After a 10-run outburst Friday, CSUN bats went quiet against the George Washington Colonials in a 3-2 loss Saturday at Matador Field.

Senior right-handed pitcher Jerry Keel (2-1) was out-dueled by junior right-handed pitcher Shane Kemp (2-1), as Kemp only allowed a two-run triple by freshman center fielder Justin Toerner in the bottom of the fifth inning.

‘Their guy did a good job,” head coach Greg Moore said. “He mixed pitches well and we didn’t get it going offensively.”

Keel shut down the Colonials through the first five innings before allowing four singles for three runs in the top of the sixth inning.

With Colonials on second and third base with two outs, sophomore first baseman Bobby Campbell singled through the left side of the infield, scoring two and tying the game. Sophomore designated hitter Collin Gibbons-Fly followed with a two-strike single to left field, driving in the go-ahead run for George Washington.

CSUN was unable to respond the rest of the game, as the Matadors only mustered a single walk in the final three innings against senior right-handed reliever Craig LeJeune and sophomore right-handed closer Eddie Muhl.

“They did a nice job of throwing strikes,” Moore said. “We didn’t have the opportunities to capitalize the way we wanted.”

While junior shortstop Yusuke Akitoshi saw his 11-game hitting streak end as he went 0-3, Toerner extended his streak to 10 games with his fifth-inning triple. Moore praised his approach at the plate.

“Even some of his outs are hard on the ground,” Moore said. “I would say he’s above the baseball consistently and that’s whats leading to his success.”

The Matadors will head back to the field tomorrow for the rubber match against George Washington at noon, and will look to avoid losing their first series of the season. This season, the Matadors have yet to lose two games in a row.

Moore said the team needs to learn from Saturday’s at-bats in order to avoid dropping tomorrow’s game.

We were one to two swings away from taking this one, but it’s not about that,” Moore said. “It’s about putting together more quality innings and more quality at-bats.”

The Matadors will play Pepperdine at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, March 17.