CSUN Hosts William & Mary and UConn in Weekend Tournament

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NORTHRIDGE, CA---

CSUN Baseball (10-3) continues its longest homestand of the season with a four-day round robin tournament at Matador Field beginning Thursday afternoon. The Matadors welcome in a pair of East Coast programs to CSUN. On Thursday, the Matadors host the William & Mary Tribe to kick off the tournament at 2 p.m. On Friday, CSUN faces the Connecticut Huskies at 12:40 p.m. and Saturday the Matadors meet the Tribe again at 2 p.m. The finale of the tournament will take place at 1 p.m. on Sunday with CSUN versus UConn. CSUN's Friday and Saturday games will be streamed live on the CSUN Sports Network and all four games will have an audio broadcast available with Ross Porter on the call. Live stats will be available on GoMatadors.com.

William & Mary and Connecticut will face each other on Friday and Saturday morning with start times slated for 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. respectively. Live stats will also available for both neutral site games on GoMatadors.com.

Winners of five-straight games, the Matadors defeated the UCLA Bruins, 20-12, in a slugfest at Matador Field on Tuesday. CSUN recorded its first 20-run performance since 2004 as the Matadors put together two seven-run innings against the nationally-ranked Bruins. Fred Smith, Branden Berry and Albee Weiss each had three hits in the win with Weiss going deep twice. Berry hit a three-run shot in the first inning and he totaled six RBI on the day.

Smith extended his hit streak to 13 after going 3-for-6 with two runs scored and three RBI against UCLA. Leading the team in batting with a .377 average at the plate, Smith has wasted little time making an impact on the field in his first season with CSUN. He is also first on the team in hits (23), third in runs scored (9), third in runs batted in (8) and second in stolen bases (5).

Cleanup hitter Weiss is swinging a hot bat for CSUN over the last four games. Weiss is batting .364 over the last four games and has hit safely in each contest. He has also belted home runs in back-to-back games and has driven in eight runs in March.

Reigning Big West Conference Pitcher of the Week Angel Rodriguez (1-0, 1.80 ERA) takes to the mound against William & Mary on Thursday and last week's conference pitcher of the week Kenny Rosenberg (1-0, 1.96 ERA) opposes Connecticut on Friday. Rayne Raven (1-1, 2.70 ERA) gets the starting nod on Saturday against the Tribe and Joe Ryan (0-0, 3.00 ERA) will start on Sunday versus UConn.

The Matadors have never faced the Tribe before in their history but CSUN hosted UConn in a four-game set during the 2010 season. The Huskies took three of four games at Matador Field with CSUN earning a 5-3 win in the series finale.

A Closer Look at William & Mary
The Tribe owns a 6-6 overall record and 3-5 mark on the road this season. William & Mary is on an eight-game California road trip. At the University of San Diego, the Tribe were defeated by Oregon State, 12-3, and they dropped two of three games against the host Toreros over a four-day span. After being rained out the day before, William & Mary split a doubleheader against San Diego on Tuesday

Sophomore infielder Ryan Hall is off to a quick start for the Tribe this season, posting a .367 batting average to go along with two home runs, seven runs batted in and 15 runs scored. Senior Charley Gould is also batting an impressive .333 at the dish to go along with six RBI. Right-handed sophomore Michael Toner (0-0, 4.50 ERA) starts for the Tribe against CSUN on Thursday as he has tossed 4.0 innings over three appearances this season. Saturday's starter is to be determined.

A Closer Look at Connecticut
The Huskies are 6-4 on the year and 3-4 away from home in 2016. UConn defeated Yale, 8-2, on Tuesday in its home opener. Last season, the Huskies advanced to the semifinals of the American Athletic Conference Tournament and recorded a 35-25 record.

Senior first baseman Bobby Melley leads the team with a .395 batting average and he has driven in 15 RBI, scored 16 runs, and belted two home runs. Team leader in runs batted in, junior Tyler Gnesda has driven in 17 and he is batting .310. As a team, the UConn Huskies are batting .306 through 10 games. Sophomore right-hander William Montgomerie (1-0, 7.30 ERA) will oppose CSUN on Friday while freshman righty Ronnie Rossomando is slated to start on Sunday (0-1, 1.93 ERA).

CSUN Hosts William & Mary and UConn in Weekend Tournament

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Players Mentioned

Branden Berry

Rayne Raven

Angel Rodriguez

Kenny Rosenberg

Joe Ryan

Fred Smith

Albee Weiss

California State University Northridge Athletics