Saturday, February 16
Northridge, CA
1:30 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
vs
Kansas State
Photo by: Shae Hammond
CSUN Baseball Opens 61st Season Friday
2/14/2019 8:47:00 AM | Baseball
FULL GAME NOTES
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball opens up the 2019 season and a four-game series Friday at Matador Field against Kansas State. The series opener is set for 2 p.m. while first pitch on Saturday and Sunday is slated for 1 p.m. each day. The teams conclude the series on Monday afternoon at 2 p.m. Ross Porter is on the call for every home game this season on the CSUN Sports Network presented by Dignity Health. Fans can listen to all the action at GoMatadors.com/Radio. In addition, a video stream will be available for the opener and the finale of the series on the CSUN Sports Network presented by Dignity Health via Big West.TV.
Probably Pitching Matchups
Kansas State at CSUN
RHP Tyler Eckberg (3-2, 5.28 ERA) vs. RHP Walker Armstrong (3-4, 3.39 ERA)
LHP Jordan Wicks (N/A) vs. LHP Wesley Moore (2-4, 6.75 ERA)
LHP Will Brennan (2-1, 3.86 ERA) vs. LHP Isaiah Nunez (1-2, 3.65 ERA)
RHP Kasey Ford (5-2, 4.67 ERA) vs. RHP Blake Sodersten (N/A)
CSUN hosts 30 games at Matador Field this season including the first 13 games to start 2019. Of the team's 32 non-conference games this season, the Matadors face teams from Power Five Conference 16 times beginning with a four-game set with K-State. During the year, CSUN takes on five NCAA Tournament teams as well as three regular season conference champions.
Head coach Greg Moore enters his sixth season at the helm of the Matadors. Moore has led CSUN to 120 victories over the last four seasons including 44 conference victories since 2015. The team's 44 Big West wins are the most over any four-year block since the team joined the conference in 2001. The Matadors finished tied for third in the Big West Conference last season, securing the team's best league finish since winning the conference in 2002.
After leading the Big West in nearly every offensive category last season including runs (329), home runs (65), RBI (308) and slugging percentage (.429), the Matadors sport a bit of a new look with 12 returning letterwinners and 21 newcomers.
However, two-thirds of the Matadors' weekend rotation is intact with the return of seniors Walker Armstrong and Isaiah Nunez. The Matadors' Friday starter in 2018, Armstrong (3-4) rejoins the Matadors after leading the team in innings pitched (93.0) and strikeouts (62) to go with a 3.39 ERA last season. Nunez joined the rotation in Big West play a season ago and finished with a 3.65 ERA in 66.2 innings of work. Also expected to earn time as a starter this season, sophomore lefty Wesley Moore (2-4, 6.75 ERA) started six games as a freshman. Reliable relievers in senior Jayson Newman (3-2, 4.46 ERA) and sophomore Blake Schreiver (3-0, 3.74 ERA) also are back in 2019 after strong campaigns a year ago.
Armstrong will start opening day for the Matadors followed by Moore, Nunez and freshman right hander Blake Sodersten who joins CSUN out of Clovis High School.
While familiar faces make up the pitching staff, the Matadors' everyday lineup sports a primarily new look. Sophomore Brandon Bohning is one of the few familiar faces from last season's team along with senior outfielder Joey Cooper. Bohning started 57 games at second base and finished fifth in the Big West in runs scored (40) to go with a .260 batting average, four home runs and 26 RBI. Cooper started 51 games and batted .246 with 35 runs, 31 RBI and five homers.
Senior infielder Kyle Barret appeared in 17 games last season and hit .281 with two home runs and seven RBI but will see an expanded role this season along with senior infielder Wesley Ghan-Gibson who had just eight at bats in 2018. Freshmen Denzel Clarke (Everest Academy), Damiano Palmegiani (Vauxhall Academy), Andrew Lucas (Camarillo High School) and Josh Cerpa (Hart High School) and juniors Sean Skelly (Orange Coast College) and Robert Bullard (Howard College) are some of the newcomers expected to earn playing time in the early going of the season.
CSUN is 2-2 against Kansas State all-time with the teams one and only series taking place in the 1998 season in Manhattan, Kan. Against teams currently in the Big 12 Conference, the Matadors are 14-19 all time. At Matador Field, CSUN has won two series against the likes of Oklahoma State (two of three games in 2007) and Texas Tech (swept three games in 2009) but the Matadors dropped a series to West Virginia in 2014. (two of three games).
A Closer Look at Kansas State
K-State went 23-31 last season including 5-19 in league play for a ninth-place finish in the Big 12 Conference. Head coach Pete Hughes is in his first season with the Wildcats and he fields a team that features 15 letterwinners and 19 newcomers. Hughes has 652 total victories in 21 years as a head coach.
Junior left hander Will Brennan, a two-way player for the Wildcats, is coming off a season where he hit .359 with 70 hits, 49 runs and a .454 on-base percentage. A former freshman all-american, junior infielder Cameron Thompson hit .257 with 32 runs and 33 RBI a year ago. On the mound this weekend, junior right hander Tyler Eckberg (3-2, 5.28 ERA) will start opening day followed by freshman left hander Jordan Wicks, Brennan (2-1, 3.86 ERA) and junior right hander Kasey Ford (5-2, 4.67 ERA). Ford led the team in strikeouts (45) and innings pitched (61.2) last season.
