Behind two WSU late-inning home runs, some manufactured offense and a staff-wide pitching effort, the Cougar baseball team captured the series victory against Cal State University Northridge on Monday.

WSU (14-8, 1-2) took the finale of the four-game set six to four Monday afternoon. The series win against CSUN (12-13) is the third in the last four series for the Cougars.

The Cougars’ offense came out strong, posting two runs in the first inning, followed by one run in each of the third, fourth, sixth and eighth innings.

Head Coach Marty Lees expressed satisfaction with his team’s overall offensive performance, citing some manufactured runs early in the game. However, Lees pointed to the team’s failure to drive in runs in a bases-loaded, no-out situation as a sign that there is still work to do.

“I thought we had some good [at-bats] today,” Lees said. “We inserted some new kids in the lineup that had not played this weekend. We wanted to get Danny Sinatro going, we wanted to get [Ryan] Ramsower in the game, we wanted to get [Cal] Waterman in the game, and they all three did a really good job.”

The Cougars showed the first flashes of offense in the game, manufacturing two runs with a sacrifice bunt and three singles in the bottom of the first.

Freshman utility player Danny Sinatro got the inning started with a single through the left side of the infield on a 2-1 count.

Junior infielder Ryan Ramsower moved Sinatro up to second with a sacrifice bunt, and following a passed ball, junior infielder Shane Matheny brought Sinatro home with a single in the next at-bat.

Later in the inning, junior outfielder Blake Clanton pushed Matheny across on a single through the right side of the infield and picked up his first of two runs-batted-in on the day.

Freshman left-hander A.J. Block also made an early impact, as he held CSUN to just one run on two hits and two walks over four and two-thirds innings after a perfect first four innings. Block added four strikeouts to his season total Monday afternoon. His 16 strikeouts on the season place him fourth among WSU pitchers.

“A.J. continues to get better every game. He’s at a very good pace right now, throwing strikes with all of his pitches, and he is very mature for his age,” Lees said. “Expect him to get a lot more outings, he’s going to pitch at least once a week for the rest of the year, whether it be on a weekend or a Tuesday or Wednesday.”

The offense added some needed insurance runs late in the game thanks to solo home runs from Clanton and junior outfielder J.J. Hancock.

In the bottom of the sixth, Clanton put a good swing on a hanging changeup and lifted it over the right field fence to give the Cougars a 5-2 lead heading into the final three innings of the game.

In the top half of the eighth inning, the Matadors cut the lead to just one as junior left-hander Scotty Sunitsch struggled in the first half of his two-inning outing. Despite a late surge from CSUN, the WSU offense responded after Hancock homered to deep right-center field to give WSU a 6-4 lead going into the ninth.

The insurance run would prove to be unnecessary in the end as Sunitsch pitched a perfect ninth inning, securing the victory and the series win for WSU.

“We did do a good job as a whole this weekend, winning three out of four against a quality opponent who is going to do very well in their league.” said Lees.

The Cougars will carry the momentum of a series victory with them as they travel to the Bay Area for a three-game set with the California Golden Bears this weekend. The series kicks off at 7:05 p.m. on Friday at the Evans Diamond Field.