Drake Zarate's Run-Scoring Sac Bunt In Eighth Leads Baseball To 4-2 Win Over CSUN

Friday, April 4

Riverside, CA

6:00 pm

UC Riverside

13-12, 2-2

Cal State Northridge

12-17, 1-3

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Cal State Northirdge	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	10	0
UC Riverside	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	2	X	4	9	1

Photo by: Gabriel L. Acosta

Drake Zarate's Run-Scoring Sac Bunt In Eighth Leads Baseball To 4-2 Win Over CSUN

4/4/2014 10:49:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Riverside—Drake Zarate broke a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the eighth with a run-scoring sacrifice bunt, and Matt Ellis plated an insurance run with a swinging bunt one batter later as the UC Riverside Baseball Team came back to upend Cal State Northridge, 4-2, Friday night at The Plex (box score).

The Matadors (12-17, 1-3) came into the weekend series struggling on the offensive side of the ball, but they plated a pair of runs in the top of the first off of Highlanders' starter Jake Smigelski (4-3). Ranny Lowe hit a squibber that took a 45 degree hop just as it reached second baseman Joe Chavez putting the lead-off man aboard. Ryan Raslowsky followed by popping up a sac bunt attempt to first for the first out of the inning, but Chester Pak's hit-and-run single put runners at the corners.

After Pak stole second, Nick Blaser singled to right to score Lowe, and Nicolas Osuna was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Dylan Alexander beat out an infield single to short to make it 2-0 Matadors, before Smigelski got Michael Livingston to fly out to shallow left, and struck out Brett Balkan to end the inning.

Smigelski settled down keeping CSUN off the board in the second and the third, and the Highlanders (13-12, 3-1) cut the lead in half in their half of the third. Chavez drew a one-out walk, and moved to third following a Francisco Tellez single to let. Devyn Bolasky then singled through the left side to make it a 2-1 ballgame.

After David Andriese popped up, Nick Vilter stepped tp the plate and Matadors starter Brycen Rutherford got ahead of him oh-and two. Vilter battled back to run the count full, and on the tenth pitch of the at bat, the junior crushed a ball into left that seemed destined for the netting above the left field fence. The wind held it up though, and it settled into Nick Blaser's glove for the final out of the inning.

Smigelski continued posting zeroes in the fourth and fifth taking just 13 pitches to get through both frames. UC Riverside tied the score in the next half inning, as Chavez drew his second walk of the evening, and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Tellez reached on a grounder up the middle, and Chavez scored to tie the game at two.

UC Riverside chased Rutherford after the sixth, but they couldn't quite get to the Matadors' bullpen until the bottom of the eighth. A one out single by David Andriese off of CSUN's third pitcher of the night, Michael Coates, brought Kenny Rosenberg (0-2) out of the pen. Andriese promptly stole second, and advanced to third on an infield single by Nick Vilter.

That brought Zarate to the plate, and he laid down a perfect sac bunt that scored Andriese and moved VIlter to second. After Coates intentionally walked Thomas Walker, Shay Maltese was summoned from the bullpen, and he walked Cody Hough on five pitches loading the bases. Ellis then reached on a swinging bunt down the third base line that the Matadors had no play on, giving the Highlanders their final margin of victory, 4-2.

Dylan Stuart pitched a scoreless inning of relief in the top of the ninth for his first save of the season.

The Highlanders and Matadors play game two of their three-game series Saturday beginning at 6 pm PT.