The CSUN baseball team (7-19) fell to Cal State Fullerton (16-15) on Saturday afternoon, clinching a series win for the Titans over the Matadors.
CSUF took advantage of CSUN’s bullpen in the game’s back half and cruised to a 9-3 victory at Robert J. Hiegert Field.
The Matadors’ pitching and fielding were strong for most of the game, but they let go of the rope in later innings, which resulted in an offensive explosion from the Titans that decisively ended the contest.
It was a slow start for both teams. Both teams displayed a few great defensive plays through the first three innings to keep the game scoreless.
CSUF shortstop Maddox Latta made a fantastic diving catch to end the second inning, and CSUN center fielder Royce Clayton Jr. followed that up with a great sliding catch near the back wall to start the third.
The Titans managed to wake the bats up in the fourth inning, resulting in a three-run homer that opened up the scoring and put CSUN in a 3-0 hole.
Even after the Titans took an early lead, the CSUN coaching staff showed trust and allowed starting pitcher Diego Gutierrez to stay in the game. Gutierrez spoke about what having that trust from his coaches meant to him.
“They trust me at a high pitch count. [Coach] asked me if I wanted to stay out there, and I said yes,” Gutierrez said. “That’s pretty hard to earn, and the fact that they trusted me in a place that I’ve never been before, at 120 pitches, means a lot to me.”
CSUN immediately responded by getting a few runs back. Two early hits led to two runs coming across to score. The Matadors tied it up at 3-3 in the fifth inning thanks to a triple by Clayton Jr. that rallied team morale.
Clayton Jr. thought the team’s response said much about their toughness.
“It shows that we’re not gonna give up easily, that we’re resilient and that we pick our guys up,” Clayton Jr. said.
The Titans took back control of the game at the top of the seventh on a two-run home run by CSUF shortstop Maddox Latta, giving the visiting team a 5-3 lead.
Giving up homer runs has been an issue for CSUN’s bullpen as the pitching staff is last in the Big West with 50 home runs allowed.
The Titans continued wearing down the Matadors’ pitching, even after Gutierrez was taken out midway through the seventh, and finished the last two innings with an additional five hits and four runs to bring the final score to 9-3.
Despite the loss to CSUF, Guiterrez didn’t gloss over the team’s perseverance in their most recent matchup. The redshirt junior ended his night throwing 6.2 innings and allowed five runs but posted a career-high 10 strikeouts in the loss.
“We fought hard. I think that’s important, and we’re gonna come back tomorrow and hopefully give it to them,” Gutierrez said.
The Matadors will have their final game of the series with Cal State Fullerton on Sunday, April 6, at Robert J. Hiegert Field.
