Saturday, May 3
Northridge, Calif.
4:30 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
11-30, 7-16
1
vs
3
UC Riverside
16-29, 5-18
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2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
UC Riverside
0
0
0
1
2
0
0
0
0
3
4
2
CSUN
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
8
2
Photo by: Chuck Marvel
CSUN Falls 3-1 to UC Riverside
5/3/2025 7:59:00 PM | Baseball
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball suffered a 3-1 defeat to UC Riverside on Saturday evening at Robert J. Hiegert Field. The Matadors had the potential game-winning home run ball caught at the warning track to end the game as UCR evened the weekend series. Kyle Panganiban supplied the Matador offense with a solo homer while Diego Gutierrez and Ryan Halamicek combined to strike out 11 batters.
HOW IT HAPPENED
CSUN would get a near quality start from Gutierrez on Saturday as the right hander worked into the sixth inning. To start, he picked up a pair of strikeouts while he went on to retire six of seven batters in the early going. Gutierrez struck out three batters in a scoreless third inning as he scattered a double and a walk in the frame.
The Matadors gave Gutierrez a bit of run support early when Panganiban belted a first-inning solo homer for a 1-0 lead. CSUN would also get a walk from Will Linberg and a single from Andrew Gauna, but UCR's Matthew O'Brien retired the next batter and picked off Gauna at first base to escape with just the run allowed.
O'Brien received another lift in the third inning when CSUN had the first two batters reach with nobody out. After O'Brien struck out Xavier Rios, Trent Abel was thrown out attempting to swipe third base. That play preceded an O'Brien strike out as CSUN again had a rally go by the wayside.
CSUN led 1-0 until the fourth inning when the Highlanders took advantage of a pair of CSUN errors at third base to plate the tying run. An inning later, the Highlanders jumped ahead on solo homers from Andrew Rivas and Landon Nunes to go ahead 3-1.
After a shaky fifth inning, Gutierrez recorded a pair of outs in the sixth, but a hit batter and a walk put two runners on base in the inning. CSUN went to the bullpen as Halamicek attempted to keep the lead at 3-1. A five-pitch walk loaded the bases with two outs, but Halamicek fanned Rivas for a big third out to keep CSUN to within two.
Meanwhile, CSUN threatened with scoring chances in the fourth and fifth innings but could not get any runs across on O'Brien. Over those two frames, CSUN left a runner stranded at third.
O'Brien kept cruising along until the eighth inning, but a one-out single from Roberto Gonzalez prompted a pitching change. Panganiban would be retired next, but Will Linberg followed with an infield single, plus a throwing error on the play put runners at the corners. The Matadors though were turned away on a Gauna popout.
In the bottom of the ninth, CSUN nearly came away with the game-winning hit with two outs. In the frame, a single from Trent Abel and an Angel Cortez hit by pitch put a pair of Matadors on the base paths. Colton Boardman stepped up to the plate with two outs, representing the winning run. On a 2-0 pitch, Boardman hit a long fly ball deep to right field, but at the warning track, Jaxon Byrd made the catch for the last out.
NOTES OF THE GAME
ACCORDING TO COACH EDDIE CORNEJO
"I was mainly disappointed in our offensive discipline and competitiveness overall. We had base runners on in key situations and we struggled to get that big hit. We could have done a lot better job of working with what they were giving us and that's part of maturing, which we need to do a lot of."
UP NEXT
CSUN and UC Riverside play the rubber game of their weekend series on Sunday at 1 p.m. Ghizal Hasan will have the call on ESPN+.
#GoMatadors
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HOW IT HAPPENED
CSUN would get a near quality start from Gutierrez on Saturday as the right hander worked into the sixth inning. To start, he picked up a pair of strikeouts while he went on to retire six of seven batters in the early going. Gutierrez struck out three batters in a scoreless third inning as he scattered a double and a walk in the frame.
