Matadors Face UC Riverside in Weekend Series

Friday, April 29

Riverside, CA

6:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

UC Riverside

Photo by: CSUN Athletics

Matadors Face UC Riverside in Weekend Series

4/28/2016 1:14:00 PM | Baseball

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NORTHRIDGE, CA---

CSUN Baseball (24-14, 3-9 BWC) returns to the road for a three-game series at UC Riverside (17-20, 5-4 BWC) beginning on Friday evening at 6 p.m. The series will continue at the Riverside Sports Complex on Saturday at 6 p.m. and the teams will wrap up the three-game set on Sunday at 1 p.m. A live audio stream will be available on the CSUN Sports Network on Sunday with Brandon Marcus on the call. Live stats will also be available for each game of the series.

The Matadors earned their first series victory in the conference season by taking two of three games from Hawai'i last weekend. CSUN took the opener, 2-1, in a pitcher's duel but Hawai'i rebounded with a 6-5 win in extra innings on Saturday. In the series finale, the Matadors led from start to finish in a 9-3 triumph.

Senior Angel Rodriguez tossed seven quality innings in the opener versus Hawai'i, allowing just one earned run while striking out five en route to earning his fourth win of the season. In game three, sophomore Andrew Weston silenced the Rainbow Warriors bats in 5.1 innings of work, giving up just two earned runs and the Matador 'pen surrendered just one run over the final 3.2 innings to earn the win. Weston improved his team-best win total to six in the 9-3 victory. On the offensive end, shortsop Yusuke Akitoshi batted .615 in the three games as he recorded three multiple-hit efforts. Akitoshi drove in both of the Matadors' runs in the opener and he brought home four more on Sunday. Also, the trio of Justin Toerner, Fred Smith and Branden Berry tallied hits in each contest while Berry hit solo home runs in the final two games of the series.

Senior outfielder Nolan Flashman has led CSUN in batting during Big West play. After going hitless in 12 at bats coming into the conference season, Flashman has provided an offensive punch against league opponents with a .344 average at the dish to go along with two home runs and five RBI. Also hitting well against Big West foes, Akitoshi is batting .318 at the plate and Smith is posting a .314 average in 12 conference contests.

Smith heads into the weekend tied for the lead in hits in the Big West with 57 to go along with a .339 average, 17 RBI and 24 runs scored. Akitoshi improved his batting average to .312 after a hot series against Hawai'i and he leads the team with 29 runs scored. The top run producer on the team, Berry increased his RBI total to 31 with two last weekend and he is also tops on the Matadors with eight home runs.

CSUN is scheduled to send Rodriguez (4-3) in the opener against the Highlanders while Kenny Rosenberg (4-1) and Weston (6-3) will start on Saturday and Sunday respectively. Rodriguez earned his fourth win of the season versus the Rainbow Warriors and he has allowed just two runs over his last two starts. On the season, Rodriguez is posting a 3.40 ERA in 53.0 innings and he has fanned 47 batters. Rosenberg struck out seven Hawai'i batters last Saturday to give him a conference-best 84 on the year. Batters are only hitting .182 against Rosenberg and the southpaw is boasting a 3.10 ERA in 10 starts. Coming in with an overall 3.11 ERA in 15 appearances, Weston has been more impressive in six starts as he is posting a 1.78 ERA with a 3-1 record in those contests. CSUN is also 5-1 in Weston's six starts this season.

The Matadors lead the all-time series with the Highlanders, 113-90, while CSUN has won three of the last four series. Last season, the Matadors took two out of three games at home, highlighted by a five-run comeback in the finale of the series and a walk off victory in a 10-9 win.

A Closer Look at UC Riverside
The Highlanders are tied for fourth with UC Santa Barbara in the Big West standings with a 5-4 record and the team is 3.5 games ahead of CSUN. After finishing with 15 wins last season, the team has already surpassed that win total with 18 wins this season. Overall, the Highlanders are 18-20 and 10-10 in games contested at Riverside Sports Complex. Last weekend, the Highlanders defeated the nationally-ranked Long Beach State Dirtbags two out of three times including winning a pair of one-run games, 4-3 and 14-13. On Tuesday, UCR defeated San Diego at home, 3-2, to win its fifth over the last six games.

Junior outfielder Vince Fernandez leads the team in a host of categories including batting average (.351), runs (28), hits (53), RBI (30), walks (24) and on-base percentage (.446). Also hitting over the .300 mark, junior Mark Contreras is batting .302 with a team-leading nine doubles to go along with 23 runs scored and 16 RBI. Junior left-handed pitcher Austin Sodders (3-3) has been the most consistent starter in the UC Riverside rotation, boasting a 2.90 ERA and 49 strikeouts in 49.2 innings pitched. With five saves, sophomore Ryan Lillie is sporting a 3.22 ERA and a 4-2 record in 22 relief appearances.