Friday, April 26
Northridge, Calif.
3:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
25-14, 12-4
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Cal State Bakersfield
11-27, 6-13
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CSU Bakersfield
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CSUN
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Photo by: Chuck Marvel
CSUN Takes Series Opener from CSUB, 5-3
4/26/2024 6:42:00 PM | Baseball
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball rallied from an early deficit to take the series opener with Cal State Bakersfield 5-3 on Friday afternoon at Matador Field. Will Linberg went 3-for-5 and hit a go-ahead RBI triple while Thomas Bainton worked 6.1 innings, allowing two runs to go with six strikeouts. The Matadors stretched their win streak to six with the victory.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Roadrunners jumped ahead in the first inning on a two-out RBI double from Cody Hendricks. An error in left field allowed Kobe Silva to score from first as well, but CSUN's tandem of Ben Griffin and Kamau Neighbors teamed up to tag out Hendricks at third base for the third out.
CSUB's Ryan Verdugo stranded three base runners over the first two innings before the Matadors broke through in the bottom of the third. After Verdugo retired the first batter, Linberg and Jakob Simons collected singles. Each base runner would steal bases leading to Kevin Fitzer hitting a sacrifice fly to cut the deficit to 2-1.
Bainton settled down on the mound after the rocky first inning. The right hander retired 10 of 11 batters following the first inning while he received a 5-4-3 double play in the fourth. The Roadrunners picked up a two-out double from Cooper Gerecke in the fifth, but Bainton rebounded to retire Elijah Pelayo. Bainton went on to toss a shut out sixth and sat down the first hitter of the seventh.
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Bainton's stingy pitching allowed CSUN to finally even the game in the fifth. The Matadors would push across a run without the benefit of a hit in the inning as Neighbors and Simons walked before Fitzer was hit by a pitch to load the bases. After Jarred Sanderson was retired on strikes, Griffin stepped to the plate next with two outs and was hit by a pitch in the face to force in a run. Griffin stayed in the game to run, but Verdugo retired Shunsuke Sakaino on a force out.
An inning later, the Matadors collected a timely two-out single in the sixth to grab their first lead of the game. Andrew Sojka walked and moved up to second base on a Mason Le sacrifice bunt to set the table. Linberg would bat with two outs and lace a clutch RBI triple into the gap in left center to put CSUN in front. Another run scored moments later when Simons reached on a throwing error, allowing Linberg to score from third.
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Sojka delivered an insurance run in the seventh inning on a two-out RBI single to left, plating Sanderson from second base for a 5-2 lead.
CSUN's bullpen would record the final eight outs with Kenji Pallares working 1.2 innings and yielding a run in the eighth inning. Joshua Romero had to work around a CSUN error in the ninth before retiring three-straight batters for the save.
NOTES OF THE GAME
ACCORDING TO COACH EDDIE CORNEJO
"Thomas needs to get better in the first inning. He was 87 to 88 miles an hour in the first, everything was up, and sometimes you may need to get popped in the jaw to realize that baseball is serious. After that, he found his groove. His sinker started to work for him and his change up started to work for him. They gave us some at bats where they kind of hit themselves out of innings. I commended the defense overall because we had chances to turn several double plays and we didn't panic trying to get two before the ball was caught, so we secured one.
"I would like our team to stay in character and stay fundamental [down the stretch of the season]. When we've dropped the ball in past years, we've lost our fundamentals. That gives us the best chance against any team."
UP NEXT
CSUN continues its weekend series with Cal State Bakersfield on Saturday at 2 p.m. Ghizal Hasan has the call on ESPN+ and GoMatadors.com/Radio.
#GoMatadors
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HOW IT HAPPENED
The Roadrunners jumped ahead in the first inning on a two-out RBI double from Cody Hendricks. An error in left field allowed Kobe Silva to score from first as well, but CSUN's tandem of Ben Griffin and Kamau Neighbors teamed up to tag out Hendricks at third base for the third out.
CSUB's Ryan Verdugo stranded three base runners over the first two innings before the Matadors broke through in the bottom of the third. After Verdugo retired the first batter, Linberg and Jakob Simons collected singles. Each base runner would steal bases leading to Kevin Fitzer hitting a sacrifice fly to cut the deficit to 2-1.
