The Matadors (21-8) wrapped up their weekend tournament hosting duties with a 6-2 victory over the visiting Colorado State University Rams (15-13) on a warm 90 degree plus Sunday afternoon.
Following a near 30 minute game delay, CSUN marched senior pitcher Brianna Elder to the mound to counter Colorado State’s junior pitcher Holly Reinke.
En route to the win, Elder tossed her fifth complete game of the season, managing to hold the Rams to two runs on five hits, while fanning eight for her eighth win of the season.
“I thought she did a good job,” said Head Coach Tairia Flowers. “The plan was to go out there and attack the hitters and I think she went right at them. Pitching can be tricky, its all about timing and I think she did a good job of going out their and finding her timing. She did a good job overall.”
The Matadors, who are batting .346 as a team in the month of March, were anything but inconsistent at the dish. Northridge batters refused to let Reinke get comfortable, scoring a run in each of the first five frames of the contest.
“We made adjustments a lot quicker this game,” said sophomore utility Katie Hooper. “We played a lot better as a team.”
Following a first inning RBI double off the bat of Colorado State’s freshman infielder Savannah Clark, the Matadors tied things up in the bottom half of the frame with a fielder’s choice RBI by Hooper. Freshman shortstop Savannah Horvath grabbed the lead for her squad in the next inning, plating a run off a RBI single.
The Matadors would rest firmly in the drivers seat for the rest of the game.
Sophomore utility Taylor Nate and Freshman catcher Courtney Horne both collected two hits a piece on three at bats.
Junior third baseman Maylynn Mitchell knocked her first triple of the season over the head of Rams’ senior right fielder Taylor Hutton. Shortly after Horvath collected her second RBI of the game by bringing home Mitchell.
“Our goal is getting 40 wins this season,” said Elder. “So we made an adjustment from the loss yesterday which we knew wasn’t our best game. So we all just came out there with intensity, ready to go.”
The Matadors will have a full week of practice before they travel up north for the Louisville Slugger Invitational in Stockton, CA. Their first test will be against the Connecticut Huskies (7-13) before facing the host University of the Pacific Tigers (9-20) for their second game of the afternoon on March 20.
The tournament will mark the last opportunity for any fine tuning before the start of Big West conference play for the Matadors.
“We had some ups and downs,” said Flowers. “It’s still growing pains and I think its a good time to find ourselves and work out the kinds and get ourselves ready for conference play. The important thing is we finished on a good note today and played well.”