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NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball opens up the 2019 season and a four-game series Friday at Matador Field against Kansas State. The series opener is set for 2 p.m. while first pitch on Saturday and Sunday is slated for 1 p.m. each day. The teams conclude the series on Monday afternoon at 2 p.m. Ross Porter is on the call for every home game this season on the CSUN Sports Network presented by Dignity Health. Fans can listen to all the action at GoMatadors.com/Radio. In addition, a video stream will be available for the opener and the finale of the series on the CSUN Sports Network presented by Dignity Health via Big West.TV.
Probably Pitching Matchups
Kansas State at CSUN
RHP Tyler Eckberg (3-2, 5.28 ERA) vs. RHP Walker Armstrong (3-4, 3.39 ERA)
LHP Jordan Wicks (N/A) vs. LHP Wesley Moore (2-4, 6.75 ERA)
LHP Will Brennan (2-1, 3.86 ERA) vs. LHP Isaiah Nunez (1-2, 3.65 ERA)
RHP Kasey Ford (5-2, 4.67 ERA) vs. RHP Blake Sodersten (N/A)
CSUN hosts 30 games at Matador Field this season including the first 13 games to start 2019. Of the team's 32 non-conference games this season, the Matadors face teams from Power Five Conference 16 times beginning with a four-game set with K-State. During the year, CSUN takes on five NCAA Tournament teams as well as three regular season conference champions.
Head coach Greg Moore enters his sixth season at the helm of the Matadors. Moore has led CSUN to 120 victories over the last four seasons including 44 conference victories since 2015. The team's 44 Big West wins are the most over any four-year block since the team joined the conference in 2001. The Matadors finished tied for third in the Big West Conference last season, securing the team's best league finish since winning the conference in 2002.
After leading the Big West in nearly every offensive category last season including runs (329), home runs (65), RBI (308) and slugging percentage (.429), the Matadors sport a bit of a new look with 12 returning letterwinners and 21 newcomers.
However, two-thirds of the Matadors' weekend rotation is intact with the return of seniors Walker Armstrong and Isaiah Nunez. The Matadors' Friday starter in 2018, Armstrong (3-4) rejoins the Matadors after leading the team in innings pitched (93.0) and strikeouts (62) to go with a 3.39 ERA last season. Nunez joined the rotation in Big West play a season ago and finished with a 3.65 ERA in 66.2 innings of work. Also expected to earn time as a starter this season, sophomore lefty Wesley Moore (2-4, 6.75 ERA) started six games as a freshman. Reliable relievers in senior Jayson Newman (3-2, 4.46 ERA) and sophomore Blake Schreiver (3-0, 3.74 ERA) also are back in 2019 after strong campaigns a year ago.
Armstrong will start opening day for the Matadors followed by Moore, Nunez and freshman right hander Blake Sodersten who joins CSUN out of Clovis High School.
While familiar faces make up the pitching staff, the Matadors' everyday lineup sports a primarily new look. Sophomore Brandon Bohning is one of the few familiar faces from last season's team along with senior outfielder Joey Cooper. Bohning started 57 games at second base and finished fifth in the Big West in runs scored (40) to go with a .260 batting average, four home runs and 26 RBI. Cooper started 51 games and batted .246 with 35 runs, 31 RBI and five homers.
Senior infielder Kyle Barret appeared in 17 games last season and hit .281 with two home runs and seven RBI but will see an expanded role this season along with senior infielder Wesley Ghan-Gibson who had just eight at bats in 2018. Freshmen Denzel Clarke (Everest Academy), Damiano Palmegiani (Vauxhall Academy), Andrew Lucas (Camarillo High School) and Josh Cerpa (Hart High School) and juniors Sean Skelly (Orange Coast College) and Robert Bullard (Howard College) are some of the newcomers expected to earn playing time in the early going of the season.
CSUN is 2-2 against Kansas State all-time with the teams one and only series taking place in the 1998 season in Manhattan, Kan. Against teams currently in the Big 12 Conference, the Matadors are 14-19 all time. At Matador Field, CSUN has won two series against the likes of Oklahoma State (two of three games in 2007) and Texas Tech (swept three games in 2009) but the Matadors dropped a series to West Virginia in 2014. (two of three games).
A Closer Look at Kansas State
K-State went 23-31 last season including 5-19 in league play for a ninth-place finish in the Big 12 Conference. Head coach Pete Hughes is in his first season with the Wildcats and he fields a team that features 15 letterwinners and 19 newcomers. Hughes has 652 total victories in 21 years as a head coach.
Junior left hander Will Brennan, a two-way player for the Wildcats, is coming off a season where he hit .359 with 70 hits, 49 runs and a .454 on-base percentage. A former freshman all-american, junior infielder Cameron Thompson hit .257 with 32 runs and 33 RBI a year ago. On the mound this weekend, junior right hander Tyler Eckberg (3-2, 5.28 ERA) will start opening day followed by freshman left hander Jordan Wicks, Brennan (2-1, 3.86 ERA) and junior right hander Kasey Ford (5-2, 4.67 ERA). Ford led the team in strikeouts (45) and innings pitched (61.2) last season.
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