Friday, March 24
Santa Barbara, Calif.
5:05 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
at
UC Santa Barbara
Photo by: Dianne Wentz
CSUN Visits Defending Big West Champ UCSB This Weekend
3/23/2023 11:17:00 AM | Baseball
FULL GAME NOTES
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball (12-4, 2-1 Big West) faces a road test this weekend with a three-game series at defending Big West champion UC Santa Barbara. The opener is set for Friday at 5:05 p.m. before continuing on Saturday at 4:05 p.m. and concluding on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. All three games will be broadcast on ESPN+.
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
CSUN at UC Santa Barbara
RHP Lucas Braun (1-2, 4.75 ERA) vs. LHP Mike Gutierrez (3-1, 1.53 ERA)
RHP Thomas Bainton (2-1, 4.97 ERA) vs. RHP Matt Ager (3-1, 3.19 ERA)
RHP Kenji Pallares (4-0, 4.67 ERA) vs. RHP Tyler Bremner (2-1, 4.50 ERA)
LAST TIME OUT
The Matadors clinched a season series win with Pepperdine on Tuesday with a come-from-behind 5-4 victory at Matador Field. The Waves led for nearly the entire contest before the Matadors rallied late with a three-run seventh to take the lead for good.
Jakob Simons, who finished with two hits, belted a two-run homer to even the game at 4-4 in the seventh. Later in the frame, Kevin Fitzer put the Matadors in front with an RBI single.
CSUN's trio of Xavier Martinez, Hayden Cody and Joshua Romero combined to toss 6.1 innings, striking out six while allowing no runs and three hits. Cody earned his first career victory with 2.1 innings out of the bullpen while Romero recorded the final four outs for his Big West-leading fourth save of the season.
MATADOR HEADLINES
CSUN (12-4) is off to its best 16-game start to a season since the 2016 Matadors started 13-3. Last weekend, the Matadors posted their first road series win to start league play since the 2002 season by taking two of three games at UC Davis. Overall, the series win over the Aggies was just CSUN's third series victory to open league play in the past 21 seasons.
CSUN's bullpen have posted a team 1.95 ERA with 65 strikeouts in 55.1 innings on the year. The opposition has also managed just a .156 batting average against the bullpen. Isaac Ontiveros (2-0) has logged the most innings with 9.1 out of the bullpen, posting a 0.96 ERA while Joshua Romero has four saves in six appearances to go with a 2.35 ERA in 7.2 innings.
On the hitting side, CSUN is second in The Big West in on-base percentage (.403), walks (84) and stolen bases (29) while the Matadors are third in batting average (.281), runs scored (118) and RBI (110). As a team, CSUN paces the conference in sacrifice hits with 14. Defensively, CSUN is second in fielding percentage (.978). The pitching staff ranks second in the league in earned run average (3.79) and opponent batting average (.219).
Individually, Jakob Simons tops The Big West in slugging percentage (.719) and stolen bases (9) while ranking second in home runs (5), runs (20) and on-base percentage (.520), and seventh in batting average (.368). Graysen Tarlow checks in at first place in on-base percentage (.538), second in batting average (.420), fifth in stolen bases (5), sixth in RBI (17) and 10th in hits (21). CSUN's Friday starter Lucas Braun leads The Big West in strikeouts (41) and is second in innings pitched (30.1) while Kenji Pallares (4-0) is the conference leader in wins.
SERIES HISTORY
UC Santa Barbara leads CSUN 94-69-3 all-time in baseball. The Gauchos swept last season's series at Matador Field, winning a pair of close games by a 13-10 and 9-7 margin before finishing off the series with a 7-1 win. Over the past three series, the Gauchos have won nine of 10 games. CSUN's last series win over UCSB took place in 2018.
SCOUTING UC SANTA BARBARA
The Gauchos (15-3, 3-0 Big West) have won the last 10 games in a row after beginning league play with a three-game sweep of CSU Bakersfield last weekend. UCSB has won seven of eight games at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium this season. The Gauchos, the reigning Big West champion, was picked to repeat as conference champion this season by the league's head coaches. Andrew Checketts is in his 12th season as head coach of the Gauchos.
Aaron Parker is hitting a team-best .362 at the plate to go with five home runs and 14 RBI. Ivan Brethowr leads the Gauchos with six home runs and 18 RBI while Zander Darby and Broc Mortensen have hit three homers apiece. On the pitching side, Mike Gutierrez sports a 3-1 record with a 1.53 ERA and 36 strikeouts in 29.1 innings. The Gauchos lead The Big West in ERA (2.64) and strikeouts (193) while their hitters are first in home runs (27) and stolen bases (35).
