Friday, February 28
Orlando, Fla.
3:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
at
#17 UCF
Photo by: Shae Hammond
CSUN Heads to #17 UCF for Weekend Series
2/27/2020 12:41:00 PM | Baseball
FULL GAME NOTES
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball (7-0) continues its longest road stretch of the season when it visits No. 17 UCF this weekend in a four-game series. The opener is set for Friday at 3 p.m. and the series will continue Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m. The finale is set for Sunday at 10 a.m. All four games will be streamed live on UCFKnights.TV while live stats are also available for each contest.
Probable Pitching Match-Ups
CSUN at UCF - Feb. 28 - Mar. 1
RHP Blake Sodersten (2-0, 1.54 ERA) vs. LHP Colton Gordon (2-0, 1.46 ERA)
RHP Blaine Traxel (1-0, 3.75 ERA) vs. RHP Trevor Holloway (2-0, 0.90 ERA)
RHP Gavin Lizik (1-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. LHP Hunter Patteson (1-0, 3.24 ERA)
RHP Daniel Vasquez (0-0, 3.00 ERA) vs. LHP Joe Sheridan (1-0, 2.00 ERA)
This week, the Matadors received votes in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association poll. It is the first time the Matadors have received votes in any national poll since the 2016 season. CSUN is off to its best start since the 1993 campaign when that Matador squad opened the year with a Division I program-best 9-0 record. Prior to the Matadors' Division I era, which started in 1991, only one Division II squad (1972 team) had ever won the first seven to start a season.
CSUN remained unbeaten with three impressive wins at the GCU Classic last weekend. The Matadors earned a come-from-behind 12-5 win over Fordham last Friday before defeating host Grand Canyon 5-3 later that night. After being rained out Saturday, CSUN defeated GCU once more on Sunday, this time by a 6-2 final.
Jayson Newman helped lead the comeback charge against Fordham as he hit a go-ahead RBI single in what was a seven-run seventh inning that erased a three-run deficit. Newman tied a career-high in hits with four in that win and he added two more hits in the finale against Grand Canyon. Blake Sodersten earned the win over GCU on Friday, working 5.2 innings and allowing just two runs on three hits to run his season record to 2-0. Relievers Dwayne Angebrandt and Gavin Lizik also earned wins out of the bullpen as they allowed no runs in their appearances.
For his efforts last week, Newman became the first Matador since Albee Weiss in 2018 to earn the Big West Field Player of the Week award, the league office announced on Feb. 24. Newman hit an even .500 in four Matador wins, which also included a 3-1 win over Washington State at Matador Field. For the week, Newman drove in three runs, scored four times and collected seven hits. Newman slugged a robust .786 in the four games. The award was the first in Newman's career with the Matadors.
In the Big West, Newman's season .440 batting average is ranked third in the league while he is also third in RBI (10) and slugging percentage (.690) and fifth in doubles (3). Blake Doremus is tied for second place in the conference in home runs (2) and Jose Ruiz is tied for fifth in runs scored (7). Elijah Garcia is currently tied for first in the Big West in appearances (5) while closer Blake Schriever is tied for first place in saves (2).
Sodersten is off to a hot start to the season as he comes into Friday's start with a 1.54 ERA and a team-high 12 strikeouts in 11.2 innings of work. Hitters have only batted .146 against Sodersten on the young season. Blaine Traxel heads into the series with a 1-0 record and a 3.75 ERA in 12.0 innings with five strikeouts. Lizik makes his second start of the season and the first in a weekend series on Saturday and Daniel Vasquez closes the series. Lizik has not allowed a run in six innings this season while Vasquez has worked 9.0 innings and struck out seven batters to go with a 3.00 ERA.
CSUN's series with UCF is the first between the two programs in baseball. The Matadors last faced a team from the American Athletic Conference in 2016 when the Matadors took two games from Connecticut in a three-team tournament held at Matador Field.
A Closer Look at UCF
The Knights were ranked No. 17 in this week's Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Top 25 while they also were received a No. 19 ranking by D1Baseball.com. UCF is 8-1 on the season and has won four-straight games. The Knights are coming off a three-game road sweep of then-No. 8 ranked Auburn last weekend as well as a 6-0 win over Bethune-Cookman on Tuesday. UCF is ninth in the nation in stolen bases (19), 14th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.35) and 19th in runs scored (65). Last season, the Knights went 36-22 and finished sixth in the AAC. The team was selected to finish fifth in the conference prior to the season.
Junior Nick Romano is off to an outstanding start to the season, hitting .480 with 12 hits, six RBI and four runs scored. Senior Jordan Rathbone leads the team in RBI (11) and home runs (3) to go with a .688 slugging percentage and .344 batting average. Junior Dalton Wingo was named to the AAC Preseason All-Conference Team and he is hitting .225 with eight runs scored this season. The UCF pitching staff has been stellar as well, posting a combined 2.00 ERA with 113 strikeouts in 81.0 innings. Junior right-handed pitcher Trevor Halloway has a team-high 18 strikeouts to go with a 0.90 ERA and 2-0 record.
