.
- Fitzer has gone 8-of-10 in the series. He has now reached base safely in 19-straight games.
- Simons' home run was his team-best ninth of the season.
- Kenji Pallares had the longest outing of the CSUN pitchers as he tossed 4.2 innings and allowed three runs.
ACCORDING TO COACH EDDIE CORNEJO
"This team continues to show how resilient they are as games get down to the wire The offensive effort really picked us up today. We had big offensive days by Kevin Fitzer, Jarren Sanderson and Jakob Simons. Will Linberg and Kamau Neighbors also contributed. Being down to the last strike and produce four runs was special."
UP NEXT
CSUN wraps up its weekend series with UC Riverside on Sunday at 11 a.m.
#GoMatadors
Â
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hall, Hayden (1-1)
L: Flores, Matthew (0-4)
Batting:
2B: Gauna, Andrew 1 ; Sanderson, Jarren 2
HR: Simons, Jakob 1
RBI: Linberg, Will 1 ; Simons, Jakob 3 ; Fitzer, Kevin 2 ; Griffin, Ben 1 ; Sakaino, Shunsuke 1 ; Gauna, Andrew 4 ; Sanderson, Jarren 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Neighbors, Kamau 1 ; Linberg, Will 3 ; Simons, Jakob 2 ; Fitzer, Kevin 2 ; Griffin, Ben 2 ; Sakaino, Shunsuke 1 ; Gauna, Andrew 1 ; Sanderson, Jarren 2 ; Sojka, Andrew 1
SB: Neighbors, Kamau 1 ; Fitzer, Kevin 1 ; Sanderson, Jarren 1
HBP: Simons, Jakob 1 ; Sakaino, Shunsuke 1 ; Le, Mason 1
PO: Sanderson, Jarren 1
Batting:
2B: Chamizo, Zachary 1 ; Martinez, Dominic 1
HR: Sanchez, Jayden 1
RBI: Martinez, Dominic 2 ; Rocha, Bubba 4 ; Sanchez, Jayden 4
SH: Chamizo, Zachary 1 ; Rodriguez IV, Rudy 1
SF: Sanchez, Jayden 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Mata, Anthony 3 ; Chamizo, Zachary 2 ; Koniarsky, Cole 2 ; Martinez, Dominic 3 ; Rocha, Bubba 2 ; Sanchez, Jayden 1
SB: Mata, Anthony 2
HBP: Chamizo, Zachary 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
6
R
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H
4
RBI
2
AB
5
R
2
H
4
RBI
2
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
3
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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RHP
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