Matador baseball took advantage of an early lead and shut down relief pitching in later innings to beat UC Davis 5-3 on Sunday afternoon at Robert J. Hiegert Field.

The win improved the Matadors record to 22-16 overall and 11-10 in Big West Conference play. It marked CSUN’s second consecutive win.

CSUN broke through in the second inning, posting three runs on big hits and quality base running. First baseman Matthew Pena’s two-RBI double down the left field line opened the scoring, and second baseman Colton Boardman followed with an RBI fielder’s choice to extend CSUN’s lead to three.

After helping spark the second-inning rally with a double, infielder Kyle Panganiban said the initial offense was a major factor in the win.

“We definitely got some big hits early,” Panganiban said. “I think it was definitely in the second inning. We were able to manufacture some chaos, and once we did that, that really set the tone.”

UC Davis struggled early but got their first run of the game in the third inning on an RBI sacrifice fly by second baseman Joey Wright. UC Davis continued to mount an offense, scoring another run in the fourth inning on an RBI single by first baseman Keenan Anzai.

However, the Matadors answered back right away. CSUN plated another run in the fourth inning on an RBI single by Andrew Becker and then added another run on a sacrifice fly by Matthew Thomas.

UC Davis struck again in the fifth inning, when catcher Ryan Lee hit a solo home run to left field to cut CSUN’s lead to 5-3.

“We just stayed with our routine and stuck to our game plan,” Panganiban said. “We didn’t really change our approach too much.”

UC Davis continued to mount pressure in the sixth inning, but CSUN answered with its defense. The Matadors recorded a crucial double play followed by a strikeout to end the inning and prevent UC Davis from scoring.

The Matadors defense shined again in the seventh inning, arguably pitching its best frame of the game. CSUN retired UC Davis in order, highlighted by shortstop Trent Abel recording two groundouts.

“We just tried to bounce back,” Abel said. “Fill up the zone, play clean baseball. Just take care of the ball and put it in play.”

UC Davis didn’t record another hit for the remainder of the game, as the Matadors’ pitchers held the Aggies hitless in both the seventh and eighth innings.

“We’re just worried about ourselves,” Abel said. “We know what we’re capable of doing if we play CSUN Baseball.”

Pitching was critical for CSUN, especially in the middle innings when Kody King relieved the starting pitcher. Abel spoke highly of his teammate King.

“Kody King coming out of the bullpen felt really good,” Abel said. “He gave us some length in the middle of the game.”

UC Davis came into the ninth inning needing multiple hits to win the game, but CSUN’s pitching proved too much as the Aggies went down in order to end the game.

CSUN showed poise in finishing the game strong after UC Davis nearly chipped away at the lead.

“We knew we could bounce back after Friday’s game,” said CSUN catcher Jehee Lee. “We knew we had it in us, we just had to show up.”

Lee said moving forward, every win is critical as the conference season heats up.

“It means everything,” Lee said. “We’re not going to take any games for granted. Our team [is] going to keep on rolling and keep building the momentum.”

CSUN’s next game will be against San Diego State on Tuesday, April 21, at 6 p.m at Robert J. Hiegert Field.