Friday, April 29
Northridge, Calif.
3:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
vs
CSU Bakersfield
Photo by: Will Navarro
Matadors Host CSU Bakersfield in Big West Action
4/28/2022 10:14:00 AM | Baseball
FULL GAME NOTES
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball (20-17, 9-9 Big West) plays six of its next eight games at Matador Field starting this weekend with a three-game series against CSU Bakersfield. The opener is set for Friday at 3 p.m. before the series continues on Saturday at 2 p.m. and concludes on Sunday at 1 p.m. Ghizal Hasan has the call for all three games on ESPN+ and GoMatadors.com/Radio.
Probable Pitching Matchups
CSU Bakersfield at CSUN
RHP Adrian Santa Cruz (1-0, 6.00 ERA) vs. RHP Blaine Traxel (4-3, 3.52 ERA)
LHP Kellen O'Connor (3-4, 4.11 ERA) vs. RHP Diego Gutierrez (1-0, 3.03 ERA)
TBA vs. RHP Lucas Braun (4-3, 3.86 ERA)
Fans can receive a commemorate baseball card of head coach Dave Serrano this weekend during the CSU Bakersfield series. Serrano is coaching in his third and final season at CSUN before retiring at the conclusion of 2022 season.
The Matadors lead the all-time series with CSU Bakersfield 18-12, winning seven in a row. CSUN swept a four-game series in Bakersfield last season in what was the teams' first conference series against one another. The sweep at the time was the Matadors' first on the road against a league opponent since 2013. CSUN outscored CSUB 32-12 in the series. The Matadors have not hosted the Roadrunners since 2018 when CSUN posted a 13-7 win at Matador Field. CSUB though has won four of the last six meetings at CSUN.
CSUN is coming off a series victory over Cal State Fullerton last weekend at Goodwin Field. It was the Matadors' first series win over the Titans since the 2002 season when head coach Dave Serrano was a then assistant coach with Fullerton. CSUN won its fourth conference series this season and its third on the road. In the opener, the Matadors would fall 3-2, giving up the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth. However, CSUN bounced back with a 2-1 win in game two, capitalizing on an outstanding relief effort from Blake Sodersten. On Sunday, the Matadors powered past the Titans with a 5-2 win as Gabe Gonzalez hit a tie-breaking three-run homer in the seventh that proved to be the difference.
The Matadors' pitching would be the story in the Fullerton series, posting a team 1.73 ERA. Sodersten pitched his longest relief outing of his career, 6.1 innings, while allowing one run to go with eight strikeouts to pick up his fourth win of the season. Lucas Braun improved to 4-0 as a starting pitcher with his 6.2 innings and two runs allowed in the rubber match. As a bullpen, CSUN pitched 9.2 innings, allowing just one run.
The Fullerton series also proved to be a significant one for Serrano as well. Serrano made his first coaching appearance at Goodwin Field in 11 years after serving as head coach of the program from 2008-11. He won two Big West Coach of the Year awards while with the Titans and led the team to three Big West titles and four postseason appearances. Serrano also spent eight seasons with Fullerton as an assistant coach from 1997-04, winning a national title in his final season. After the two wins against the Titans, Serrano improved his career win total to 497.
CSUN Athletics announced on Wednesday that associate head coach Eddie Cornejo has been selected as the successor to the retiring Dave Serrano and will be the head coach of the Matadors following this season. Cornejo is set to be the 11th head coach in the history of the CSUN Baseball program. Cornejo was promoted to associate head coach prior to the 2022 season after previously serving as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator from 2020-21. He has spent 10 seasons coaching in the Big West after assistant coaching stops at UC Santa Barbara (2012-17) and UC Riverside (2011).
CSUN comes into the week tied for second place with UC San Diego in home runs with 35 while the team is third in stolen bases (35) and fourth in ERA (4.49). Gonzalez is tops in the Big West in home runs (10) while he is sixth in RBI (30) and slugging percentage (.577). Andrew Sojka also leads the conference in runs (33), third in hits (50) and sixth in batting (.355). On the pitching side, Blaine Traxel is second in the Big West in innings pitched (61.1) while ranking seventh in strikeouts (54) and ninth in ERA (3.52).
A Closer Look at CSU Bakersfield
CSUB (15-22) dropped two of three games to UC San Diego this past weekend at Hardt Field to fall to 8-7 in Big West play. While the team has gone 9-17 at home this season, the Roadrunners have a winning record on the road at 6-5. The team has a 5-1 record in league games away from Hardt Field, posting series wins over UC Riverside and UC Davis. Head coach Jeremy Beard is in his sixth season leading CSUB.
Bailey Seeger tops CSUB in batting with a .328 average (21-for-65) to go with 10 RBI while Jashia Morrissey has a .307 average with two homers and 15 RBI. Andrew Allanson is the top run producer with seven home runs and 27 RBI. AJ Miller has six homers of his own with 26 RBI and a .306 batting average. As a team, the Roadrunners have struck out the second-lowest times in the Big West (289), behind only CSUN (260). Kellen O'Connor has started the most times on the team (10) and posted a 4.11 ERA and 52 strikeouts in 50.1 innings.
