CSUN Hosts Hawai'i in Weekend Series Starting Friday

Friday, April 26

Northridge, CA

3:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

Hawai'i

Photo by: Shae Hammond

CSUN Hosts Hawai'i in Weekend Series Starting Friday

4/24/2019 4:44:00 PM | Baseball

FULL GAME NOTES

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball (17-22, 4-8 BWC) returns to Big West action this weekend as the Matadors open up a seven-game homestand and a three-game series with Hawai'i on Friday at 3 p.m. The series continues on Saturday and concludes on Sunday with start times set for 1 p.m. each day. All three games will broadcast live on the CSUN Sports Network presented by Dignity Health with Ross Porter on the call.

Probable Pitching Match-Ups
Hawai'i at CSUN
RHP Cade Smith (2-0, 4.70 ERA) vs. LHP Wesley Moore (4-3, 3.61 ERA)
RHP Logan Pouelsen (2-1, 4.33 ERA) vs. LHP Isaiah Nunez (6-3, 3.17 ERA)
TBA vs. RHP Blake Sodersten (1-2, 4.28 ERA)

The Matadors snapped a four-game skid with a come-from-behind 7-4 win at California Baptist on Tuesday night. CSUN trailed 2-0 early and 4-3 heading to the seventh inning before junior Blake Doremus belted a game-tying home run. Two innings later, freshman Andrew Lucas hit a go-ahead RBI double then the Matadors added two more runs before sophomore Blake Schriever shut the door in the bottom of the ninth to seal a CSUN win.

Lucas finished 3-for-4 with four RBI including a three-run home run in the victory over CBU. Doremus would go 2-for-3 at the plate while senior Kyle Barret went 2-for-4 with an RBI double. Schriever struck out a career-high six batters over 3.1 shutout innings.

Tuesday's three-hit game adds to what has been an impressive 17-game stretch for Lucas. The freshman right fielder has hit .403 at the plate since March 22, collecting 25 hits, 15 runs, 15 RBI, three home runs and a .645 slugging percentage. Lucas has also improved his average from .191 to .292 over that span and tallied hits in 16 of the 17 games including six multiple-hit efforts. In addition, Lucas is hitting a team-best .370 with 17 hits, 10 runs scored and nine RBI in Big West play.

Heading into the weekend, Barret continues to be in the Big West's Top 10 in numerous offensive categories. The senior second baseman leads the league in doubles (14) while he ranks tied for third in hits (49), fifth in extra base hits (19), tied for sixth in walks (20), seventh in total bases (76), tied for eighth in batting average (.333) and ninth in on-base percentage (.428). Barret is also second on the team in batting in conference play with a .364 average to go with five doubles.

Also in the Big West's Top 10, Lucas is tied for fourth in the league with three triples while four Matadors are in the Top 10 in home runs, led by Sean Skelly with six (tied for seventh place) and followed by Brandon Bohning, Wesley Ghan-Gibson and Lucas who all have five home runs (tied for ninth place). Skelly is also ninth in the conference in slugging percentage (.522). In stolen bases, Bohning is ranked third with 13 while Denzel Clarke is tied for eighth with nine stolen bases.

On the pitching side, freshman Blaine Traxel leads the league in appearances with 22, followed by Blake Schriever in second place with 21. Senior Isaiah Nunez is tied for third in wins (6) and 10th in ERA (3.17) while sophomore Wesley Moore is tied for eighth in strikeouts (48) and tied for 10th in wins (4).

Dating back to 1981, the Matadors are 32-19 all-time against Hawai'i. CSUN boasts an 8-7 record in the series under head coach Greg Moore. Hawai'i posted its first-ever series win at Matador Field in 2017, winning the final two games of the series. However, CSUN returned the favor last season in Honolulu, bouncing back from a 5-3 loss in game one to win 12-7 in game two and 2-0 in the finale.

A Closer Look at Hawai'i
The Rainbow Warriors are 17-20 this season and 6-6 in Big West play. Hawai'i has won three in a row after taking the final two games of its series with Cal State Fullerton last weekend in Honolulu and winning 5-2 in San Diego on Wednesday. The team has played nine of 12 at home in league play with its only road series coming at UC Riverside where the Highlanders took two of three games. Head coach Mike Trapasso is in his 18th season at the helm.

Sophomore Daylen Calicdan leads the team with a .325 batting average to go with 28 runs, 17 RBI, nine doubles and a .417 slugging percentage. Senior Maaki Yamazaki has the most hits on the team (45) as he is batting .306 with 21 RBI. Fellow senior Ethan Lopez ranks third in the Big West in RBI (44) while he is tied with sophomore Alex Baeza for the team lead in home runs (4). On the pitching front, junior right hander Dylan Thomas (3-3) is fifth in the league with a 2.11 ERA to go with a team-high 43 strikeouts and three saves.