Matadors Open Up Eight-Game Road Trip Against Portland

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NORTHRIDGE, CA---

CSUN Baseball (18-3) hits the road for the start of an eight-game road trip beginning with a weekend stop at the University of Portland. The Matadors travel to take on the Portland Pilots in a four-game weekend series starting with a doubleheader on Thursday afternoon. The twin bill will begin at 3 p.m. from Joe Etzel Field and game two is tentatively scheduled for 6:30 p.m. On Friday, the series will shift to Hillsboro, OR, where the teams will face off at Ron Tonkin Field at 7 p.m. and the four-game set wraps up back at Portland at 12 p.m. on Saturday. Live audio broadcasts for each contest will be available on the CSUN Sports Network with Brandon Marcus on the call.

The Matadors take a 13-game winning streak into the Portland series after sweeping Houston Baptist last weekend. Senior right-hander Angel Rodriguez tossed 6.1 shutout innings and Branden Berry belted a solo home run in a 2-0 victory in the opener. The Matadors received a balanced effort offensively in 7-1 and 6-3 victories over the Huskies in a doubleheader last Saturday as well as outstanding pitching from Kenny Rosenberg who tossed seven strong innings. In the finale, CSUN cruised to a 7-2 win, receiving five shutout innings in relief from Andrew Weston.

CSUN has put together its longest winning streak in 18 seasons and the Matadors are three away from tying the program record of 16 wins a row set by the 1998 team. During the streak, CSUN has outscored its opponents, 98-43, and the team is averaging 7.5 runs per game. The pitching staff is also posting an impressive 2.65 ERA in the 13 victories. The Matadors also went 9-0 during their homestand after last week's sweep. CSUN played in front for nearly the entire nine-games at Matador Field, scoring in the first inning in seven of nine games. Additionally, out of a possible 81 innings, CSUN only trailed in five of those innings in the entire nine-game homestand.

Leadoff hitter Fred Smith continued his hot hitting last weekend, hitting safely in each contest to push his hitting streak to 21. Smith is hitting a team-best .415 at the plate to go along with 19 runs scored and 11 runs batted in. During the Matadors' winning streak, Smith is leading the team with a robust .466 batting average and 15 runs scored. Also swinging a hot bat, sophomore Elias Orona has increased his batting average to .298 as he is sporting a .400 average during the win streak.

Power hitters Branden Berry and Albee Weiss have continued to lead the Matadors offensively. Berry leads the team with six home runs, 20 RBI and a .643 slugging percentage. Cleanup hitter Weiss has belted five home runs and compiled 17 RBI this season while he has batted .340 during the winning streak.

Against the Pilots this weekend, the Matadors send Rodriguez (3-0) to the mound in game one Thursday. Boasting a team leading ERA of 1.27, Rodriguez has limited hitters to a miniscule .172 batting average in 28.1 innings of work in 2016. Fellow senior Rayne Raven (1-1, 3.00 ERA) takes to the hill in game two while Rosenberg (3-0, 2.23 ERA) starts Friday night and Joe Ryan (0-0, 3.00 ERA) seeks his first win of the season on Saturday.

CSUN owns a 7-5-1 all-time record against Portland. The teams last faced each other at Portland during the 2012 season as the Pilots took two of three games from the Matadors.

A Closer Look at Portland
The Pilots head into the weekend with an 11-9 record after dropping three-straight contests. Portland took its West Coast Conference series opener against Loyola Marymount last Friday but suffered a pair of defeats to end the series. On Tuesday, No 3 Oregon State defeated Portland 13-6, which dropped the Pilots to 5-4 at home this season.

Junior catcher Cooper Hummel is off to a strong start to the season, posting a team-best .387 average at the dish while driving in 16 runs and sporting a .473 on-base percentage. Senior Caleb Whalen leads the team in RBI (21), runs scored (18), home runs (3) and slugging percentage (.653) while hitting .347 in 2016. The Pilots send right-handed senior Jordan Wilcox (4-0, 1.76 ERA) and left-handed sophomore Jordan Horak (1-1, 4.66 ERA) in the doubleheader on Thursday night while junior right-hander Davis Tominaga (2-3, 4.40 ERA) starts Friday and sophomore righty Kevin Baker (0-2, 8.10 ERA) takes to the hill Saturday.

Matadors Open Up Eight-Game Road Trip Against Portland

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Players Mentioned

Branden Berry

Elias Orona

Rayne Raven

Angel Rodriguez

Kenny Rosenberg

Joe Ryan

Fred Smith

Albee Weiss

Andrew Weston