CBB News Sources
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Cal State Northridge (21-25) rode a wave of offense to its 21st victory Wednesday, notching three consecutive doubles in the fourth and cruising to a 4-2 victory over UNLV (20-24). The Northridge pitching effort returned to form behind a strong start from Drew Muren, who tossed five shutout frames before handing off to Davin Tate and the rest of the bullpen.
Muren wrapped us his first career shutout appearance in the fifth by facing just four batters and also posted two perfect innings. The freshman right-hander only got into any real trouble in the second, when Jesse Wight smacked a leadoff double for the Rebels. Muren, however, promptly picked him off and struck out the second man of the inning. Muren then surrendered a single and a walk before getting a fly out to finish the inning.
Northridge was also blanked through three to start the game, with UNLV starter Michael Goodman setting the Matadors down in order in the first and squirming out of trouble in the second and the third.
In the fourth, Ryan Pineda, Chris Hannick, and Dominic D’Anna logged back-to-back-to-back doubles that led to a pair of runs and a 2-0 Northridge lead. In the third, it was Jeff Pruitt making things happen with a leadoff single and subsequent stolen base with a throwing error that moved him to third. TS Reed singled Pruitt home to push the Northridge lead to 3-0.
The score stood pat through the sixth, with Northridge going down in order and Tate coming on to shut down the Rebs in the bottom half. The seventh brought the offense back for both sides, with Matt Warr logging a leadoff double, Jason Dabbs following with a sacrifice bunt, and Reed coming up with another RBI single.
Tate surrendered a solo home run in the bottom half that slimmed the Northridge advantage to 4-1.
A quiet top of the eighth preceded a very loud bottom half. On after relieving Tate in the seventh was Edwin Quirarte, who loaded the bases with none out. With the sacks full, Quirarte induced a pop up in foul territory that Pineda snagged for the first damage-free out. A ground out brought home one, and a second ground out closed out the inning with Northridge ahead 4-2.
Reed collected another single in the ninth with two outs and stole second to get himself in scoring position, but was stranded there after a C.J. Belanger ground out.
Quirarte took a two-run lead into the ninth with a chance for his ninth save and did not disappoint. The junior had a slight hiccup with a two-out, pinch-hit single through the right side but slammed the door with a ground out to Dabbs at short, securing the 4-2 win.
Reed was 3-for-5 with two RBI with a stolen base on the day, joining D’Anna as offensive catalysts for Northridge. D’Anna slugged a pair of doubles as part of a 2-for-4 day.
Tigers Defeat Santa Clara, 11-7
Stockton, Calif. – The Pacific baseball team defeated Santa Clara 11-7 on Wednesday, May 7 at Klein Family Field in Stockton, Calif. Pacific improves to 10-35 while the Broncos fall to 29-18.
Pacific jumped out to a 3-0 lead on the strength of three solo home runs. The Tigers got home runs from senior Adam Ching (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) in the bottom of the first inning and solo shots from junior Mike McKeever (San Diego, Calif.) and sophomore Mike Walker (Marysville, Calif.) in the bottom of the second inning.
The Broncos evened the score at 3-3 in the top of the third inning on a three-run home run by Tommy Medica.
The Tigers struck back for four more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to take a 7-3 lead. Sophomore Matt Fuson (Lodi, Calif.) got aboard on a single with one out, then back-to-back doubles by junior Joe Oliveira (San Diego, Calif.) and Ching made it 5-3. Freshman Nick Longmire (San Diego, Calif.) and senior John Joines (Milpitas, Calif.) added RBI singles to make it 7-3. Longmire extended his hitting streak to team season-high tying 11 games with the hit.
Pacific added another run in the bottom of the fifth inning on another RBI from Longmire, this one on a double to left field to make it 8-3. After the Broncos scored a run on a double play in the top of the seventh, the Tigers scored an unearned run in the bottom of the inning after Santa Clara committed three errors to take the lead back to five at 9-4.
The Tigers allowed three unearned runs in the top of the eighth inning, then struck back for two more runs in the bottom of the frame, both on a two-run double by Walker.
Tiger starter Cole Akins (Seattle, Wash.) allowed three runs in four innings, striking out four. Sophomore Andrew Mintun (Stockton, Calif.) gave Pacific two scoreless innings of relief. Mintun picked up the victory to move to 2-0 on the season. Freshman Thomas Berolzheimer (Stockton, Calif.) pitched the final three innings to pick up his team-leading third save of the year.
Ching and Joines each led the Tigers with three hits apiece.
Hit by Pitch Gives Waves 5-4 Win over UCSB
MALIBU, Calif. – Denny Duron was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, giving the #14 Pepperdine baseball team an unconventional 5-4 walkoff win over UC Santa Barbara on Wednesday afternoon at Eddy D. Field Stadium.
Pepperdine (29-16, 9-5 WCC) snapped its three-game losing streak with the win over the Gauchos (30-17). The win was the Waves’ second walk-off victory of the season, with the first coming on Apr. 12 vs. .
The Waves’ bats came out hot, as Pepperdine put up three runs in the bottom of the first. Ryan Heroy (Henderson, Nev./Green Valley HS) and Nate Simon (Duvall, Wash./Tulane) notched RBI singles, and Eric Thames (San Jose, Calif./West Valley JC) scored on an error to give the Waves a 3-0 lead.
UCSB pushed across a pair of runs in the fourth on four hits to cut Pepperdine’s lead to 3-2 and then tied it at 3-3 in the fifth with an RBI single.
Bryce Mendonca (San Leandro, Calif./Chabot JC) helped Pepperdine reclaim the lead with an RBI single in the fifth, but the Gauchos tied it up again in the seventh on a two-out RBI double from Shane Carlson to make it a 4-4 contest. Nick Gaudi (, Calif./Paraclete HS) then came on in relief in the seventh and tossed 2.1 innings of scoreless baseball to keep the score knotted at 4-4 heading into the bottom of the ninth.
In the ninth, Heroy singled to lead off the frame, and pinch runner Matthew Frazee (, Wash./Bainbridge HS) advanced to second on Simon’s sac bunt. Chase d’Arnaud (, Calif.Long Beach/Los Alamitos HS) was then intentionally walked, and Donald Brown (Camarillo, Calif./Camarillo HS) also drew a walk to load the bases, sending Duron (, La./Evangel Christian Academy) to the plate. UCSB pitcher Michael Martin’s second pitch hit Duron on the back, scoring Frazee and giving Pepperdine the walk-off win.
Gaudi picked up the win in relief to improve to 4-1. Pepperdine starter Jonathan Harmston (, Calif./Bullard HS) took a no-decision.
Heroy notched two hits and one RBI to lead the Waves, and five others notched one hit. Carlson led UCSB with a three-hit effort.
