California State University Northridge Athletics
Friday, May 10
Northridge, Calif.
3:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
28-18, 14-8
5
vs
11
UC San Diego
27-19, 14-11
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UC San Diego | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 11 | 13 | 2 |
| CSUN | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 1 |
Photo by: Chuck Marvel
CSUN Drops Series Opener to UCSD in Extras
5/10/2024 7:07:00 PM | Baseball
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball fell 11-5 in 10 innings to UC San Diego on Friday afternoon at Matador Field. CSUN had the winning run thrown out at home plate in the bottom of the ninth before the Tritons broke through with a six-run 10th to take the opener. Shunsuke Sakaino led the way with three hits while Andrew Sojka drove in three runs. Kenji Pallares worked 4.1 innings out of the bullpen, allowing a run.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Matadors would dig an early 3-0 hole as the Tritons' Emiliano Gonzalez blasted a three-run homer in the top of the first. CSUN though got a run back quickly in the bottom of the first when Jakob Simons grounded out to short, bringing in Kamau Neighbors from third.
After giving up the homer in the first, Thomas Bainton rebounded with back-to-back shutout innings on the mound. Meanwhile, CSUN jumped in front in the bottom of the third on a big two-out hit from Sojka. In the only hit of the third, Sojka stepped to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded after two reached on walks and one on a hit by a pitch. Sojka would rifle a three-run triple to right center for a 4-3 Matador lead.
The Matadors though surrendered the lead right back in the fourth. Two of the first three batters reached base on singles then Noah Sudyka stroked an RBI double to center. UCSD reclaimed the lead at 5-4 on a Nick Costello RBI groundout.
CSUN stranded three base runners over the middle innings, but finally broke though in the seventh. Neighbors drew a leadoff walk and Sakaino reached on a bunt hit to start. After Neighbors stole third, Fitzer executed a squeeze bunt to bring home the tying run. CSUN though settled for the one run as the next three batters struck out.
Pallares gave the Matadors a lift out of the bullpen with his four-plus innings of work. Entering the game in the fourth, Pallares blanked UCSD over the fifth, sixth and seventh innings before exiting the game in the eighth. The Tritons threatened in the top of the eighth with runners on second and third and two outs, but reliever Joshua Romero struck out Cooper Thacker to keep the game tied.
CSUN nearly came away with the winning run in the bottom of the ninth when Sojka reached on an error with runners at the first and second base and two outs. Sojka's bouncer to first was mishandled, prompting Neighbors to attempt to score from second base. However, Anthony Potestio made a strong throw home to get Neighbors at the plate to keep the game tied.
Following the play at home, the Tritons broke through with a big top of the 10th. A hit batter began the inning before a sacrifice bunt by Andy Ambriz and an RBI double from Doyle Kane that nearly was caught in right field put UCSD in front again. From there, the Tritons collected four more hits and five more runs to break the game open.
NOTES OF THE GAME
ACCORDING TO COACH EDDIE CORNEJO
"We need to flush everything that we've done up until today. We keep hanging on to things that really don't matter for how we're supposed to play today and how we're supposed to play tomorrow. That's the message. We have to get good at flushing. If we keep hanging onto things that we haven't accomplished, then I've taught them nothing."
UP NEXT
CSUN plays UC San Diego in game two of its weekend series on Saturday at 2 p.m.
#GoMatadors
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HOW IT HAPPENED
The Matadors would dig an early 3-0 hole as the Tritons' Emiliano Gonzalez blasted a three-run homer in the top of the first. CSUN though got a run back quickly in the bottom of the first when Jakob Simons grounded out to short, bringing in Kamau Neighbors from third.
After giving up the homer in the first, Thomas Bainton rebounded with back-to-back shutout innings on the mound. Meanwhile, CSUN jumped in front in the bottom of the third on a big two-out hit from Sojka. In the only hit of the third, Sojka stepped to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded after two reached on walks and one on a hit by a pitch. Sojka would rifle a three-run triple to right center for a 4-3 Matador lead.
