Friday, April 2
Northridge, Calif.
3:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
vs
#26 UC Irvine
Photo by: Braden Villanueva
CSUN Returns Home to Host First-Place UC Irvine
4/1/2021 11:35:00 AM | Baseball
FULL GAME NOTES
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball (3-5, 3-5 Big West) returns to Matador Field this week for a four-game series with first-place UC Irvine (14-7, 8-0 Big West). The opener is set for Friday at 3 p.m. and the series continues Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m. Sunday's series finale will start at 1 p.m. Fans can listen to all of the action at GoMatadors.com/Radio with Ghizal Hasan on the call throughout the series.
Probable Pitching Match-Ups
UC Irvine at CSUN - April 2-4
RHP Trenton Denholm (2-1, 2.60 ERA) vs. RHP Blake Sodersten (0-0, 4.82 ERA)
LHP Nick Pinto (2-1, 3.51 ERA) vs. LHP Zuko Tillman (0-1, 7.71 ERA)
RHP Michael Frias (3-0, 1.65 ERA) vs. TBA
RHP Peter Van Loon (1-1, 7.06 ERA) vs. RHP Blaine Traxel (1-0, 5.40 ERA)
The Matadors open up a home-heavy stretch to their season this weekend. Beginning with the UC Irvine series, CSUN will play 12 of its next 16 games inside the friendly confines of Matador Field. CSUN heads to UC Santa Barbara next week before hosting UC Riverside and Cal State Fullerton on back-to-back weekends.
CSUN earned a series split with Long Beach State last week at Blair Field, winning game one 3-1 and the finale 6-1 while Long Beach State swept Saturday's doubleheader, 7-3 and 10-5.
The Matadors took the opener after scoring two runs in the ninth inning. Brandon Bohning scored the go-ahead run in the ninth after a dropped ball in left field. Kai Moody also singled in an insurance run moments later. Out of the bullpen, Jackson Cunningham worked three shutout innings to earn the win and Blake Schriever nailed down his first save of the season after recording the final two outs.
The Dirtbags responded with a doubleheader sweep last Saturday, first erasing a 2-0 CSUN lead in the opener and scoring four runs over the middle innings to take control. Angel Mendoza homered late in game one but the Dirtbags held on for the 7-3 win. In game two, the Matadors fell behind 5-0 before chipping away at the deficit to pull to within 5-3 in the fifth. However, a Dirtbag grand slam in the bottom of the fifth was the decisive blow in the contest.
CSUN would take the finale behind strong starting pitching from Blaine Traxel. The right-hander tossed seven quality innings, scattering eight hits and only allowing one unearned run to pick up the win. The Matadors would get three RBI from Sean Skelly including a solo home run. Jason Ajamian also came through with a key two-run double in the top of the ninth. Schriever worked the final two innings, striking out three to earn his second save of the series.
After another strong series last week, Moody enters this week leading the Big West in batting average (.483). Moody is also first on the team in hits (14), walks (9), runs (7) and on-base percentage (.605). He has hit safely in all eight games this season and collected five multiple-hit games.
Skelly leads the Matadors in RBI (7) thus far this season and is batting .350 with two home runs. Three other Matadors are hitting .300 or above, which include Jose Ruiz (.321), Ryan Ball (.308) and Ajamian (.300).
With two saves last week, Schriever moved into sole possession of second place in CSUN history in career saves with 15. Schriever was previously in a three-way tie for second place with Phil Polanco (2002-04) and Josh Goossen-Brown (2011-13) before Sunday's save. Conner O'Neil (2015-17) is the all-time leader in career saves at CSUN with 29.
UC Irvine leads CSUN in the all-time series 48-33 entering this weekend's four-game set. The Anteaters have won six-straight games in the series and posted series wins over six of the last seven series. The Matadors' last series win over UCI came in 2017 when they won two of three in Irvine. UCI has won the last two series played at Matador Field in 2015 and 2018.
A Closer Look at UC Irvine
The Anteaters were ranked No. 26 in this week's Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Top 30 poll while they also received votes in the NCBWA and USA Today Coaches polls. UC Irvine swept its second-straight series to start conference play this past weekend, defeating Hawai'i four in a row at Anteater Ballpark. UCI also swept UC Davis in week one of league play. The Anteaters were picked to finish third in the Big West coaches preseason poll. Head coach Ben Orloff is in his third season with the team.
Mike Peabody is leading the team in batting average (.367) while he has scored 18 runs and recorded nine RBI. Behind Peabody, Luke Spillane is hitting .348 to go with seven stolen bases. In the Big West, Nathan Church is fifth in RBI (18), sixth in runs (20) and seventh in hits (26) while batting .306. On the mound, Michael Frias (3-0) is fourth in the Big West in ERA (1.65) and strikeouts (36). Trenton Denholm is also eighth in the league in ERA (2.60) while amassing 25 strikeouts.
