Thursday, April 14
Riverside, Calif.
6:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
at
UC Riverside
Photo by: Will Navarro
CSUN Opens Seven-Game Road Stretch at UC Riverside
4/13/2022 2:37:00 PM | Baseball
FULL GAME NOTES
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball (15-15, 4-8 Big West) kicks off a seven-game road swing this weekend with a three-game series with UC Riverside starting Thursday at 6 p.m. The series continues on Friday at 6 p.m. before concluding Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. Thursday's opener will be broadcast on ESPN+ while UCR will provide audio streams of all three games.
Probable Pitching Matchups
CSUN at UC Riverside
RHP Tyler Frazier (0-3, 6.14 ERA) vs. RHP Blaine Traxel (3-2, 4.47 ERA)
RHP Jeremiah Priddy (0-0, 4.05 ERA) vs. RHP Diego Gutierrez (0-0, 4.35 ERA)
RHP Tucker Juline (1-1, 12.00 ERA) vs. TBA
CSUN leads the all-time series with UC Riverside, 123-96-1. The teams first played in the Matadors' inaugural season in 1959. The Matadors have won nine of the last 13 games in the series but the Highlanders posted a series win last season at Matador Field by taking three of four games. CSUN is set to play its first series at UC Riverside since the 2018 season when the Matadors won two of three games. Overall, the teams have split the last six meetings in Riverside.
The Matadors dropped their fifth consecutive game on Tuesday against USC by a 16-10 margin. On a day where heavy winds played a factor in balls hit in the air to right field, CSUN and USC combined for nine home runs with the Trojans hitting six of them. The Matadors trailed 11-2 after three innings before cutting the deficit to six in the seventh. USC though scored five over the last two frames and withstood a five-run CSUN ninth inning.
Bart West, who spent the past four seasons with USC, finished with two hits including his sixth home run of the season. Sebastian Garcia would hit a grand slam for the Matadors while Mason Le also homered. Chad Wilson was a standout on the pitching side, tossing three shutout innings in relief.
Heading into the weekend, Gabe Gonzalez tops the Big West in home runs with nine while he ranks second in RBI (27), fourth in slugging percentage (.602), eighth in on-base percentage (.443) and ninth in walks (18). Andrew Sojka is second in the conference in runs (28) and sixth in hits (38). Currently, two Matadors are in the top-10 in batting average as Sojka is eighth (.336) and West is ninth (.333). CSUN is ranked second in the league in home runs (33) and third in runs (191) and stolen bases (35).
Right-handed pitcher Blaine Traxel will make his eighth start of the season in Thursday's opener. Traxel has a 3-2 record and 4.47 ERA on the year with a team-high 40 strikeouts. Freshman right-hander Diego Gutierrez makes his second start and his first in conference play in game two. Gutierrez sports a 4.35 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 20.2 innings while he has registered a 3.55 ERA in conference games.
Starting with the UC Riverside series, the Matadors will be on the road for next two weeks. CSUN heads to Arizona State on Tuesday night for a non-conference game before opening a three-game league series on April 22 at Cal State Fullerton.
A Closer Look at UC Riverside
The Highlanders have lost five-straight games and come in with a 4-25 overall record and 2-10 mark in Big West play. Last weekend, UCR dropped three games at Hawai'i. The team has posted a 4-12 record at home this season. Head coach Justin Johnson is in his second season leading the Highlanders after serving on an interim capacity in 2021.
Jacob Badawi leads the Highlanders in hitting with a .344 average to go with seven runs and five RBI. Dylan Orick is the team's top run producer with 15 RBI this season with two home runs and a .233 batting average. Joey Nicolai (14 RBI, 13 runs) and Anthony Mata (16 runs, 13 RBI) are also among the team's top hitters. On the mound, Jeremiah Priddy leads the team in strikeouts with 21 while sporting a 4.05 ERA.
#UniteTheValley
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NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball (15-15, 4-8 Big West) kicks off a seven-game road swing this weekend with a three-game series with UC Riverside starting Thursday at 6 p.m. The series continues on Friday at 6 p.m. before concluding Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. Thursday's opener will be broadcast on ESPN+ while UCR will provide audio streams of all three games.
Probable Pitching Matchups
CSUN at UC Riverside
RHP Tyler Frazier (0-3, 6.14 ERA) vs. RHP Blaine Traxel (3-2, 4.47 ERA)
RHP Jeremiah Priddy (0-0, 4.05 ERA) vs. RHP Diego Gutierrez (0-0, 4.35 ERA)
RHP Tucker Juline (1-1, 12.00 ERA) vs. TBA
CSUN leads the all-time series with UC Riverside, 123-96-1. The teams first played in the Matadors' inaugural season in 1959. The Matadors have won nine of the last 13 games in the series but the Highlanders posted a series win last season at Matador Field by taking three of four games. CSUN is set to play its first series at UC Riverside since the 2018 season when the Matadors won two of three games. Overall, the teams have split the last six meetings in Riverside.
The Matadors dropped their fifth consecutive game on Tuesday against USC by a 16-10 margin. On a day where heavy winds played a factor in balls hit in the air to right field, CSUN and USC combined for nine home runs with the Trojans hitting six of them. The Matadors trailed 11-2 after three innings before cutting the deficit to six in the seventh. USC though scored five over the last two frames and withstood a five-run CSUN ninth inning.
Bart West, who spent the past four seasons with USC, finished with two hits including his sixth home run of the season. Sebastian Garcia would hit a grand slam for the Matadors while Mason Le also homered. Chad Wilson was a standout on the pitching side, tossing three shutout innings in relief.
Heading into the weekend, Gabe Gonzalez tops the Big West in home runs with nine while he ranks second in RBI (27), fourth in slugging percentage (.602), eighth in on-base percentage (.443) and ninth in walks (18). Andrew Sojka is second in the conference in runs (28) and sixth in hits (38). Currently, two Matadors are in the top-10 in batting average as Sojka is eighth (.336) and West is ninth (.333). CSUN is ranked second in the league in home runs (33) and third in runs (191) and stolen bases (35).
Right-handed pitcher Blaine Traxel will make his eighth start of the season in Thursday's opener. Traxel has a 3-2 record and 4.47 ERA on the year with a team-high 40 strikeouts. Freshman right-hander Diego Gutierrez makes his second start and his first in conference play in game two. Gutierrez sports a 4.35 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 20.2 innings while he has registered a 3.55 ERA in conference games.
Starting with the UC Riverside series, the Matadors will be on the road for next two weeks. CSUN heads to Arizona State on Tuesday night for a non-conference game before opening a three-game league series on April 22 at Cal State Fullerton.
A Closer Look at UC Riverside
The Highlanders have lost five-straight games and come in with a 4-25 overall record and 2-10 mark in Big West play. Last weekend, UCR dropped three games at Hawai'i. The team has posted a 4-12 record at home this season. Head coach Justin Johnson is in his second season leading the Highlanders after serving on an interim capacity in 2021.
Jacob Badawi leads the Highlanders in hitting with a .344 average to go with seven runs and five RBI. Dylan Orick is the team's top run producer with 15 RBI this season with two home runs and a .233 batting average. Joey Nicolai (14 RBI, 13 runs) and Anthony Mata (16 runs, 13 RBI) are also among the team's top hitters. On the mound, Jeremiah Priddy leads the team in strikeouts with 21 while sporting a 4.05 ERA.
#UniteTheValley
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