The Matadors though surrendered the lead right back in the fourth. Two of the first three batters reached base on singles then Noah Sudyka stroked an RBI double to center. UCSD reclaimed the lead at 5-4 on a Nick Costello RBI groundout.
CSUN stranded three base runners over the middle innings, but finally broke though in the seventh. Neighbors drew a leadoff walk and Sakaino reached on a bunt hit to start. After Neighbors stole third, Fitzer executed a squeeze bunt to bring home the tying run. CSUN though settled for the one run as the next three batters struck out.
Pallares gave the Matadors a lift out of the bullpen with his four-plus innings of work. Entering the game in the fourth, Pallares blanked UCSD over the fifth, sixth and seventh innings before exiting the game in the eighth. The Tritons threatened in the top of the eighth with runners on second and third and two outs, but reliever Joshua Romero struck out Cooper Thacker to keep the game tied.
CSUN nearly came away with the winning run in the bottom of the ninth when Sojka reached on an error with runners at the first and second base and two outs. Sojka's bouncer to first was mishandled, prompting Neighbors to attempt to score from second base. However, Anthony Potestio made a strong throw home to get Neighbors at the plate to keep the game tied.
Following the play at home, the Tritons broke through with a big top of the 10th. A hit batter began the inning before a sacrifice bunt by Andy Ambriz and an RBI double from Doyle Kane that nearly was caught in right field put UCSD in front again. From there, the Tritons collected four more hits and five more runs to break the game open.
NOTES OF THE GAME
- CSUN falls to 28-18 overall and 14-8 in Big West play while UCSD improves to 27-19 overall and 14-11 in conference.
- Sakaino finished with his 14th multiple-hit game of the season.
- Romero was tagged with the loss after going two innings and allowing four runs to go with three strikeouts.
- Neighbors scored three times and walked twice to go with a single.
ACCORDING TO COACH EDDIE CORNEJO
"We need to flush everything that we've done up until today. We keep hanging on to things that really don't matter for how we're supposed to play today and how we're supposed to play tomorrow. That's the message. We have to get good at flushing. If we keep hanging onto things that we haven't accomplished, then I've taught them nothing."
UP NEXT
CSUN plays UC San Diego in game two of its weekend series on Saturday at 2 p.m.
#GoMatadors
Â
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Marchetti, Landon (2-2)
L: Romero, Joshua (8-3)
Batting:
2B: Kane, Doyle 1 ; Sudyka, Noah 1
HR: Gonzalez, Emiliano 1
RBI: Costello, Nick 1 ; Potestio, Anthony 2 ; Gonzalez, Emiliano 4 ; Kane, Doyle 1 ; Thacker, Cooper 1 ; Sudyka, Noah 2
SH: Ambriz, Andy 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Costello, Nick 1 ; Rosengard, Benjamin 1 ; Potestio, Anthony 1 ; Gonzalez, Emiliano 2 ; Kane, Doyle 2 ; Kleszcz, Brock 1 ; Preap, Bradlee 1 ; Thacker, Cooper 1 ; Sudyka, Noah 1
SB: Costello, Nick 1 ; Kleszcz, Brock 1
CS: Potestio, Anthony 1
HBP: Gonzalez, Emiliano 1
Batting:
3B: Sojka, Andrew 1
RBI: Fitzer, Kevin 1 ; Simons, Jakob 1 ; Sojka, Andrew 3
SH: Sakaino, Shunsuke 1 ; Fitzer, Kevin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Neighbors, Kamau 3 ; Sakaino, Shunsuke 1 ; Simons, Jakob 1
SB: Neighbors, Kamau 1 ; Sakaino, Shunsuke 1
HBP: Neighbors, Kamau 1 ; Simons, Jakob 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
1
H
3
RBI
0
AB
2
R
3
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
3
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
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RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
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OF
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