Dirtbags Rally From A 6-0 Deficit To Defeat CSUN 10-7

Monday, April 15

Northridge, Calif.

3:00 p.m.

Long Beach State University

18-14-1, 6-9

CSUN

19-14, 8-4

Long Beach State

CSUN

Photo by: Iori Miyakodani

4/15/2024 6:29:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Roulston's Grand Slam Keys The Comeback

By: Matt Turk, Associate Athletic Communications Director

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.—Long Beach State rallied from a 6-0 deficit to defeat CSUN 10-7 Monday afternoon in the Big West baseball series finale between the two clubs.

Kamau Neighbors doubled to lead off the bottom of the first. Roberto Gonzalez worked out a walk against LBSU starter CJ Hood. Both runners were sacrificed up a base on a Jakob Simons bunt. Hood registered back-to-back strikeouts against Jarren Sanderson and Andrew Gauna to get out of the inning.

Jack Hammond doubled to left center with one out in the top of the second. Alex Champagne drew a walk off Justin Vose, the CSUN starter. Armando Briseno's fly ball to right was deep enough for Hammond to advance to third. Champagne stole second on the first pitch to Nick Marinconz. Marinconz flew out to right to end the inning.

Shunsuke Sakaino was hit by a 3-2 Hood pitch to lead off the bottom of the second inning. Sakaino stole second on a 0-1 pitch to Mason Le. Le successfully sacrificed Sakaino to third with a bunt. Nathan Barraza's infield single scored Sakaino to give the Matadors the lead. Bren Wilkinson walked on four pitches to turn the lineup back over to Neighbors, the leadoff hitter. Up 1-2 in the count, Hood hit Neighbors to load the bases. Gonzalez struck out before Jakob Simons hit a grand slam home run, his 13th of the year, to make it 5-0. Sanderson struck out for the final out.

CSUN added a run in the third. With runners on second and third, Le hit a fly ball tracked down by shortstop Adrian Lopez in left field. As Gauna scored, Lopez threw to Briseno at third, who tagged out Sakaino to complete the double play.

Vose hit Champagne with two outs in the fourth. Briseno doubled to center to bring up Marinconz, who walked to load the bases. Justin Roulston's first career hit was a big one. The sophomore hit a grand slam home run to create a 6-4 game.

Vose struck out six for CSUN (19-14, 8-4 Big West) before giving way to Diego Gutierrez in the top of the fifth. Gutierrez walked Lopez to begin the frame. With one out, John Newman Jr.'s opposite-field single to the right pushed Lopez to third. Simons, the centerfielder, dropped Hammond's sac fly. Lopez scored on the play as Newman advanced to third, with Hammond taking second. Champagne hit a grounder to Barraza at first. He came home with the throw, retiring Newman Jr. at the plate for the second out. Blake Ignaciak relieved Gutierrez, and Briseno served as his first batter. Hammond scored on a 3-1 passed ball to tie the game at six. The count went to 3-2 before Ignaciak struck out Briseno for the final out.

Marinconz led off the sixth with a single to center. Roulston's sac bunt advanced Marinconz to second. Lopez's two-out single to center scored Marinconz for the first Dirtbags lead.

Champagne singled to left with one out in the top of the seventh. On the first pitch to Briseno, Champagne stole his second base of the game. Champagne moved to third on a passed ball. With the count 2-0, Briesno singled up the middle against the drawn-in infield to extend the Long Beach State advantage to 8-6. Marinconz grounded out, with Briseno taking second. Roulston walked on four pitches against Kenji Pallares. The sixth CSUN pitcher of the day, Hayden Hall, entered for the Matadors. Hall fell behind 3-0 to Ashworth before coming back to strike out the Dirtbags' leadoff hitter to keep it 8-6.

Owen Geiss, who relieved Hood to begin the third, retired 11 CSUN batters in a row before giving up a Neighbors single with one out in the bottom of the seventh. Gonzalez's grounder was fielded by Geiss, who threw onto first for the second out as Neighbors went to second. Geiss' first pitch hit Simons. Sanderson struck out on a 2-2 Geiss pitch on the outside corner for the third out.

Grant Cherry relieved Geiss to start the bottom of the eighth and retired the Matadors in order.

Champagne singled to begin the top of the ninth. CSUN went to their closer, Joshua Romero. The Matadors guessed correctly and called for a pitch out on Romero's first effort, but Wilkinson, the CSUN catcher, threw high, allowing Champagne to steal his third base of the game. Briseno's opposite-field double to right center scored Champagne. Marinconz reached on an infield single to give LBSU runners on the corners. Marinconz was thrown out attempting to steal as Wilkinson's pitchout was successful. Champagne remained at third. Roulston struck out before Ashworth singled up the middle to plate Briseno for a 10-6 score.

Barrazza doubled to lead off the bottom of the ninth. Pinch hitter Andrew Sojka grounded out to first, as Barrazza went to third. Barrazza scored on a passed ball to cut the lead to 10-7. Neighbors walked on four pitches. Gonzalez grounded into a 6-4 fielder's choice that got the lead runner. Simons flew out to Marinconz at second to end the game.

A freshman, Geiss pitched a season-high five innings. Improving to 2-1 on the year, he threw 62 pitches, 40 for strikes. Cherry picked up his second save.

The Dirtbags tallied a season-high 14 hits, led by Briseno, who went 3-for-5 with two RBI. Four Long Beach State batters, Ashworth, Champagne, Marinconz, and Newman Jr., each posted two hits for the Dirtbags. In addition to his three stolen bases, Champagne scored three runs.

UP NEXT
Long Beach State (18-14-1, 6-9 Big West) hosts San Diego State (11-24) Tuesday night. Coverage on ESPN+ begins at 6 p.m.

~#skoBags~