California State University at Northridge
1-1
Santa Clara
1-1
CSUN Edges Santa Clara, 11-9, For First Win of the Season
2/15/2025 8:23:00 PM | Baseball
HOW IT HAPPENED
A day after letting a late lead slip away in a series-opening loss, CSUN looked to take control at the outset. Roberto Gonzalez opened up the game with a single while Boardman hit a double and Pena followed with a sacrifice fly. Tyler Mejia would make it a 2-0 game on a two-out RBI single to plate Boardman.
Santa Clara would respond in the home half of the first with Max Ross picking up an RBI double and Malcolm Williams cashing in on an RBI single with two outs. The rally though was squashed when catcher Jesus Liera threw out Williams trying to swipe second base for the third out.
Gutierrez would rebound after the rocky first inning to blank the Broncos over the next four frames. Santa Clara threatened in three of those innings, but Gutierrez stranded four base runners over that span.
The Matadors surged ahead in the top of the fourth with Clayton hammerng a two-run homer with two outs for a 4-2 lead. An inning later, CSUN leaned on the long ball once more as an error to begin the fifth followed by a Boardman single brought Pena to the plate. Pena fought to a 3-2 count before unloading a three-run homer to right center, stretching the lead to 7-2.
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PENA GOES DEEP!
— CSUN Baseball (@CSUNBaseball) February 15, 2025
Matthew Pena smacks a three-run BOMB to extend the lead to 7-2!#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/otSFtIC5Br
In the sixth, CSUN continued to receive production with two outs with three more coming across. Gonzalez kept the inning alive with a two-out walk before Kyle Panganiban and Boardman each singled to produce a run. Moments later, Pena collected his fifth RBI of the day with an infield single to plate Panganiban.
Santa Clara got a run back in the bottom of the sixth, but CSUN answered in the seventh with a two-run single from Gonzalez to push the lead to 11-3. However, much like last night's game, the Broncos were far from done. Dylan Joyce came through with a two-out RBI single in the seventh before four more runs came across in the eighth, highlighted by a two-run double from Ben Cleary. Behind the plate, Liera came up with another big play to the end the eighth, throwing out Conner Smith at third base.
In the ninth, the Broncos threatened once more with two of the first three batters reaching on hits. Mateo Garcia made it an 11-9 game on an RBI single, but reliever Calix Armijo finally ended the threat by retiring the next two batters to secure a CSUN win.
NOTES OF THE GAME
- CSUN improves to 1-1 on the season and Santa Clara falls to 1-1.
- Seven Matador batters reach on hits and seven scored at least once.
- The quartet of Gonzalez, Pena, Mejia and Clayton had two hits apiece.
- Armijo earned his first career save with CSUN, tossing 1.1 innings and allowing a run.Â
- Blake Ignaciak worked 0.2 shutout innings in relief for CSUN.
ACCORDING TO COACH EDDIE CORNEJO
"I don't want to get caught up in the results of either game thus far. The results are what they are. Our coaching staff is staying the course of working to play good baseball. We are far from that and tomorrow's a good opportunity to build off of what needs improvement."
UP NEXT
CSUN will play Santa Clara in the rubber game of their weekend series on Sunday at 12 p.m.
#GoMatadors
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Gutierrez, Diego (1-0)
L: ALLEMAN, Tyler (0-1)
S: Armijo, Calix (1)
Batting:
2B: Boardman, Colton 1 ; Mejia, Tyler 1
HR: Pena, Matthew 1 ; Clayton, Jr., Royce 1
RBI: Gonzalez, Roberto 2 ; Boardman, Colton 1 ; Pena, Matthew 5 ; Mejia, Tyler 1 ; Clayton, Jr., Royce 2
SF: Pena, Matthew 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Gonzalez, Roberto 2 ; Panganiban, Kyle 2 ; Boardman, Colton 2 ; Pena, Matthew 1 ; Fairchild, Elijah 2 ; Liera, Jesus 1 ; Clayton, Jr., Royce 1
HBP: Calvillo, Cameron 1
Batting:
2B: GARCIA, Mateo 1 ; CLEARY, Ben 1 ; ROSS, Max 1 ; DEVINE, Luke 1
RBI: GARCIA, Mateo 2 ; CLEARY, Ben 2 ; ROSS, Max 2 ; WILLIAMS, Malcolm 1 ; JOYCE, Dylan 1 ; DEVINE, Luke 1
SF: DEVINE, Luke 1
Base Running:
RUNS: GARCIA, Mateo 3 ; CLEARY, Ben 1 ; ROSS, Max 1 ; LUETZOW, Johnny 1 ; DEVINE, Luke 2 ; CUNNINGHAM, Kai 1
SB: JOYCE, Dylan 1
CS: WILLIAMS, Malcolm 1
HBP: CUNNINGHAM, Kai 1
PO: SMITH, Conner 1
