Thursday, May 26
Northridge, Calif.
3:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
vs
UC San Diego
Matadors Host UC San Diego in Final Home Series
5/24/2022 4:03:00 PM | Baseball
FULL GAME NOTES
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball (30-21, 15-12 Big West) closes the 2022 regular season with a home series against UC San Diego at Matador FIeld. The opener of the series is set for Thursday at 3 p.m. before continuing on Friday at 2 p.m. CSUN will host Senior Day and Dave Serrano Celebration on Saturday with the start time pushed back to 1:10 p.m. All three games will be broadcast on ESPN+. Fans are encouraged to come early for Saturday's finale as the Matadors will honor eight seniors and coach Serrano in a pre-game ceremony.
Probable Pitching Matchups
UC San Diego at CSUN
LHP Austin Smith (0-2, 3.60 ERA) vs. RHP Blaine Traxel (7-4, 3.28 ERA)
RHP Noah Conlon (4-8, 6.71 ERA) vs. RHP Lucas Braun (6-4, 3.03 ERA)
LHP Zack Ernisse (3-3, 7.23 ERA) vs. RHP Blake Sodersten (5-5, 5.88 ERA)
In celebration of Serrano's coaching career, CSUN will have giveaways throughout its series with UC San Diego. On Friday, the CSUN will give out commemorate bats to celebrate Serrano reaching 500 career victories. Fans in attendance for Saturday's home finale will also receive a free throwback "Valley State Baseball" t-shirt.
CSUN will celebrate the careers of eight student-athletes on Senior Day, consisting of Brandon Bohning, Kai Moody, Gabe Gonzalez, Bart West, Blaine Traxel, Blake Sodersten, Chad Wilson and Kyle Hoskins.
A five-year letterwinner, Bohning is the active career leader in games played (192), hits (176), runs (106), RBI (91), stolen bases (32) and home runs (14). Moody, a three-year letterwinner and an All-Big West First Team selection in 2021, has 125 hits, 89 runs and seven homers in 101 games. After playing in six games in his first two seasons, Gonzalez is third in the Big West in homers (11) this season to go with 38 RBI. A grad transfer from USC, West is having a career year, posting team-highs in batting (.355) and RBI (39) in 50 games. Traxel, an All-Conference Second Team honoree in 2021, is the team leader in wins (7) and strikeouts (80) while he is eighth in school history in career strikeouts (208) over his four seasons. Sodersten is another four-year letterwinner who has 12 career wins and 191 strikeouts. A late-inning relief pitcher, Wilson has five wins and 27 strikeouts over three seasons while Hoskins has 11 strikeouts over 14 appearances since joining the team in 2021.
This weekend will prove to be the final three games of Serrano's outstanding coaching career. A 34-year coaching veteran, Serrano is completing his third year with the Matadors and will retire from coaching after this season. He has led CSUN to three consecutive winning seasons and guided the team through the COVID-19 pandemic. He led the Matadors to their first 30-win campaign since 2016 this season and their third-most road victories (18) in single year in team history. He has racked up 507 career wins and posted 13 winning seasons over his 16-year head coaching career. One of 13 head coaches to lead two programs to the College World Series, Serrano has made seven total trips to Omaha in his coaching career.
CSUN is coming off a three-game sweep of Saint Mary's last weekend. The Matadors outscored the Gaels 31-6 in the series and never trailed over the three games. CSUN recorded a season-high 19 runs and 20 hits in a 19-2 triumph in game one before sweeping a Friday doubleheader, 5-1 and 7-3. All three starters pitched effectively in the series led by Lucas Braun who tossed a seven-inning complete game for his sixth win this season. Traxel also notched his team-high seventh win in the opener and Diego Gutierrez helped complete the sweep with a solid five-inning effort, allowing no runs. On the offensive side, Bohning hit 6-of-9 in the series with four RBI and West finished 7-of-13 with four RBI of his own.
As a team, the Matadors enter the weekend third in the Big West in team ERA (4.08) as well as third in stolen bases (53), fourth in batting average (.275) and home runs (43) and fifth in runs (302) and hits (482). The team has also struck out the least amount of times of any Big West team (346).
The Matadors hold a 4-3 edge in the all-time series with UC San Diego. The teams first met during the 1969 season and played a single game in 1989 before squaring off for the first time as Big West members last season in La Jolla. UCSD would take three of four games from CSUN in 2021, capped by a walk-off grand slam in the finale that ended the Matadors' season in heartbreaking fashion.
A Closer Look at UC San Diego
The Tritons enter the weekend with a 23-30 overall record and 12-15 mark in the Big West. The team has lost five in a row after suffering a three-game sweep to Hawai'i last weekend. UCSD though has won four Big West series, two of which on the road. The Tritons are 9-14 away from home this season. Head coach Eric Newman is in his 11th season at the helm of the program.
Emiliano Gonzalez is batting .319 with 46 hits and 16 RBI while Jalen Smith has a .313 average with six homers, 33 RBI and 31 runs. Marc Filia is the team's top run producer with 10 home runs and 41 RBI to go with a .294 batting average. As a team, UCSD is second in the Big West in homers (52), third in walks (242) and fourth in runs (322) and hits (496). Noah Conlon (4-8) leads the team in strikeouts (63) while Izaak Martinez has posted a team-high 2.82 ERA and 46 strikeouts out of the bullpen.