Bainton settled down on the mound after the rocky first inning. The right hander retired 10 of 11 batters following the first inning while he received a 5-4-3 double play in the fourth. The Roadrunners picked up a two-out double from Cooper Gerecke in the fifth, but Bainton rebounded to retire Elijah Pelayo. Bainton went on to toss a shut out sixth and sat down the first hitter of the seventh.
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Four straight strikeouts for Thomas Bainton. ??
— CSUN Baseball (@CSUNBaseball) April 26, 2024
After the top of the 3rd, CSUN trails 2-0.#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/QFzhyVVxi0
Bainton's stingy pitching allowed CSUN to finally even the game in the fifth. The Matadors would push across a run without the benefit of a hit in the inning as Neighbors and Simons walked before Fitzer was hit by a pitch to load the bases. After Jarred Sanderson was retired on strikes, Griffin stepped to the plate next with two outs and was hit by a pitch in the face to force in a run. Griffin stayed in the game to run, but Verdugo retired Shunsuke Sakaino on a force out.
An inning later, the Matadors collected a timely two-out single in the sixth to grab their first lead of the game. Andrew Sojka walked and moved up to second base on a Mason Le sacrifice bunt to set the table. Linberg would bat with two outs and lace a clutch RBI triple into the gap in left center to put CSUN in front. Another run scored moments later when Simons reached on a throwing error, allowing Linberg to score from third.
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Have a day, 6?!
— CSUN Baseball (@CSUNBaseball) April 27, 2024
Will Linberg is 3-for-4 including this RBI triple to give CSUN the lead.#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/IeAcwV4URd
Sojka delivered an insurance run in the seventh inning on a two-out RBI single to left, plating Sanderson from second base for a 5-2 lead.
CSUN's bullpen would record the final eight outs with Kenji Pallares working 1.2 innings and yielding a run in the eighth inning. Joshua Romero had to work around a CSUN error in the ninth before retiring three-straight batters for the save.
NOTES OF THE GAME
- CSUN improves to 25-14 overall and 12-4 in Big West play while Cal State Bakersfield falls to 11-27 and 6-13.
- Fitzer returned to the lineup after missing six games and finished 1-for-3 with an RBI. He also extended his on-base streak to 29 games.
- Neighbors stretched his on-base streak to 21 games after reaching on a walk while his hit streak was snapped at 19.
- Linberg also extended his on-base streak to 19 games.
- Romero nailed down his seventh save and his 20th of his career.
- As a team, CSUN swiped five bases with Sojka stealing two.
ACCORDING TO COACH EDDIE CORNEJO
"Thomas needs to get better in the first inning. He was 87 to 88 miles an hour in the first, everything was up, and sometimes you may need to get popped in the jaw to realize that baseball is serious. After that, he found his groove. His sinker started to work for him and his change up started to work for him. They gave us some at bats where they kind of hit themselves out of innings. I commended the defense overall because we had chances to turn several double plays and we didn't panic trying to get two before the ball was caught, so we secured one.
"I would like our team to stay in character and stay fundamental [down the stretch of the season]. When we've dropped the ball in past years, we've lost our fundamentals. That gives us the best chance against any team."
UP NEXT
CSUN continues its weekend series with Cal State Bakersfield on Saturday at 2 p.m. Ghizal Hasan has the call on ESPN+ and GoMatadors.com/Radio.
#GoMatadors
Â
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Bainton, Thomas (3-1)
L: Verdugo, Ryan (2-5)
S: Romero, Joshua (7)
Batting:
2B: Hendriks, Cody 1 ; Gerecke, Cooper 1
RBI: Stancato, Kyler 1 ; Hendriks, Cody 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Salas, Nick 1 ; Silva, Kobe 1 ; Pelayo, Elijah 1
Batting:
3B: Linberg, Will 1
RBI: Linberg, Will 1 ; Fitzer, Kevin 1 ; Griffin, Ben 1 ; Sojka, Andrew 1
SH: Le, Mason 1
SF: Fitzer, Kevin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Neighbors, Kamau 1 ; Linberg, Will 2 ; Sanderson, Jarren 1 ; Sojka, Andrew 1
SB: Neighbors, Kamau 1 ; Linberg, Will 1 ; Simons, Jakob 1 ; Sojka, Andrew 2
CS: Simons, Jakob 1
HBP: Fitzer, Kevin 1 ; Griffin, Ben 1 ; Sojka, Andrew 1
Game Leaders
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Players Mentioned
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