Matadors Take on Fresno State in Midweek Action

Tuesday, April 10

Fresno, CA

6:05 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

Fresno State

Photo by: Paul Trafecanty

Matadors Take on Fresno State in Midweek Action

4/9/2018 12:52:00 PM | Baseball

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NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball (15-16, 4-2 BWC) returns to non-conference action Tuesday as the Matadors visit Fresno State at 6 p.m. Live stats will be provided for the game. The teams will play three midweek games this season with two played at Bob Bennett Stadium. The Matadors travel to Fresno State in two weeks on Tuesday, April 24 before hosting the Bulldogs on Tuesday, May 8 at Matador Field.

CSUN picked up its second-straight conference series win by taking two of three games at UC Riverside last weekend. The team has now won back-to-back series to start Big West play for the first time since 2002. The Matadors also won their first series after losing the opener in four years. In addition, CSUN won its first series at UC Riverside since the 2012 campaign.

After dropping the opener 6-4, the Matadors bounced back with an 11-inning win in game two (3-2) and a 6-1 victory in the finale. The Matadors came from behind to take Saturday's game as senior Alvaro Rubalcaba hit a sacrifice fly in the seventh to eventually help send the game to extra innings. CSUN would push across the winning run in the 11th after an error was committed on a run down. Senior Justin Toerner was able to steal home plate on the play to give the Matadors the lead. Senior Tei Vanderford worked three shutout innings to nail down the win over the Highlanders. On Sunday, junior Matt Acosta pitched five shutout innings, striking out a season-high seven batters while Toerner collected two hits including a home run in a wire-to-wire triumph.

In the series with the Highlanders, Toerner collected six hits and two runs scored as he slugged .857 at the plate. Junior Trevor Casanova compiled five hits and two runs scored while junior Joey Cooper registered a team-best three RBI and three runs scored at the top of the order. CSUN's pitching staff combined to post a 2.89 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 28.0 innings. Out of the bullpen, senior Hayden Shenefield worked four shutout innings over two appearances to go with seven strikeouts.

Senior Albee Weiss remains among the Division I baseball leaders in several offensive categories as he is fourth in home runs (13), sixth in RBI (40) and 26th in total bases (83). Casanova is also seventh in the nation in doubles with 14 and 42nd in hits with 47. As a team, the Matadors are fifth in the nation in home runs (47), 10th in slugging percentage (.485) and 36th in runs scored (215).

In the Big West, Cooper leads the league in runs scored with 27 while Brandon Bohning is second with 26 and Casanova is third with 25 runs. Casanova has recorded the most hits and doubles in the Big West and the second-highest batting average (.379). Weiss is atop the conference in home runs, RBI and slugging percentage (.659). On the pitching front, Acosta is tied for third in wins (4) and Walker Armstrong is fifth in innings pitched (47.2) and ninth in strikeouts (34). CSUN continues to lead the Big West in a number of categories including hits (319), doubles (60), RBI (204), extra base hits (114), total bases (534), runs, home runs and slugging percentage.

Senior Andrew Weston will make his third-straight Tuesday start against Fresno State this week. Weston has worked 3.2 innings this season and struck out two batters to go with a 7.36 ERA.

In a series dating back to 1961, the Bulldogs lead the Matadors 56-27 all time. Over the last 20 seasons, the teams have only faced off five times with the Bulldogs winning four of those games, however, just one contest has been played at Matador Field. Fresno State has won three-straight games in the series including a 16 inning 4-3 victory in 2015. Weston worked 1.1 shutout innings out of the bullpen against the Bulldogs three seasons ago.

A Closer Look at Fresno State
The Bulldogs are 20-11 this season including 7-8 in the Mountain West Conference. Last weekend, Fresno State swept New Mexico in Albuquerque, compiling 33 runs in the series. Against Big West foes this season, the Bulldogs are 4-2 including posting a series win over Long Beach State.

Junior outfielder Zach Ashford leads the team with a .370 batting average to go with 19 runs scored, 15 RBI and a .427 on-base percentage. Fellow junior, infielder Nolan Dempsey has also provided the team with consistent hitting as he is batting .349 with three home runs and 12 RBI. Sophomore catcher Carter Bins is tops on the team in RBI (33), home runs (7) and slugging percentage (.589). As a team, the Bulldogs are batting .290 with 97 extra base hits. Starting Tuesday against CSUN, freshman left hander Nikoh Mitchell (3-0) has a 3.08 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 26.1 innings of work.