The Matadors lose by their fourth and fifth straight game in a doubleheader against the Washington State Cougars Saturday.
Despite a three run home run by first baseman Kevin Riley in game one, and a great performance from starting pitcher Tei Vanderford in game two of the day, the Matadors could not put together a complete performance to come away with a win for the day.
In game one of the double header, the Matadors went down 10-2 by the end of the sixth inning.
Matador starting pitcher Samuel Myers did not have much success in his game going five innings and allowing 10 runs to score.
The three relief pitchers had a bit more success at the end of the game, only allowing one more run to score. Blake Schriever, Matt Campbell, and Ray Diaz went the rest three innings of the game and only gave up one hit but walked four batters.
In the seventh inning the Matadors got back into the game by scoring five runs, punctuated by a three run home run by Riley, making it 10-7.
After Washington State added a run in the bottom of the seventh, making the score 11-7, the Matadors would not be able to come from behind and lost their fourth straight game of the season.
Game two of the double header became a pitchers duel between CSUN’s Tei Vanderford and Washington State’s starting pitcher Ryan Walker.
The game’s deciding run came in the second inning thanks to a bases-loaded walk. Vanderford gave up a run in the second inning, but from then on shut down the Washington State batters by allowing just one hit in his seven innings pitched.
Still, the Matadors could not muster up a big hit against Walker to put them on the board. The batters went a collective 1-6 with runners in scoring position leaving six runners on base.
Relief CSUN pitcher Conner O’Neil came in the bottom of the eight and struggled in his short outing, allowing a double to give Washington State two big insurance runs and put the game away 3-0.
The Matadors’ weekend series against Washington State in Pullman, Wash. continues Sunday, March 26 at 2 p.m.
