Baseball Done in by Five-Run Eighth at Cal State Northridge

Thursday, March 19

Los Angeles, Calif.

5:00 PM

Dartmouth College

1-8

Cal State Northridge

16-5

Dartmouth

Cal State Northridge

Baseball Done in by Five-Run Eighth at Cal State Northridge

3/19/2015 7:27:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: Dartmouth

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Chester Pak slugged a two-run homer in the eighth to break a 1-1 deadlock, and Cal State Northridge tacked on three insurance runs in the inning to defeat the visiting Dartmouth Big Green at Matador Field on Thursday afternoon, 6-1, in the first of four games between the two teams. Pak finished the day 3-for-4 with two runs and those two big RBIs to help the Matadors (16-5) win their third straight while handing Dartmouth (1-8) its second loss in as many games during its spring trip to the state of California.

In the fateful eighth, Big Green starter Mike Concato recorded the first out before surrendering a single to William Colatono. Having thrown 98 pitches in his second start of the year, head coach Bob Whalen summoned freshman Sam Fichthorn — who had not allowed a run in his first three appearances spanning 7.2 innings — from the bullpen. Pak greeted the rookie right-hander by depositing his third pitch over the wall in center field for a 3-1 lead.

The next three Matadors reached to load the bases and put Fichthorn back in hot water, but he fanned the next hitter for the second out. His control eluded him, however, as he walked in a run, and two more runs crossed the plate when a grounder was booted for an error.

Pak's heroics made a winner out of CSUN starter Calvin Copping (4-1), who threw 126 pitches in going the distance. He scattered 10 hits over his nine inning on the mound, allowing just the one run, walking two and striking out 11. The Matador defense helped him out as well by turning three double plays, including one with the bases loaded in the seventh to preserve the tie score.

For the first six innings, Cal State Northridge had the game's only run, touching Concato for a solitary marker in the first. Pak led off with a single to right, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and took third on a fly to right. Yusuke Akitoshi came through for the Matadors by legging out an infield hit with Pak crossing the plate.

Both teams had a man on second with nobody out in the third, but Copping retired the next three Big Green hitters, and Concato got two outs and a helping hand (or arm) from his catcher, Adam Gauthier, who picked the runner off second to end the inning.

In the fifth, junior Nick Ruppert and freshman Justin Fowler opened the frame with singles, only to have Copping induce a double-play grounder and get the third out on a called strike three. Dartmouth threatened again in the sixth when senior Matt Parisi led off with a double to the opposite field and sophomore Ben Socher bunted him to third. Again Copping was up to the challenge, firing third strikes past the Big Green's third and fourth hitters in the order.

Dartmouth finally touched Copping for a run in the seventh when Ruppert lined a one-out double to right-center, Fowler walked and Gauthier poked a single through the right side. Ruppert scored on the knock, and Fowler and Gauthier took an extra base on the throw to the plate. Following a walk to senior Bo Patterson to load the bases, Copping induced another twin-killing to escape with the score knotted at one.

Concato (0-2) deserved a better fate but suffered the loss as he yielded two runs on seven hits without walking a batter in 7.1 innings while fanning four.

Ruppert led the Big Green offense with a 3-for-4 afternoon and scored their lone run, extending his streak of reaching base to 19 games. Joe Purritano and Gauther each had a pair of hits with the latter collecting an RBI.

The series will continue on Friday with a doubleheader scheduled to start at 11 a.m. Left-hander Adam Frank and right-hander Louis Concato are scheduled to start on the mound for Dartmouth against lefty Jerry Keel and righty Conner O'Neil.