#UniteTheValley
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NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball (3-5, 3-5 Big West) returns to Matador Field this week for a four-game series with first-place UC Irvine (14-7, 8-0 Big West). The opener is set for Friday at 3 p.m. and the series continues Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m. Sunday's series finale will start at 1 p.m. Fans can listen to all of the action at GoMatadors.com/Radio with Ghizal Hasan on the call throughout the series.
Probable Pitching Match-Ups
UC Irvine at CSUN - April 2-4
RHP Trenton Denholm (2-1, 2.60 ERA) vs. RHP Blake Sodersten (0-0, 4.82 ERA)
LHP Nick Pinto (2-1, 3.51 ERA) vs. LHP Zuko Tillman (0-1, 7.71 ERA)
RHP Michael Frias (3-0, 1.65 ERA) vs. TBA
RHP Peter Van Loon (1-1, 7.06 ERA) vs. RHP Blaine Traxel (1-0, 5.40 ERA)
The Matadors open up a home-heavy stretch to their season this weekend. Beginning with the UC Irvine series, CSUN will play 12 of its next 16 games inside the friendly confines of Matador Field. CSUN heads to UC Santa Barbara next week before hosting UC Riverside and Cal State Fullerton on back-to-back weekends.
CSUN earned a series split with Long Beach State last week at Blair Field, winning game one 3-1 and the finale 6-1 while Long Beach State swept Saturday's doubleheader, 7-3 and 10-5.
The Matadors took the opener after scoring two runs in the ninth inning. Brandon Bohning scored the go-ahead run in the ninth after a dropped ball in left field. Kai Moody also singled in an insurance run moments later. Out of the bullpen, Jackson Cunningham worked three shutout innings to earn the win and Blake Schriever nailed down his first save of the season after recording the final two outs.
The Dirtbags responded with a doubleheader sweep last Saturday, first erasing a 2-0 CSUN lead in the opener and scoring four runs over the middle innings to take control. Angel Mendoza homered late in game one but the Dirtbags held on for the 7-3 win. In game two, the Matadors fell behind 5-0 before chipping away at the deficit to pull to within 5-3 in the fifth. However, a Dirtbag grand slam in the bottom of the fifth was the decisive blow in the contest.
CSUN would take the finale behind strong starting pitching from Blaine Traxel. The right-hander tossed seven quality innings, scattering eight hits and only allowing one unearned run to pick up the win. The Matadors would get three RBI from Sean Skelly including a solo home run. Jason Ajamian also came through with a key two-run double in the top of the ninth. Schriever worked the final two innings, striking out three to earn his second save of the series.
After another strong series last week, Moody enters this week leading the Big West in batting average (.483). Moody is also first on the team in hits (14), walks (9), runs (7) and on-base percentage (.605). He has hit safely in all eight games this season and collected five multiple-hit games.
Skelly leads the Matadors in RBI (7) thus far this season and is batting .350 with two home runs. Three other Matadors are hitting .300 or above, which include Jose Ruiz (.321), Ryan Ball (.308) and Ajamian (.300).
With two saves last week, Schriever moved into sole possession of second place in CSUN history in career saves with 15. Schriever was previously in a three-way tie for second place with Phil Polanco (2002-04) and Josh Goossen-Brown (2011-13) before Sunday's save. Conner O'Neil (2015-17) is the all-time leader in career saves at CSUN with 29.
UC Irvine leads CSUN in the all-time series 48-33 entering this weekend's four-game set. The Anteaters have won six-straight games in the series and posted series wins over six of the last seven series. The Matadors' last series win over UCI came in 2017 when they won two of three in Irvine. UCI has won the last two series played at Matador Field in 2015 and 2018.
A Closer Look at UC Irvine
The Anteaters were ranked No. 26 in this week's Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Top 30 poll while they also received votes in the NCBWA and USA Today Coaches polls. UC Irvine swept its second-straight series to start conference play this past weekend, defeating Hawai'i four in a row at Anteater Ballpark. UCI also swept UC Davis in week one of league play. The Anteaters were picked to finish third in the Big West coaches preseason poll. Head coach Ben Orloff is in his third season with the team.
Mike Peabody is leading the team in batting average (.367) while he has scored 18 runs and recorded nine RBI. Behind Peabody, Luke Spillane is hitting .348 to go with seven stolen bases. In the Big West, Nathan Church is fifth in RBI (18), sixth in runs (20) and seventh in hits (26) while batting .306. On the mound, Michael Frias (3-0) is fourth in the Big West in ERA (1.65) and strikeouts (36). Trenton Denholm is also eighth in the league in ERA (2.60) while amassing 25 strikeouts.
#UniteTheValley
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