CSUN Falls at UC San Diego in Rubber Game

LA JOLLA, Calif.---CSUN Baseball dropped the rubber game of its weekend series with UC San Diego 23-6 on Sunday afternoon at Triton Ballpark. Four Matadors recorded multi-hit games with Andrew Becker finishing with three hits and two runs scored and Andrew Gauna totaling two hits, two runs scored, two RBI and a homer.

HOW IT HAPPENED
CSUN would open the game with consecutive singles from Roberto Gonzalez and Kyle Panganiban. Eventually, CSUN collected a run on a play where Panganiban attempted to steal second base. This would allow Gonzalez enough time to steal home plate and give the Matadors a 1-0 edge.

The lead though was short lived as the Tritons put together a big bottom of the first and took control early. A single to start the inning followed by three consecutive one-out walks, produced the tying run. UCSD then received a grand slam from Alex Leopard to quickly go in front 5-1.

The Tritons flexed their muscles again in the second inning, capitalizing on a pair of walks to start the inning before recording four extra base hits. Leopard homered for the second consecutive inning, this time a two-run shot that capped a six-run inning.

The lead swelled to 13-1 after a two-run UCSD bottom of the third before CSUN got a run back in the fourth when Matthew Pena drew a bases loaded walk. The Matadors though settled for the one run, leaving three on the base paths.

CSUN would inch closer in the top of the fifth on a pair of two-out hits. Andrew Becker legged out a single to keep the inning alive while Gauna homered for the third time this weekend, cutting the deficit to 14-4. In the seventh, the Matadors pulled two runs closer as Andrew Becker collected an RBI double and Elijah Fairchild stroked a two-out RBI single.

However, UCSD responded with another scoring outburst in the home half of the seventh. Leopard homered for the third time on the afternoon in a five-run bottom of the seventh that extended the lead to 19-6. The Tritons added four more in the bottom of the eighth, wrapping up the scoring for the afternoon.

NOTES OF THE GAME

CSUN drops to 8-23 overall and 4-14 in Big West play while UC San Diego improves to 16-18 overall and 7-8 in conference.
Eight of the nine Matador starters recorded at least one hit.
Panganiban and Abel finished with two hits apiece.
Abel also extended his hit streak to 14 games.
A total of eight Matador pitchers saw action on the mound with Jackson Banuelos pitching a team-high two innings out of the bullpen while allowing no runs and two hits.

UP NEXT
CSUN opens a four-game homestand next week, beginning on Tuesday against Portland at 4 p.m. Ghizal Hasan will call the action on ESPN+ and GoMatadors.com/Radio.

#GoMatadors

CSUN Falls at UC San Diego in Rubber Game

Players Mentioned

Jackson Banuelos

Andrew Becker

Elijah Fairchild

Andrew Gauna

Roberto Gonzalez

Kyle Panganiban

Matthew Pena