CSUN Hosts No. 13 Cal State Fullerton to Wrap Up Regular Season

Friday, May 19

Northridge, CA

3:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

#13 Cal State Fullerton

Photo by: Paul Trafecanty

CSUN Hosts No. 13 Cal State Fullerton to Wrap Up Regular Season

5/18/2017 9:05:00 AM | Baseball

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NORTHRIDGE, CA---

CSUN Baseball (25-27, 11-10 BWC) concludes its 2017 regular season this weekend, hosting No. 13 Cal State Fullerton in a three-game series at Matador Field. The series will open on Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. and continue on Saturday and Sunday with both games slated to begin at 1 p.m. Each game in the series will be broadcast live on the CSUN Sports Network via Big West.TV with Ross Porter calling all the action. Sunday's season finale is also Senior Day as the Matadors will honor their senior class in a special pregame ceremony.

Probable Pitching Match-ups
Friday, May 19-Saturday, May 21
RHP Connor Seabold (8-4, 2.99 ERA) vs. RHP Tei Vanderford (5-4, 4.07 ERA)
LHP John Gavin (5-2, 3.42 ERA) vs. RHP Andrew Weston (5-3, 4.01 ERA)
RHP Colton Eastman (0-0, 2.38 ERA) vs. RHP Samuel Myers (5-6, 3.98 ERA)

The Matadors are coming off a series loss at Cal Poly last weekend. Falling in the first two games of the series including in walk-off fashion in the opener, CSUN bounced back by routing the Mustangs in the finale, 12-3. The Matadors pounded out a season-high 16 hits on Sunday led by Fred Smith and Alvaro Rubalcaba who had three hits apiece. Smith drove in three runs while Rubalcaba had two RBI and Elias Orona tallied two hits, two RBI and two runs scored. Hitting .380 in Big West play, Nolan Bumstead continued his offensive tear with a 6-for-12 series to go along with two RBI and two doubles. Earning his fifth win of the season, Samuel Myers logged seven innings, struck out six and gave up two runs to defeat Cal Poly.

Heading into the final series of the year, the Matadors are first in the conference in home runs (43), doubles (87) and extra base hits (137), second in total bases (677) and third in RBI (239) and stolen bases (48). Rubalcaba is tops in the Big West in stolen bases (15), second in walks (32) and on-base percentage (.429) and fourth in runs scored (39). Albee Weiss is second in the conference in home runs (10) and RBI (43) while Kevin Riley is third in slugging percentage (.567), fourth in home runs (8) and sixth in RBI (32).

Sunday's season finale marks the final collegiate games for the Matadors' six seniors, which include catcher Dylan Alexander, infielders William Colantono and Fred Smith, and right-handed pitchers Conner O'Neil, Samuel Myers and Drake Atlee. The group has helped the Matadors post 140 victories since 2013 including consecutive 33-win seasons over the last two years.

A four-year starter, Alexander has compiled 116 hits in his CSUN career including 67 walks, 46 runs, 43 RBI, 21 doubles and a .248 batting average. Second all-time in program history with 12 sacrifice flies, Alexander has registered a .984 fielding percentage and managed a pitching staff that has recorded a 3.72 ERA over his four seasons. A 2015 Big West Conference Honorable Mention, Colantono has collected 111 hits, 61 walks, 52 runs, 48 RBI and a .228 batting average in his five seasons with the team. Providing a team-first attitude, Colantono has also picked up 19 sacrifice hits in his career, good for seventh-best in team history. In his two-year Matador career, Smith has batted .295 with 132 hits, 65 hits, 46 RBI, 18 stolen bases and 21 doubles. Leading the team in batting (.314) in 2016, Smith has posted the most hits of any Matador over the last two years.

With 76 games pitched in his career, O'Neil will leave CSUN as the all-time record holder in single-season saves with 12 that he achieved in 2015 and career saves with at least 29. Owning a career 13-10 record, O'Neil holds the lowest career ERA (2.53) of any Division I pitcher in team history. Coming into the series with 192 strikeouts, he could also move into the school's Top 10 strikeout list with three more this season.

Whether coming out of the bullpen or starting, Myers has been a valuable member of the pitching staff over the last two years as he has compiled an 8-6 record, 112 strikeouts and a 3.38 ERA as a Matador. After recording a 2.00 ERA as a set-up man last season, Myers has posted a team-leading 78 strikeouts as a starter this season while limiting batters to a .205 average. Rounding out the senior class, Atlee (0-2) has made 10 appearances and registered a 6.75 ERA and eight strikeouts in his only season with the Matadors.

Cal State Fullerton leads the Matadors, 71-49, in the all-time series. The Titans swept CSUN last season at Goodwin Field but each game in the series was decided by three runs or fewer. The Matadors are looking for their first series victory over Cal State Fullerton since 2002 and their third series win in the team's Division I era. CSUN also will look for its first ever three-game home series win over the Titans in team history.

A Closer Look at Cal State Fullerton
The Titans are 31-18 this season and in second place in the Big West standings with a 12-6 record. Fullerton earned a series win at home against UC Santa Barbara last weekend but fell to Saint Mary's 12-4 on Monday. This season, the Titans have only lost two series, both of which coming against Big West teams (Long Beach State and Cal Poly).

Freshman Sahid Valenzuela leads the Titans in batting with a .339 average to go with 26 runs, 19 RBI and four doubles. Leading the team in home runs (6) and runs scored (41), junior Scott Hurst has 29 RBI, 26 walks and 13 doubles. Friday starter, junior right hander Connor Seabold (8-4) has a conference-best eight wins and 90 strikeouts along with a 2.99 ERA. Also scheduled to face the Matadors, junior left hander John Gavin (5-2) is posting a 3.42 ERA and 66 strikeouts while sophomore right hander Colton Eastman (0-0) has a 2.38 ERA and 14 strikeouts in 11.1 innings of work.