Friday, March 29
Northridge, Calif.
11:00 a.m.
California State University at Northridge
15-11, 5-3
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UC Davis
14-11, 4-4
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UC Davis
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CSUN
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Photo by: Chuck Marvel
CSUN Earns Series Win Over UC Davis with Doubleheader Split
3/29/2024 9:16:00 PM | Baseball
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball earned a doubleheader split with UC Davis and a series win on Friday at Matador Field. The Matadors dropped a heartbreaking 5-4 loss in the opener but bounced back with a 11-2 victory in game two to clinch the series. Kamau Neighbors recorded back-to-back two-hit games while Kevin Fitzer had a 4-for-4 day in game two with two homers and four RBI.
HOW IT HAPPENED IN GAME 1
Justin Vose earned the start in game one and was dominant early, taking a perfect game to the fifth. However, the Aggies would come alive in the fifth to break a 0-0 tie. After the first two batters reached to start the fifth, Riley Acosta hit an RBI single. UC Davis eventually loaded the bases with one out for Damain Stone who worked a walk to put UC Davis ahead 2-0. Ryan Wentz would relief Vose and pick up a timely 4-6-3 double play to minimize the damage.
CSUN was limited to two hits through four innings but broke through in the bottom of the fifth. The Matadors put runners at second and third with one out for Neighbors who hit a two-run single to even the game. Will Linberg added a single then Jakob Simons followed with a sacrifice fly to put CSUN ahead 3-2. In the sixth, the Matadors pushed across another run on a squeeze bunt from Shunsuke Sakaino who brought home Jarren Sanderson from third base.
CSUN took a two-run lead to the eighth before the Aggies picked up a two-out RBI single from Lee. CSUN called on Joshua Romero to get the last out of the eighth inning, but the Aggies broke through with a big ninth inning. With runners at the corners and one out, Alex Gouveia hit a sacrifice fly to even the game. Moments later, Stone attempted to score on a Brandon Wooldridge single. Andrew Sojka made a strong throw home, but an error allowed Stone to score the go-ahead run.
CSUN mounted one last rally in the bottom of the ninth, eventually loading the bases with two outs, but Sojka grounded out to end the game.Â
HOW IT HAPPENED IN GAME 2
After the tough game one loss, the Matadors jumped on the Aggies in the first inning. Sanderson hit an RBI single with two outs and CSUN added another on an Aggie error off a grounder from Sakaino for a 2-0 lead.
UC Davis fought back with a two-run third inning, but it would be the only blemish against Ryan Halamicek in the game. The Aggies looked to have another run in the third on a Lee double, but Simons and Sakaino teamed up to throw out Nick Leehey at home plate. From there, Halamicek found his stride on the mound and retired the next 10 batters in a row with a a pair on strikeouts. In 6.1 innings, Halamicek scattered six hits and struck out three batters.Â
Meanwhile, CSUN reclaimed the lead in the third on a solo homer from Fitzer. The Matadors led 3-2 until the sixth when they received another home run from Fitzer and a two-run blast from Andrew Gauna with two outs. An inning later, CSUN broke through once more on back-to-back doubles from Simons and Fitzer, and later a bases loaded walk drawn by Gauna. Two more runs came in to score in the eighth with Fitzer driving in his fourth run of the game on a sacrifice fly.
Halamicek exited the game in the seventh with one out, giving way for the bullpen. Diego Gutierrez gave CSUN two shutout innings out of the bullpen while Gerald Hanson and Kenji Pallares each retired a batter to secure a win.
NOTES OF THE GAMES
ACCORDING TO COACH EDDIE CORNEJO
"You feel conflicted about today because in retrospect we could have swept, but maybe we needed to lose the first game in order to get better offensive intent, which is what we got. We also got a better start from Ryan Halamicek who has been struggling to find a good mental state to be on the attack and be aggressive. It's the most pitches he's thrown all year. In the Big West, it's all about winning a series, so you have to be content at least with that.
"We were aggressive early [offensively] and we capitalized on opportunities in game two. Even with the issues we had in game one, we still had runners at second and third with one out [in the ninth] with one of our best hitters up and we didn't capitalize. That's what this game is about. Hopefully, we are better with the lessons that we learned in game one."
UP NEXT
CSUN opens a non-conference series on the road at Utah starting April 5 at 10 a.m.
#GoMatadors
Â
HOW IT HAPPENED IN GAME 1
Justin Vose earned the start in game one and was dominant early, taking a perfect game to the fifth. However, the Aggies would come alive in the fifth to break a 0-0 tie. After the first two batters reached to start the fifth, Riley Acosta hit an RBI single. UC Davis eventually loaded the bases with one out for Damain Stone who worked a walk to put UC Davis ahead 2-0. Ryan Wentz would relief Vose and pick up a timely 4-6-3 double play to minimize the damage.
