California State University at Northridge
Hawai''i
Matadors Host Hawai'i in 2015 Home Finale
4/30/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Last week, the Matadors won twice at Long Beach State to claim their first Big West Conference series victory over the 49ers since the 2002 season. Savannah Horvath batted .750 with three extra-base hits and three RBIs to earn Big West and ASA/Team USA National Collegiate Player of the Week honors. In the circle, Elder factored in the decision in all three games and is now up to 42 career wins.
The Matadors have a five-game lead in the Big West standings with six games to play. The magic number is "2"; two CSUN wins or two losses from LBSU give the Matadors their first outright Big West Conference title since the 1998 season. One Matador win would give them at least a share of the title and the tiebreaker with LBSU should a tie occur.Â
This week, CSUN meets a talented Hawai'i team that carries a 27-21 overall record and 8-7 mark in the Big West Conference. Offensively, the Rainbow Wahine are batting .264 with a league-high 45 home runs. Kayla Wartner checks in with a .306 average, nine home runs and 25 RBIs. Heather Morales leads the squad with a .344 average and also has five home runs and 28 RBIs. Leisha Li'ili'i also has nine home runs and leads UH with 29 RBIs. As a team, Hawai'i boasts a .419 slugging and .351 on-base percentage.
In the circle, the Rainbow Wahine feature two pitchers: redshirt freshman Brittany Hitchcock and sophomore Kanani Aina Cabrales. For the season, Hitchcock is 14-7 with a 2.58 ERA and 75 strikeouts in 146.1 innings of work. Aina Cabrales, a transfer from Georgia Tech, is 12-14 with a 3.27 ERA and 88 strikeouts in 147.2 innings of work. Opponents are batting .271 with 45 doubles and 21 home runs off the two. CSUN took two out of three games against Hawai'i in Honolulu last year, but the Rainbow Wahine own a 12-8-1 record in the all-time series.Â
This weekend's series with the Rainbow Wahine represents the final home games for the Matadors' four seniors. In their time in a Matador uniform, the quartet have represented the university with pride, integrity and determination both on the field and in the classroom.
Elder has been with the team since 2010 and after battling injuries, has become one of the Big West's top pitchers. She earned First Team All-Big West and Third Team NFCA All-West Region honors last year and was CSUN's first 20-game winner in over a decade. Maas was the first student-athlete to commit to CSUN head coach Tairia Flowers and has contributed both at the plate and in the circle. She had a big pinch-hit single in the Matadors' victory at Long Beach State in the series finale and blasted a home run off the shed at UCSB as a sophomore. Â
Sauceda and Toerner are two-year letterwinners with the Matadors who brought invaluable experience to the club. The daughter of a former Matador All-American, Toerner has batted over .300 with 18 steals and nearly 50 runs scored in her two seasons. Sauceda earned the win in the circle over Stanford in February, the Matadors' first win over the Cardinal since 2000 and struck out 11 batters in a complete game win over Buffalo in March.Â
