University of Washington
Cal State Northridge
Stevens Hits For The Cycle In 16-6 Husky Win
February 18, 2006 | Baseball
Feb. 18, 2006
NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - Sophomore Matt Stevens became the first Husky to hit for the cycle in 12 seasons, adding an extra home run as well, as the Washington baseball team fought back from an early 5-1 deficit to claim a 16-6 win over Cal State Northridge Saturday in the second-game of a four-game series. The UW, winner of four straight improved to 4-1 while Northridge fell to 6-4.
Stevens, the Huskies third baseman from Lake Stevens, entered the game on an early- season slump, having gone 1-for-11 with seven strikeouts. He singled in his first at bat and then, after a strikeout in his second, hit homers to lead off both the sixth and seventh innings. In the eighth, he tripled and then he capped the cycle in the ninth with a double.
"I thought about it before the at bat a little bit," Stevens said of his ninth-inning double that clinched the cycle, "but really I was trying to focus on the at bat and it just happened. I actually slipped on home plate leaving the batters box, so I had to pick it up around first."
The last Washington player to hit for the cycle was Jon Vander Griend, who did it in a loss to Georgia Tech in an NCAA regional championship game in 1994. Stevens finished the game 5-for-6 with four runs batted in and three runs scored.
Down 5-1, the Huskies started to cut the lead in the fifth when catcher Matt Lane hit a two-run homer, his second of the weekend.
In the sixth, Stevens led off with a home run to left to make it 5-4. Freshman Jake Rife followed with a single and pinch hitter Kyle Conley reached on an error before a Matt Hague singled tied it at 5-5. A wild pitch allowed the go-ahead run to score before Lane drove in another run with a double.
In the seventh, back-to-back homers from Stevens and Bradley Boyer, his first Husky hit, added two more before a seven-run eighth inning that included back-to-back triples from Stevens and Boyer.
Northridge took the early lead in the first when Jonathan Sakurai walked to lead off and then eventually scored on a double-play groundout. In the top of the second, the UW tied the score at 1-1 when Jake Rife walked with the bases loaded, sending home Lane.
In the second, Husky starter Kyle Parker struggled with his command, walking three hitters with the bases loaded to gift the Matadors three runs. Freshman Adrian Gomez, in his first college appearance, came on in relief and struck out Kris Kasarjian to keep the Northridge lead at 4-1.
In the third, Jorge Andrade Jr. led off with a homer off of Gomez, increasing the lead to 5-1.
UW freshman reliever Jason Erickson threw two and two-thirds innings of relief to earn his first win. Fellow freshman Nick Haughian, who came on with the tying run on deck in the seventh, worked the final two and one-third innings for his second save.
CSUN reliever Jimmy Brettl (1-1) suffered the loss. Lane finished the day 2-for-3 with three RBI while Hague, Boyer, Zach Clem and Curt Rindal each had two hits.
The Huskies and Matadors continue the four-game series Sunday at 1:00 p.m. A live audio broadcast will be available on the Dawg Channel at gohuskies.com.
LINESCORE Non-Conference Washington 16, CS Northridge 6 Washington 010 024 270 -- 16 16 4 CS Northridge 131 000 100 -- 6 7 6 Kyle Parker, Adrian Gomez (2), Brandon McKerney (4), Jason Erickson (5), Nick Haughian (7) and Matt Lane, D.J. Neyens (9). Edwin Quirarte, Jimmy Brettl (6), Luke Beck (6), Eddie Garcia (8), Matt Gaylord (8), James Scott (9) and Steve Lemmon, John Parham (9). W - Erickson (1-0). L - Brettl (0-1). Sv - Haughian (2). 2B - UW, Curt Rindal, Lane, Matt Stevens; CSUN, Jorge Andrade Jr., Lemmon. 3B - UW, Stevens, Bradley Boyer. HR - UW, Lane (3), Stevens 2 (2), Boyer (1); CSUN, Andrade (2). T - 3:50. A - 175.