CSUN was limited to two hits through four innings but broke through in the bottom of the fifth. The Matadors put runners at second and third with one out for Neighbors who hit a two-run single to even the game. Will Linberg added a single then Jakob Simons followed with a sacrifice fly to put CSUN ahead 3-2. In the sixth, the Matadors pushed across another run on a squeeze bunt from Shunsuke Sakaino who brought home Jarren Sanderson from third base.
CSUN took a two-run lead to the eighth before the Aggies picked up a two-out RBI single from Lee. CSUN called on Joshua Romero to get the last out of the eighth inning, but the Aggies broke through with a big ninth inning. With runners at the corners and one out, Alex Gouveia hit a sacrifice fly to even the game. Moments later, Stone attempted to score on a Brandon Wooldridge single. Andrew Sojka made a strong throw home, but an error allowed Stone to score the go-ahead run.
CSUN mounted one last rally in the bottom of the ninth, eventually loading the bases with two outs, but Sojka grounded out to end the game.Â
HOW IT HAPPENED IN GAME 2
After the tough game one loss, the Matadors jumped on the Aggies in the first inning. Sanderson hit an RBI single with two outs and CSUN added another on an Aggie error off a grounder from Sakaino for a 2-0 lead.
UC Davis fought back with a two-run third inning, but it would be the only blemish against Ryan Halamicek in the game. The Aggies looked to have another run in the third on a Lee double, but Simons and Sakaino teamed up to throw out Nick Leehey at home plate. From there, Halamicek found his stride on the mound and retired the next 10 batters in a row with a a pair on strikeouts. In 6.1 innings, Halamicek scattered six hits and struck out three batters.Â
Meanwhile, CSUN reclaimed the lead in the third on a solo homer from Fitzer. The Matadors led 3-2 until the sixth when they received another home run from Fitzer and a two-run blast from Andrew Gauna with two outs. An inning later, CSUN broke through once more on back-to-back doubles from Simons and Fitzer, and later a bases loaded walk drawn by Gauna. Two more runs came in to score in the eighth with Fitzer driving in his fourth run of the game on a sacrifice fly.
Halamicek exited the game in the seventh with one out, giving way for the bullpen. Diego Gutierrez gave CSUN two shutout innings out of the bullpen while Gerald Hanson and Kenji Pallares each retired a batter to secure a win.
NOTES OF THE GAMES
- CSUN improves to 16-11 overall and 6-3 in Big West play while UC Davis is 14-12 on the season with a 4-5 conference mark.
- Fitzer finished a triple shy of the cycle in game two. He is the first Matador to hit two homers in a game this season.
- Gauna, Mason Le and Linberg had two-hit games in game two while Simons had two hits in game one.
- Wentz worked 2.2 shutout innings with three strikeouts in the opener.
- CSUN has won six straight series from UC Davis.
ACCORDING TO COACH EDDIE CORNEJO
"You feel conflicted about today because in retrospect we could have swept, but maybe we needed to lose the first game in order to get better offensive intent, which is what we got. We also got a better start from Ryan Halamicek who has been struggling to find a good mental state to be on the attack and be aggressive. It's the most pitches he's thrown all year. In the Big West, it's all about winning a series, so you have to be content at least with that.
"We were aggressive early [offensively] and we capitalized on opportunities in game two. Even with the issues we had in game one, we still had runners at second and third with one out [in the ninth] with one of our best hitters up and we didn't capitalize. That's what this game is about. Hopefully, we are better with the lessons that we learned in game one."
UP NEXT
CSUN opens a non-conference series on the road at Utah starting April 5 at 10 a.m.
#GoMatadors
Â
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Tyler Wood (2-0)
L: Romero, Joshua (6-2)
S: Carter Delaney (2)
Batting:
2B: Theo Forshey 1
RBI: Alex Gouveia 1 ; Ryan Lee 1 ; Riley Acosta 1 ; Damian Stone 1
SF: Alex Gouveia 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Mark Wolbert 1 ; Nick Leehey 1 ; Riley Acosta 1 ; Nick Iverson 1 ; Damian Stone 1
SB: Damian Stone 1
Batting:
2B: Sanderson, Jarren 1
RBI: Neighbors, Kamau 2 ; Simons, Jakob 1 ; Sakaino, Shunsuke 1
SH: Le, Mason 1
SF: Simons, Jakob 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Neighbors, Kamau 1 ; Sanderson, Jarren 1 ; Sakaino, Shunsuke 1 ; Gauna, Andrew 1
SB: Fitzer, Kevin 1
PO: Neighbors, Kamau 1
Game Leaders
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2
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4
R
1
H
2
RBI
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