CSUN Drops High-Scoring Opener at Utah, 14-10

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah---CSUN Baseball pounded out 15 hits but it would not be enough to overcome Utah in a 14-10 defeat on Friday at Smith's Ballpark. Kevin Fitzer posted his second straight four-hit game and scored three times while Jarren Sanderson and Bren Wilkinson had two hits and two RBI each. The Utes scored 11 runs over a four-inning span to hold off CSUN in the series opener.

HOW IT HAPPENED
CSUN jumped on Utah in the top of the first with a two-out rally. Jakob Simons would be hit by a pitch with two outs before Fitzer drew a walk to bring Sanderson to the plate. On the first pitch of the at bat, Sanderson blooped in a two-run single to right center field. Ben Griffin followed with a single and Shunsuke Sakaino added a single of his own to bring in Sanderson for a 3-0 CSUN lead.

However, Utah took advantage of two CSUN errors in the home half of the first to even the game up. After Thomas Bainton retired the first two batters of the inning, Drake Digiorno reached on an error at third base. The next two batters reached base to load the bases before Tyler Quinn reached base on another error at third. Landon Frei would punch in another run on a single while Utah scored its third run later on a passed ball.

The Matadors would reclaim the lead briefly in the top of the second when Will Linberg brought Mason Le home from third on a groundout.

Bainton worked his way through a scoreless second, but Utah put together a big third inning to take its first lead of the day. Back-to-back hits to start the inning produced the tying run for Utah before Frei delivered a big three-run homer with one out. Core Jackson later added an RBI single to close a five-run third inning for the Utes.

Trailing 8-4 In the fourth, CSUN cut the deficit in half with a two-run frame. Kamau Neighbors picked up an RBI groundout to punch home Andrew Gauna who doubled to start the inning. Later in the frame, Fitzer knocked in another run on a two-out single to bring CSUN to within 8-6.

Despite its early runs, CSUN could not keep Utah at bay over the middle innings. In the fourth, Utah scored three more runs, highlighted by a two-run single from Frei. The Utes added another run in the fifth on a CSUN throwing error and Hunter Antillon unloaded a two-run homer in the sixth to extend the lead further.

Neighbors got a run back in the top of the sixth on a solo homer run, but the Matadors trailed 14-7 after six innings. However, CSUN would continue to battle in the late innings and chip away at the deficit.

Wilkinson picked up an infield RBI single in the seventh to bring CSUN a little closer. In the ninth, CSUN had its first three hitters reach with Wilkinson delivering an RBI single. Two batters later, Gauna hit an RBI single of his own to cut the lead to 14-10. CSUN would get the tying run to the on deck circle, but Micah Ashman retired the final two Matador hitters to end the game.

NOTES OF THE GAME

CSUN falls to 16-12 overall on the season while Utah improves to 21-8.
Fitzer extended his on-base streak to 24 games while Sanderson stretched his hit streak to 11 games.
Fitzer has produced four-hit performances four times over his last eight games.
Five total Matadors had multiple-hit efforts on the day.
Hayden Cody worked the final 2.2 innings on the mound, allowing no runs and just one hit.

UP NEXT
CSUN continues its weekend series on Saturday with Utah at 6 p.m. PT.

#GoMatadors

CSUN Drops High-Scoring Opener at Utah, 14-10

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Team Stats

Kevin Fitzer

Jarren Sanderson

Ben Griffin

Bren Wilkinson

Players Mentioned

Thomas Bainton

Hayden Cody

Kevin Fitzer

Andrew Gauna

Ben Griffin

Mason Le

Will Linberg

Kamau Neighbors

Shunsuke Sakaino

Jarren Sanderson

Jakob Simons

Bren Wilkinson

Players Mentioned

Thomas Bainton

Hayden Cody

Kevin Fitzer

Andrew Gauna

Ben Griffin

Mason Le

Will Linberg

Kamau Neighbors

Shunsuke Sakaino

Jarren Sanderson

Jakob Simons

Bren Wilkinson