NORTHRIDGE, Calif. — For the second day in a row, Cal State Northridge turned Indiana errors into runs. The Matadors took the Sunday afternoon matchup 5-3 at Matador Field to take the weekend series.
After Indiana scored two runs in the eighth inning off Northridge freshman reliever Louis Cohen, the Matadors responded, scoring three runs with the help of two errors in the bottom half of the inning.
Miles Williams reached on a sharply hit groundball that went through the legs of the shortstop. Marty Bowen tried to sacrifice Williams to second base, but instead reached base himself when reliever Ryan Halstead couldn’t field the ball clean and then slipped and fell.
Tommy Simis loaded the bases with a single before the go-ahead run scored on a groundball double play. Kyle Attl singled home Bowen and Matthew Moreno scored Attl with a double down the left field line in his first at bat of the season.
The Hoosiers made it interesting in the ninth inning. A walk and a pair of hits scored a run and put the tying run on base with two outs, prompting Northridge head coach Matt Curtis to bring in freshman Cole Hallum to face Indiana freshman Chris Sujka.
Hallum got the best of the freshman showdown, throwing seven consecutive breaking balls, including a 3-2 curveball in the dirt that Sujka swung and missed to end the game.
Cohen’s first rough outing of the season cost starter Jerry Keel a much-deserved win. The 6-foot-6, 280-pound left-hander was stellar. He pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits, two walks and two hit batsmen while striking out five Hoosiers.
Keel struggled with his command early. In the second inning, he loaded the bases with no outs on two walks and one hit batter. But he escaped without allowing a run. Keel induced a slow chopper to third base that resulted in a force out at home, then got a strikeout and a flyout to end the inning.
Bowen got the Matadors on the board in the bottom half of the inning when he hit a no-doubter home run down the left field line. Bowen scored a pair of runs on the day and finished 2-for-2 with a walk and a sacrifice. He was one of four Northridge hitters to record multiple hits as the 4-7 hitters in the lineup had two hits each.
Sujka was the only Indiana player with multiple hits.
Check out the full photo gallery from the Cal State Northridge/Indiana Sunday afternoon matchup below:
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