#UniteTheValley
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NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball (30-21, 15-12 Big West) closes the 2022 regular season with a home series against UC San Diego at Matador FIeld. The opener of the series is set for Thursday at 3 p.m. before continuing on Friday at 2 p.m. CSUN will host Senior Day and Dave Serrano Celebration on Saturday with the start time pushed back to 1:10 p.m. All three games will be broadcast on ESPN+. Fans are encouraged to come early for Saturday's finale as the Matadors will honor eight seniors and coach Serrano in a pre-game ceremony.
Probable Pitching Matchups
UC San Diego at CSUN
LHP Austin Smith (0-2, 3.60 ERA) vs. RHP Blaine Traxel (7-4, 3.28 ERA)
RHP Noah Conlon (4-8, 6.71 ERA) vs. RHP Lucas Braun (6-4, 3.03 ERA)
LHP Zack Ernisse (3-3, 7.23 ERA) vs. RHP Blake Sodersten (5-5, 5.88 ERA)
In celebration of Serrano's coaching career, CSUN will have giveaways throughout its series with UC San Diego. On Friday, the CSUN will give out commemorate bats to celebrate Serrano reaching 500 career victories. Fans in attendance for Saturday's home finale will also receive a free throwback "Valley State Baseball" t-shirt.
CSUN will celebrate the careers of eight student-athletes on Senior Day, consisting of Brandon Bohning, Kai Moody, Gabe Gonzalez, Bart West, Blaine Traxel, Blake Sodersten, Chad Wilson and Kyle Hoskins.
A five-year letterwinner, Bohning is the active career leader in games played (192), hits (176), runs (106), RBI (91), stolen bases (32) and home runs (14). Moody, a three-year letterwinner and an All-Big West First Team selection in 2021, has 125 hits, 89 runs and seven homers in 101 games. After playing in six games in his first two seasons, Gonzalez is third in the Big West in homers (11) this season to go with 38 RBI. A grad transfer from USC, West is having a career year, posting team-highs in batting (.355) and RBI (39) in 50 games. Traxel, an All-Conference Second Team honoree in 2021, is the team leader in wins (7) and strikeouts (80) while he is eighth in school history in career strikeouts (208) over his four seasons. Sodersten is another four-year letterwinner who has 12 career wins and 191 strikeouts. A late-inning relief pitcher, Wilson has five wins and 27 strikeouts over three seasons while Hoskins has 11 strikeouts over 14 appearances since joining the team in 2021.
This weekend will prove to be the final three games of Serrano's outstanding coaching career. A 34-year coaching veteran, Serrano is completing his third year with the Matadors and will retire from coaching after this season. He has led CSUN to three consecutive winning seasons and guided the team through the COVID-19 pandemic. He led the Matadors to their first 30-win campaign since 2016 this season and their third-most road victories (18) in single year in team history. He has racked up 507 career wins and posted 13 winning seasons over his 16-year head coaching career. One of 13 head coaches to lead two programs to the College World Series, Serrano has made seven total trips to Omaha in his coaching career.
CSUN is coming off a three-game sweep of Saint Mary's last weekend. The Matadors outscored the Gaels 31-6 in the series and never trailed over the three games. CSUN recorded a season-high 19 runs and 20 hits in a 19-2 triumph in game one before sweeping a Friday doubleheader, 5-1 and 7-3. All three starters pitched effectively in the series led by Lucas Braun who tossed a seven-inning complete game for his sixth win this season. Traxel also notched his team-high seventh win in the opener and Diego Gutierrez helped complete the sweep with a solid five-inning effort, allowing no runs. On the offensive side, Bohning hit 6-of-9 in the series with four RBI and West finished 7-of-13 with four RBI of his own.
As a team, the Matadors enter the weekend third in the Big West in team ERA (4.08) as well as third in stolen bases (53), fourth in batting average (.275) and home runs (43) and fifth in runs (302) and hits (482). The team has also struck out the least amount of times of any Big West team (346).
The Matadors hold a 4-3 edge in the all-time series with UC San Diego. The teams first met during the 1969 season and played a single game in 1989 before squaring off for the first time as Big West members last season in La Jolla. UCSD would take three of four games from CSUN in 2021, capped by a walk-off grand slam in the finale that ended the Matadors' season in heartbreaking fashion.
A Closer Look at UC San Diego
The Tritons enter the weekend with a 23-30 overall record and 12-15 mark in the Big West. The team has lost five in a row after suffering a three-game sweep to Hawai'i last weekend. UCSD though has won four Big West series, two of which on the road. The Tritons are 9-14 away from home this season. Head coach Eric Newman is in his 11th season at the helm of the program.
Emiliano Gonzalez is batting .319 with 46 hits and 16 RBI while Jalen Smith has a .313 average with six homers, 33 RBI and 31 runs. Marc Filia is the team's top run producer with 10 home runs and 41 RBI to go with a .294 batting average. As a team, UCSD is second in the Big West in homers (52), third in walks (242) and fourth in runs (322) and hits (496). Noah Conlon (4-8) leads the team in strikeouts (63) while Izaak Martinez has posted a team-high 2.82 ERA and 46 strikeouts out of the bullpen.
#UniteTheValley
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