#UniteTheValley
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NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball (20-17, 9-9 Big West) plays six of its next eight games at Matador Field starting this weekend with a three-game series against CSU Bakersfield. The opener is set for Friday at 3 p.m. before the series continues on Saturday at 2 p.m. and concludes on Sunday at 1 p.m. Ghizal Hasan has the call for all three games on ESPN+ and GoMatadors.com/Radio.
Probable Pitching Matchups
CSU Bakersfield at CSUN
RHP Adrian Santa Cruz (1-0, 6.00 ERA) vs. RHP Blaine Traxel (4-3, 3.52 ERA)
LHP Kellen O'Connor (3-4, 4.11 ERA) vs. RHP Diego Gutierrez (1-0, 3.03 ERA)
TBA vs. RHP Lucas Braun (4-3, 3.86 ERA)
Fans can receive a commemorate baseball card of head coach Dave Serrano this weekend during the CSU Bakersfield series. Serrano is coaching in his third and final season at CSUN before retiring at the conclusion of 2022 season.
The Matadors lead the all-time series with CSU Bakersfield 18-12, winning seven in a row. CSUN swept a four-game series in Bakersfield last season in what was the teams' first conference series against one another. The sweep at the time was the Matadors' first on the road against a league opponent since 2013. CSUN outscored CSUB 32-12 in the series. The Matadors have not hosted the Roadrunners since 2018 when CSUN posted a 13-7 win at Matador Field. CSUB though has won four of the last six meetings at CSUN.
CSUN is coming off a series victory over Cal State Fullerton last weekend at Goodwin Field. It was the Matadors' first series win over the Titans since the 2002 season when head coach Dave Serrano was a then assistant coach with Fullerton. CSUN won its fourth conference series this season and its third on the road. In the opener, the Matadors would fall 3-2, giving up the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth. However, CSUN bounced back with a 2-1 win in game two, capitalizing on an outstanding relief effort from Blake Sodersten. On Sunday, the Matadors powered past the Titans with a 5-2 win as Gabe Gonzalez hit a tie-breaking three-run homer in the seventh that proved to be the difference.
The Matadors' pitching would be the story in the Fullerton series, posting a team 1.73 ERA. Sodersten pitched his longest relief outing of his career, 6.1 innings, while allowing one run to go with eight strikeouts to pick up his fourth win of the season. Lucas Braun improved to 4-0 as a starting pitcher with his 6.2 innings and two runs allowed in the rubber match. As a bullpen, CSUN pitched 9.2 innings, allowing just one run.
The Fullerton series also proved to be a significant one for Serrano as well. Serrano made his first coaching appearance at Goodwin Field in 11 years after serving as head coach of the program from 2008-11. He won two Big West Coach of the Year awards while with the Titans and led the team to three Big West titles and four postseason appearances. Serrano also spent eight seasons with Fullerton as an assistant coach from 1997-04, winning a national title in his final season. After the two wins against the Titans, Serrano improved his career win total to 497.
CSUN Athletics announced on Wednesday that associate head coach Eddie Cornejo has been selected as the successor to the retiring Dave Serrano and will be the head coach of the Matadors following this season. Cornejo is set to be the 11th head coach in the history of the CSUN Baseball program. Cornejo was promoted to associate head coach prior to the 2022 season after previously serving as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator from 2020-21. He has spent 10 seasons coaching in the Big West after assistant coaching stops at UC Santa Barbara (2012-17) and UC Riverside (2011).
CSUN comes into the week tied for second place with UC San Diego in home runs with 35 while the team is third in stolen bases (35) and fourth in ERA (4.49). Gonzalez is tops in the Big West in home runs (10) while he is sixth in RBI (30) and slugging percentage (.577). Andrew Sojka also leads the conference in runs (33), third in hits (50) and sixth in batting (.355). On the pitching side, Blaine Traxel is second in the Big West in innings pitched (61.1) while ranking seventh in strikeouts (54) and ninth in ERA (3.52).
A Closer Look at CSU Bakersfield
CSUB (15-22) dropped two of three games to UC San Diego this past weekend at Hardt Field to fall to 8-7 in Big West play. While the team has gone 9-17 at home this season, the Roadrunners have a winning record on the road at 6-5. The team has a 5-1 record in league games away from Hardt Field, posting series wins over UC Riverside and UC Davis. Head coach Jeremy Beard is in his sixth season leading CSUB.
Bailey Seeger tops CSUB in batting with a .328 average (21-for-65) to go with 10 RBI while Jashia Morrissey has a .307 average with two homers and 15 RBI. Andrew Allanson is the top run producer with seven home runs and 27 RBI. AJ Miller has six homers of his own with 26 RBI and a .306 batting average. As a team, the Roadrunners have struck out the second-lowest times in the Big West (289), behind only CSUN (260). Kellen O'Connor has started the most times on the team (10) and posted a 4.11 ERA and 52 strikeouts in 50.1 innings.
#UniteTheValley
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