California State University, Northridge Baseball (3-0) broke a 2-2 tie in the sixth and plated four in the eighth en route to an 8-2 win and a weekend sweep of Stony Brook on Sunday at Matador Field. Jakob Simons finished 2-for-5 with two runs driven in while Graysen Tarlow collected the go-ahead hit to put the Matadors in front. After Ryan Wentz worked through five innings, the Matador bullpen pitched four shutout frames.

The Seawolves struck first in the opening inning against Wentz, tagging the right hander with a two-run homer off the bat of Shane Paradine. CSUN answered back in the home half of the first when Emanuel Dean hit a sacrifice fly to bring home Simons who hit a leadoff single.

Wentz opened the second inning by striking out the first two batters but had to work for the third out. A pair of singles and a walk loaded the bases with two outs before Wentz fanned Matt Brown-Eiring.

After picking up a key double play in the third, Wentz had to fight out of trouble in the fourth inning. The Seawolves had runners at second and third base with one out when Wentz forced Matt Miceli to hit a short grounder in front of the mound. Wentz pounced on the ball and made a strong throw home to retire Matt DeStefano. The right hander then retired the next batter to escape the jam unscathed.

CSUN scored the tying run in the bottom of the fourth, taking advantage of a balk and a wild pitch to plate Luc Stuka.

Wentz picked up a strikeout-caught stealing double play in the fifth before making way for the CSUN bullpen. Entering in a 2-2 ballgame, Martinez retired nine in a row and picked up five strikeouts along the way.

Meanwhile, CSUN would break the tie in the sixth inning with a timely two-out hit. In the frame, Joey Kramer and Mason Le drew two-out walks to load the bases. Tarlow came off the bench and roped the second pitch he saw through the right side for a two-run single.

The Matadors broke open the game in the eighth inning when Kamau Neighbors roped a two-run single to center field. Simons would deliver another big blow, a two-run triple in the corner in right field to stretch the lead to six runs.

Game notes
The Matadors outscored Stony Brook 42-11 in the three-game sweep. With two more runs driven in on Sunday, Graysen Tarlow finished the weekend with nine RBI to go with 7-of-11 hitting at the plate (.636) and five runs scored.

Xavier Martinez was credited with the win after his three shutout innings of work out of the bullpen. Joshua Romero tossed a scoreless ninth in his CSUN debut.

CSUN improved to 6-0 against Stony Brook in team history.

“I told the team before our season started that the quality of our season is based on how we handled close games and those one-run ballgames,” said head coach Eddie Cornejo. “During some parts it looked like it would be a one-run ballgame. I felt like the amount of disclipline we showed at the plate late, swinging at quality pitches, allowed us to be in the best position possible. For me, the biggest difference in the game was Ryan Wentz’s fourth and fifth inning because his pitch count started to get elevated. We didn’t want to use guys out of the bullpen twice in one weekend to start off the season. Having that big play, on that swinging bunt where he scooped it up and gave it to the catcher, that was a big momentum swing. Then he was able to have a really efficient fifth inning, which allowed us to set the table for the relievers.”

Up next
The Matadors hit the road for the first time this season on Tuesday when CSUN visits San Diego State at 6 p.m. The game will be streamed on the Mountain West Network.

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