#UniteTheValley
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NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball (7-0) continues its longest road stretch of the season when it visits No. 17 UCF this weekend in a four-game series. The opener is set for Friday at 3 p.m. and the series will continue Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m. The finale is set for Sunday at 10 a.m. All four games will be streamed live on UCFKnights.TV while live stats are also available for each contest.
Probable Pitching Match-Ups
CSUN at UCF - Feb. 28 - Mar. 1
RHP Blake Sodersten (2-0, 1.54 ERA) vs. LHP Colton Gordon (2-0, 1.46 ERA)
RHP Blaine Traxel (1-0, 3.75 ERA) vs. RHP Trevor Holloway (2-0, 0.90 ERA)
RHP Gavin Lizik (1-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. LHP Hunter Patteson (1-0, 3.24 ERA)
RHP Daniel Vasquez (0-0, 3.00 ERA) vs. LHP Joe Sheridan (1-0, 2.00 ERA)
This week, the Matadors received votes in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association poll. It is the first time the Matadors have received votes in any national poll since the 2016 season. CSUN is off to its best start since the 1993 campaign when that Matador squad opened the year with a Division I program-best 9-0 record. Prior to the Matadors' Division I era, which started in 1991, only one Division II squad (1972 team) had ever won the first seven to start a season.
CSUN remained unbeaten with three impressive wins at the GCU Classic last weekend. The Matadors earned a come-from-behind 12-5 win over Fordham last Friday before defeating host Grand Canyon 5-3 later that night. After being rained out Saturday, CSUN defeated GCU once more on Sunday, this time by a 6-2 final.
Jayson Newman helped lead the comeback charge against Fordham as he hit a go-ahead RBI single in what was a seven-run seventh inning that erased a three-run deficit. Newman tied a career-high in hits with four in that win and he added two more hits in the finale against Grand Canyon. Blake Sodersten earned the win over GCU on Friday, working 5.2 innings and allowing just two runs on three hits to run his season record to 2-0. Relievers Dwayne Angebrandt and Gavin Lizik also earned wins out of the bullpen as they allowed no runs in their appearances.
For his efforts last week, Newman became the first Matador since Albee Weiss in 2018 to earn the Big West Field Player of the Week award, the league office announced on Feb. 24. Newman hit an even .500 in four Matador wins, which also included a 3-1 win over Washington State at Matador Field. For the week, Newman drove in three runs, scored four times and collected seven hits. Newman slugged a robust .786 in the four games. The award was the first in Newman's career with the Matadors.
In the Big West, Newman's season .440 batting average is ranked third in the league while he is also third in RBI (10) and slugging percentage (.690) and fifth in doubles (3). Blake Doremus is tied for second place in the conference in home runs (2) and Jose Ruiz is tied for fifth in runs scored (7). Elijah Garcia is currently tied for first in the Big West in appearances (5) while closer Blake Schriever is tied for first place in saves (2).
Sodersten is off to a hot start to the season as he comes into Friday's start with a 1.54 ERA and a team-high 12 strikeouts in 11.2 innings of work. Hitters have only batted .146 against Sodersten on the young season. Blaine Traxel heads into the series with a 1-0 record and a 3.75 ERA in 12.0 innings with five strikeouts. Lizik makes his second start of the season and the first in a weekend series on Saturday and Daniel Vasquez closes the series. Lizik has not allowed a run in six innings this season while Vasquez has worked 9.0 innings and struck out seven batters to go with a 3.00 ERA.
CSUN's series with UCF is the first between the two programs in baseball. The Matadors last faced a team from the American Athletic Conference in 2016 when the Matadors took two games from Connecticut in a three-team tournament held at Matador Field.
A Closer Look at UCF
The Knights were ranked No. 17 in this week's Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Top 25 while they also were received a No. 19 ranking by D1Baseball.com. UCF is 8-1 on the season and has won four-straight games. The Knights are coming off a three-game road sweep of then-No. 8 ranked Auburn last weekend as well as a 6-0 win over Bethune-Cookman on Tuesday. UCF is ninth in the nation in stolen bases (19), 14th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.35) and 19th in runs scored (65). Last season, the Knights went 36-22 and finished sixth in the AAC. The team was selected to finish fifth in the conference prior to the season.
Junior Nick Romano is off to an outstanding start to the season, hitting .480 with 12 hits, six RBI and four runs scored. Senior Jordan Rathbone leads the team in RBI (11) and home runs (3) to go with a .688 slugging percentage and .344 batting average. Junior Dalton Wingo was named to the AAC Preseason All-Conference Team and he is hitting .225 with eight runs scored this season. The UCF pitching staff has been stellar as well, posting a combined 2.00 ERA with 113 strikeouts in 81.0 innings. Junior right-handed pitcher Trevor Halloway has a team-high 18 strikeouts to go with a 0.90 ERA and 2-0 record.
#UniteTheValley
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