California State University at Northridge
Long Beach State
CSUN Softball Opens Big West Season vs. Long Beach State
4/1/2016 1:47:00 PM | Softball
Matadors and 49ers Finished First, Second in 2015 in Big West
CSUN Game Notes in PDF Format
NORTHRIDGE, Calif. --- The CSUN softball team (20-14) opens Big West Conference play with a three-game series against Long Beach State April 2 and 3 at Matador Diamond. The two teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday followed by a single game on Sunday with the both days slated for a 1 p.m. start. Brandon Marcus will be on the call for all three games on the CSUN Sports Network and Saturday's doubleheader will be streamed live on BigWestTV. Links for the multimedia, including live stats for all three games, are available at GoMatadors.com and fans are also encouraged to check in with the CSUN Softball's official Twitter account (@CSUNSoftball) for updates throughout the series.Â
CSUN has played some of its best softball of 2016 recently and enters the league campaign having won eight of its past 10 games. The Matadors went 4-1 at their Mizuno Classic and then split doubleheader with Illinois on Mar. 22. Most recently, the Matadors traveled to Bakersfield and swept a Tuesday doubleheader with the Roadrunners.Â
CSUN pitching has continued to improve throughout the season. Freshman Taylor Troost was named Big West Pitcher of the week after going 3-0 with a no-hitter against Idaho State at the Mizuno Classic. Juniors Daphne Pofek, Rebecca Bell and Katie Chenault have all turned in impressive performances recently and helped cement the position for the Matadors as Big West play begins.Â
At the plate, the Matadors continue to roll behind a solid offense. Junior Taylor Glover leads the Big West in batting average and total bases while sophomore Savannah Horvath leads the conference in runs scored and ranks second in doubles and total bases. Senior Ariana Wassmer has already hit a career-high five home runs and is tied for third on the team with 20 RBIs. Junior Karlie Habitz also has five home runs and 20 RBIs and adds six doubles to her stat line.Â
Long Beach State, the preseason selection to win the Big West Conference according to the coaches, enters the weekend with a 20-11 overall record after sweeping a doubleheader at LMU on Mar. 30. In 10 games against the same nine opponents, the 49ers sport a 5-5 record while Matadors have a 4-6 mark. CSUN has wins over Syracuse and Illinois while Long Beach State defeated Weber State and Colorado State.Â
Senior Darian Tautalafua leads Long Beach State with a .381 batting average, eight home runs and 36 RBIs on the season. She is LBSU's career leader in home runs (45), RBIs (155) and walks (92). Alley Perkins (.354), Julia Lombardi (.347), Tierra Falo (.328), Hannah Cookson (.315) and LT Torres (.309) are all regulars in the line-up batting over .300 for the season. As a team, the 49ers are batting .301 with 39 doubles, 24 home runs and 10 stolen bases.Â
In the circle, Christina Clermont and Cielo Meza have pitched the majority of innings for LBSU. Clermont, who was the Big West Co-Pitcher of the Year in 2015, is 12-3 with a 2.69 ERA and 111 strikeouts in 99 innings of work while Meza, rookie from Fillmore, CA, i is 6-5 with a 2.59 ERA and 85 Ks in 67.2 innings. For the season, opponents are batting .252 off LBSU pitching and have totaled 39 doubles and 24 home runs.Â
The Matadors took two of three games in Long Beach in 2015, the first time CSUN claimed the series as the road team since 2001. CSUN has not won consecutive series against LBSU since 2001-02.Â
CSUN Team Notes
- Junior Taylor Glover ranks fourth in Division I as of Mar. 30 with a .495 batting average
- Freshman Mackenzie Babbitt set new career highs with three runs scored and two hits at CSU Bakersfield on Mar. 29
- With 29 career stolen bases, sophomore Savannah Horvath already ranks 10th in program history
- Junior Katie Hooper has 31 career doubles, needing six more to move into second in program history
- Glover needs five hits to become 10th player in program history with 200+ career hits
- Senior Ariana Wassmer has hit a career-high five home runs this season, tying for third in the Big West Conference
- Freshman Taylor Troost did not allow a hit in a six-inning performance against Idaho State on Mar. 18, giving CSUN no-hitters in two-straight years from a rookie
- Horvath leads the Big West with 35 runs, is second in total bases (68) and doubles (10 and ranks fourth in SBs and slugging (.630)
- Senior Maylynn Mitchell was named the 2016 CSUN Big West Conference Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year
- Senior Madalyne Handy won CSUN's Dick Enberg Post-Graduate Scholarship for Academic Excellence
- Junior Karlie Habitz is tied for third in the Big West in home runs and ranks 11th in slugging (.523) as of April 1
- In 2016, the Matadors have produced 56 multi-hit games and 39 multi-RBI games
- The Matadors have stolen 56 bases to rank fourth in the Big West as of April 1
- The Matadors have totaled 48 doubles in the 2016 season, ranking second in the Big West as of April 1
Next Week
CSUN hits the road for its first road series in Big West Competition, traveling to Honolulu to face the University of Hawai'i in a three-game series starting on Friday, April 8.Â
