The student media organization of California State University Northridge

Daily Sundial

The student media organization of California State University Northridge

Daily Sundial

The student media organization of California State University Northridge

Daily Sundial

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Matadors beat Waves in eleven

The Matadors were able to put together a last-ditch effort in the bottom of the 11th inning Tuesday afternoon to beat Pepperdine 9-8.

The Matadors (17-22, 4-8 Big West) got out to a quick start as shortstop Jason Dabbs lined a single to left field in the bottom of the second inning to score right fielder Ryan Pineda.’ Dabbs had five hits and three RBIs in the game played at Matador Field.

‘I was trying to stay short today because I’ve been struggling and getting long with my swing, and it helps,’ Dabbs said. ‘I had those two base hits down the right field line, so that’s when I know I’m going good if I’m doing that.’

On the mound for the Matadors was Paul Tremlin (5-1), who went 5.1 innings and struck out five Waves (23-16) while only giving up one hit.

CSUN got two more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning thanks to another RBI by Dabbs to score Pineda and a sacrifice bunt from second baseman Tommy Simis to score designated hitter John Parham, giving CSUN a 3-0 lead.

The advantage came to a tumbling fall in the top of the sixth after Pepperdine capped off a five-run inning with a two-run blast by first baseman Ryan Heroy, giving the Waves a 5-3 lead.

In the bottom half of the same inning, Pineda was able to get on base with a line drive to right field.’ After a sacrifice fly sent him to third base, Dabbs came up to the plate and kept his hot bat going as he batted in Pineda to cut the lead to 5-4.

Going into the seventh inning, Matadors relieving pitcher Davin Tate was still on the mound despite having given up the two-run shot to Heroy an inning earlier.’ Tate was shaky again and the Waves extended their lead to 6-4 on a sacrifice fly to centerfield.

Going into the eighth inning, the Matadors were still down two runs until Dabbs got his fourth hit of the afternoon, paving the way for a Simis base hit RBI that decreased Pepperdine’s lead to 6-5.

A few batters later, Matadors first baseman Richard Cates showed why he’s a force to be reckoned with when he lined a single into right field to score Simis and tie the game at 6-6.

‘The guy (Pepperdine pitcher Nick Gaudi) had a really good split and was throwing it a lot,’ Cates said.’ ‘So he actually threw a fastball and got ahead of me 0-1, so I was looking for a split in that situation. He hung one a little bit and I hit it hard.” ‘

CSUN took the lead again in that same inning, 7-6, as catcher Chris Hannick got his lone hit of the afternoon to score centerfielder Jeff Pruitt.

Going into the ninth inning, things looked good for the Matadors and their one-run lead as closer Brian Slover (2-3) stepped into the game.’ Slover is averaging just over a strikeout per inning. He’s netted 40 strikeouts in 35 innings.

However,’ Slover’s presence on the mound wasn’t enough to fend off the Waves as they scored the game-tying run on a wild pitch.

‘Today I struggled a little bit,’ Slover said. ‘Some mental errors ‘hellip; the team picked me up and helped me get through this.’

Slover gave up the go-ahead run in the top of the 11th inning on a bases-loaded walk, but it didn’t matter as CSUN had an answer in the bottom half.

With Matadors on first and second base, the Waves opted to walk Dabbs, who had five hits on the day.’ Simis came up to bat with the bases loaded and hit a line drive to centerfield to score Pineda and Parham to give the Matadors the 9-8 victory

CSUN will host UC Riverside (20-13, 2-7) this weekend in a three-game series.’ For live updates, check out our blog ‘The Matador Score.’

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