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

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Team Stats

Andrew Becker

Kyle Panganiban

Andrew Gauna

Trent Abel

Players Mentioned

Jackson Banuelos

Andrew Becker

Elijah Fairchild

Andrew Gauna

Roberto Gonzalez

Kyle Panganiban

Matthew Pena

Players Mentioned

Jackson Banuelos

Andrew Becker

Elijah Fairchild

Andrew Gauna

Roberto Gonzalez

Kyle Panganiban

Matthew Pena