#GoMatadors
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NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball (12-4, 2-1 Big West) faces a road test this weekend with a three-game series at defending Big West champion UC Santa Barbara. The opener is set for Friday at 5:05 p.m. before continuing on Saturday at 4:05 p.m. and concluding on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. All three games will be broadcast on ESPN+.
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
CSUN at UC Santa Barbara
RHP Lucas Braun (1-2, 4.75 ERA) vs. LHP Mike Gutierrez (3-1, 1.53 ERA)
RHP Thomas Bainton (2-1, 4.97 ERA) vs. RHP Matt Ager (3-1, 3.19 ERA)
RHP Kenji Pallares (4-0, 4.67 ERA) vs. RHP Tyler Bremner (2-1, 4.50 ERA)
LAST TIME OUT
The Matadors clinched a season series win with Pepperdine on Tuesday with a come-from-behind 5-4 victory at Matador Field. The Waves led for nearly the entire contest before the Matadors rallied late with a three-run seventh to take the lead for good.
Jakob Simons, who finished with two hits, belted a two-run homer to even the game at 4-4 in the seventh. Later in the frame, Kevin Fitzer put the Matadors in front with an RBI single.
CSUN's trio of Xavier Martinez, Hayden Cody and Joshua Romero combined to toss 6.1 innings, striking out six while allowing no runs and three hits. Cody earned his first career victory with 2.1 innings out of the bullpen while Romero recorded the final four outs for his Big West-leading fourth save of the season.
MATADOR HEADLINES
CSUN (12-4) is off to its best 16-game start to a season since the 2016 Matadors started 13-3. Last weekend, the Matadors posted their first road series win to start league play since the 2002 season by taking two of three games at UC Davis. Overall, the series win over the Aggies was just CSUN's third series victory to open league play in the past 21 seasons.
CSUN's bullpen have posted a team 1.95 ERA with 65 strikeouts in 55.1 innings on the year. The opposition has also managed just a .156 batting average against the bullpen. Isaac Ontiveros (2-0) has logged the most innings with 9.1 out of the bullpen, posting a 0.96 ERA while Joshua Romero has four saves in six appearances to go with a 2.35 ERA in 7.2 innings.
On the hitting side, CSUN is second in The Big West in on-base percentage (.403), walks (84) and stolen bases (29) while the Matadors are third in batting average (.281), runs scored (118) and RBI (110). As a team, CSUN paces the conference in sacrifice hits with 14. Defensively, CSUN is second in fielding percentage (.978). The pitching staff ranks second in the league in earned run average (3.79) and opponent batting average (.219).
Individually, Jakob Simons tops The Big West in slugging percentage (.719) and stolen bases (9) while ranking second in home runs (5), runs (20) and on-base percentage (.520), and seventh in batting average (.368). Graysen Tarlow checks in at first place in on-base percentage (.538), second in batting average (.420), fifth in stolen bases (5), sixth in RBI (17) and 10th in hits (21). CSUN's Friday starter Lucas Braun leads The Big West in strikeouts (41) and is second in innings pitched (30.1) while Kenji Pallares (4-0) is the conference leader in wins.
SERIES HISTORY
UC Santa Barbara leads CSUN 94-69-3 all-time in baseball. The Gauchos swept last season's series at Matador Field, winning a pair of close games by a 13-10 and 9-7 margin before finishing off the series with a 7-1 win. Over the past three series, the Gauchos have won nine of 10 games. CSUN's last series win over UCSB took place in 2018.
SCOUTING UC SANTA BARBARA
The Gauchos (15-3, 3-0 Big West) have won the last 10 games in a row after beginning league play with a three-game sweep of CSU Bakersfield last weekend. UCSB has won seven of eight games at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium this season. The Gauchos, the reigning Big West champion, was picked to repeat as conference champion this season by the league's head coaches. Andrew Checketts is in his 12th season as head coach of the Gauchos.
Aaron Parker is hitting a team-best .362 at the plate to go with five home runs and 14 RBI. Ivan Brethowr leads the Gauchos with six home runs and 18 RBI while Zander Darby and Broc Mortensen have hit three homers apiece. On the pitching side, Mike Gutierrez sports a 3-1 record with a 1.53 ERA and 36 strikeouts in 29.1 innings. The Gauchos lead The Big West in ERA (2.64) and strikeouts (193) while their hitters are first in home runs (27) and stolen bases (35).
#GoMatadors
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