Friday, March 7
Santa Barbara, Calif.
4:05 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
2-8, 0-1
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#16 UC Santa Barbara
11-2, 1-0
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CSUN
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UC Santa Barbara
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Photo by: Chuck Marvel
CSUN Drops Big West Opener at #16 UCSB in 13 Innings
3/7/2025 8:48:00 PM | Baseball
SANTA BARBARA, Calif.---CSUN Baseball held a one-run lead with two outs in the ninth but could not hold on and fell in 13 innings 4-3 to No. 16 UC Santa Barbara on Friday at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium. Ryan Halamicek struck out a career-high eight batters, allowing two runs over seven quality innings. The Gauchos would walk off in the 13th inning via a balk.
HOW IT HAPPENED
CSUN gave All-American pitcher Tyler Bremner a battle throughout the night, first breaking through in the top of the first. Roberto Gonzalez collected a leadoff single to start the game before reaching second on a stolen base and scoring on an RBI single from Kyle Panganiban.
The Gauchos answered back in the home half of the first with a two-out rally against Halamicek. A four-pitch walk began the rally before back-to-back hits produced the tying run. UCSB would go ahead in the bottom of the second when Xavier Esquer came through with a two-out RBI single for a 2-1 lead.
After giving up single tallies in the first two innings, Halamicek began to settle down on the mound. Beginning with an out to end the second inning, Halamicek sat down six consecutive batters, striking out three. He would tip-toe out of danger in the fourth, leaving two base runners then pitch a 1-2-3 bottom of the fifth, ending that frame with another strikeout.
The Matadors would take advantage of mistakes on the mound to reclaim the lead in the fifth. Andrew Becker doubled to start the inning before taking third base on a wild pitch and eventually scoring on another wild pitch. Bremner would go on to toss four wild pitches in the inning while Fairchild drove in the go-ahead run on a single up the middle for a 3-2 lead. CSUN though settled for just the two runs, leaving the bases loaded.
It seemed as though the one-run lead would be enough for Halamicek who pitched around a single in the sixth and tossed a clean bottom of the seventh before turning the ball over to the bullpen. Hernandez took over in the eighth but faced trouble when UCSB loaded the bases with one out. However, Hernandez induced a 4-6-3 double play off the bat of Liam Barrett to end the inning.
In the ninth, Hernandez retired two of the first three batters but yielded a two-out RBI single from Jack Holman to tie the game at 3-3. Moments later, the CSUN right hander bounced back to strike out Rex DeAngelis to send the game to extras.
The respective bullpens took turns throwing 1-2-3 innings until the top of the 13th when CSUN threatened with runners at second and third base with two outs, but Royce Clayton, Jr. grounded out to end the inning.
Finally, UCSB broke through in the bottom of the 13th. A leadoff walk started the rally before Reiss Calvin reached on a one-out infield single. With runners at the corners, a balk on the mound forced home the winning run from third.
NOTES OF THE GAME
UP NEXT
CSUN plays game two of the weekend series with UC Santa Barbara on Saturday at 3:05 p.m. on ESPN+.
#GoMatadors
Â
HOW IT HAPPENED
CSUN gave All-American pitcher Tyler Bremner a battle throughout the night, first breaking through in the top of the first. Roberto Gonzalez collected a leadoff single to start the game before reaching second on a stolen base and scoring on an RBI single from Kyle Panganiban.
The Gauchos answered back in the home half of the first with a two-out rally against Halamicek. A four-pitch walk began the rally before back-to-back hits produced the tying run. UCSB would go ahead in the bottom of the second when Xavier Esquer came through with a two-out RBI single for a 2-1 lead.
After giving up single tallies in the first two innings, Halamicek began to settle down on the mound. Beginning with an out to end the second inning, Halamicek sat down six consecutive batters, striking out three. He would tip-toe out of danger in the fourth, leaving two base runners then pitch a 1-2-3 bottom of the fifth, ending that frame with another strikeout.
The Matadors would take advantage of mistakes on the mound to reclaim the lead in the fifth. Andrew Becker doubled to start the inning before taking third base on a wild pitch and eventually scoring on another wild pitch. Bremner would go on to toss four wild pitches in the inning while Fairchild drove in the go-ahead run on a single up the middle for a 3-2 lead. CSUN though settled for just the two runs, leaving the bases loaded.
It seemed as though the one-run lead would be enough for Halamicek who pitched around a single in the sixth and tossed a clean bottom of the seventh before turning the ball over to the bullpen. Hernandez took over in the eighth but faced trouble when UCSB loaded the bases with one out. However, Hernandez induced a 4-6-3 double play off the bat of Liam Barrett to end the inning.
In the ninth, Hernandez retired two of the first three batters but yielded a two-out RBI single from Jack Holman to tie the game at 3-3. Moments later, the CSUN right hander bounced back to strike out Rex DeAngelis to send the game to extras.
The respective bullpens took turns throwing 1-2-3 innings until the top of the 13th when CSUN threatened with runners at second and third base with two outs, but Royce Clayton, Jr. grounded out to end the inning.
Finally, UCSB broke through in the bottom of the 13th. A leadoff walk started the rally before Reiss Calvin reached on a one-out infield single. With runners at the corners, a balk on the mound forced home the winning run from third.
NOTES OF THE GAME
- CSUN drops to 2-8 overall while UCSB improves to 11-2.
- Hernandez tossed five innings in relief, allowing two runs on three hits to go with a career-high eight strikeouts.
- Fairchild had two hits with an RBI out of the nine spot in the lineup while Panganiban reached three times with an RBI.
- Gonzalez went 1-for-4 with a walk as he extended his on-base streak to nine games.
- Becker extended his hit streak to five games after a 1-for-3 day.
UP NEXT
CSUN plays game two of the weekend series with UC Santa Barbara on Saturday at 3:05 p.m. on ESPN+.
#GoMatadors
Â
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Donovann Jackson (2-0)
L: Hernandez, Gabriel (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Becker, Andrew 1
RBI: Panganiban, Kyle 1 ; Fairchild, Elijah 1
SH: Gonzalez, Roberto 1 ; Boardman, Colton 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Gonzalez, Roberto 1 ; Becker, Andrew 1 ; Rios, Xavier 1
SB: Gonzalez, Roberto 1
HBP: Rios, Xavier 1
Batting:
2B: Xavier Esquer 2
RBI: Xavier Esquer 1 ; Jack Holman 1 ; Nate Vargas 1
SH: LeTrey McCollum 1 ; Ian Fernandez 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Xavier Esquer 1 ; Jack Holman 1 ; Nate Vargas 1 ; Cole Kosciusko 1
HBP: Isaac Kim 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
cf/rf
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
rf/lf
AB
6
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
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