The Matadors gave Gutierrez a bit of run support early when Panganiban belted a first-inning solo homer for a 1-0 lead. CSUN would also get a walk from Will Linberg and a single from Andrew Gauna, but UCR's Matthew O'Brien retired the next batter and picked off Gauna at first base to escape with just the run allowed.
O'Brien received another lift in the third inning when CSUN had the first two batters reach with nobody out. After O'Brien struck out Xavier Rios, Trent Abel was thrown out attempting to swipe third base. That play preceded an O'Brien strike out as CSUN again had a rally go by the wayside.
CSUN led 1-0 until the fourth inning when the Highlanders took advantage of a pair of CSUN errors at third base to plate the tying run. An inning later, the Highlanders jumped ahead on solo homers from Andrew Rivas and Landon Nunes to go ahead 3-1.
After a shaky fifth inning, Gutierrez recorded a pair of outs in the sixth, but a hit batter and a walk put two runners on base in the inning. CSUN went to the bullpen as Halamicek attempted to keep the lead at 3-1. A five-pitch walk loaded the bases with two outs, but Halamicek fanned Rivas for a big third out to keep CSUN to within two.
Meanwhile, CSUN threatened with scoring chances in the fourth and fifth innings but could not get any runs across on O'Brien. Over those two frames, CSUN left a runner stranded at third.
O'Brien kept cruising along until the eighth inning, but a one-out single from Roberto Gonzalez prompted a pitching change. Panganiban would be retired next, but Will Linberg followed with an infield single, plus a throwing error on the play put runners at the corners. The Matadors though were turned away on a Gauna popout.
In the bottom of the ninth, CSUN nearly came away with the game-winning hit with two outs. In the frame, a single from Trent Abel and an Angel Cortez hit by pitch put a pair of Matadors on the base paths. Colton Boardman stepped up to the plate with two outs, representing the winning run. On a 2-0 pitch, Boardman hit a long fly ball deep to right field, but at the warning track, Jaxon Byrd made the catch for the last out.
NOTES OF THE GAME
- CSUN drops to 11-30 overall and 7-16 in Big West play while UC Riverside improves to 16-29 overall and 5-18 in conference.
- Gutierrez finished with 5.2 innings pitched and seven strikeouts to go with three runs allowed on three hits.
- Halamicek made his second relief appearance of the season, tossing 3.1 innings with a hit allowed and four strikeouts.
- Gonzalez tied CSUN's Division I record for the most triples in a single season with his seventh. His seven triples tied Adam Kennedy (1995) and C.J. Belanger's (2010) D-1 bests with the Matadors.
- Gonzalez also extended his on-base streak to 15 games while Gauna stretched his hit streak to 10 and Panganiban pushed his hit streak to nine.
ACCORDING TO COACH EDDIE CORNEJO
"I was mainly disappointed in our offensive discipline and competitiveness overall. We had base runners on in key situations and we struggled to get that big hit. We could have done a lot better job of working with what they were giving us and that's part of maturing, which we need to do a lot of."
UP NEXT
CSUN and UC Riverside play the rubber game of their weekend series on Sunday at 1 p.m. Ghizal Hasan will have the call on ESPN+.
#GoMatadors
Â
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: O'BRIEN, Matthew (4-4)
L: Gutierrez, Diego (2-6)
S: HUDSON, Matt (5)
Batting:
2B: PITTS, Robert 1
HR: RIVAS, Andrew 1 ; NUNES, Landon 1
RBI: RIVAS, Andrew 1 ; NUNES, Landon 1
SH: GIBBS, David 1
Base Running:
RUNS: RIVAS, Andrew 1 ; NUNES, Landon 1 ; BADAWI, Jacob 1
HBP: BADAWI, Jacob 1
Batting:
3B: Gonzalez, Roberto 1
HR: Panganiban, Kyle 1
RBI: Panganiban, Kyle 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Panganiban, Kyle 1
CS: Abel, Trent 1
HBP: Cortez, Angel 1
PO: Gauna, Andrew 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
2b/3b
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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