Friday, March 31
Northridge, Calif.
3:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
vs
UC Riverside
Photo by: Dianne Wentz
CSUN Hosts UC Riverside This Weekend Before Facing CBU on Monday
3/30/2023 12:30:00 PM | Baseball
FULL GAME NOTES
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball (14-6, 3-3 Big West) opens a Big West series with UC Riverside on Friday at 3 p.m. at Matador Field. The series will continue on Saturday at 2 p.m. before concluding Sunday at 1 p.m. Following the UCR three-game set, CSUN hosts California Baptist on Monday afternoon at 3 p.m. Games on Sunday and Monday will be broadcast on ESPN+ while Ghizal Hasan has the call each day at GoMatadors.com/Radio.
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
UC Riverside at CSUN
RHP Tucker Juline (1-1, 1.82 ERA) vs. RHP Lucas Braun (1-3, 4.17 ERA)
RHP Eric Marrujo (2-2, 6.17 ERA) vs. RHP Thomas Bainton (2-1, 5.12 ERA)
RHP Corbin Baker (0-3, 6.30 ERA) vs. TBA
California Baptist at CSUN
Pitchers to be announced
LAST TIME OUT
CSUN won its fourth-straight home game with a high-scoring 12-10 victory over San Diego on Tuesday. The Matadors racked up 16 hits with Mason Le and Shunsuke Sakaino posting three-hit games. Ben Griffin and Graysen Tarlow drove in two runs apiece while Kevin Fitzer blasted a two-run homer.
The Matadors held an 11-4 lead after six innings before holding off the Toreros over the last three innings to improve to 14-6 on the season.
MATADOR HEADLINES
After another two-hit game on Tuesday, Kevin Fitzer has now produced multiple-hit games in four of the last five games and in five of eight games overall. Fitzer has batted .444 over the past eight games, raising his batting average from .286 on March 13 to .364 heading into this week. He has also driven in 10 runs over that eight-game stretch to go with two home runs.Â
In league play, Fitzer and Ali Camarillo lead the team with .400 batting averages (8-for-20) in the team's six games. Fitzer has a team-high seven RBI against conference opponents while Camarillo had doubled three times and driven in three runs. On the pitching side, Lucas Braun has posted a 1.88 ERA in two Friday conference starts to go with 14 strikeouts in 14.1 innings.
CSUN enters the UCR series second in The Big West in batting average (.284) and stolen bases (33), third in on-base percentage (.394) and fourth in runs scored (143). The Matadors' pitching staff is ranked fourth in team earned run average (4.34).
Individually, Jakob Simons continues The Big West in stolen bases while he is third in home runs (5), fourth in runs (20), sixth in slugging percentage (.609) and eighth in on-base percentage (.466). Graysen Tarlow checks in at third in the league in batting average (.379) and on-base percentage (.494). Fitzer has moved up to sixth in the league in batting at a .364 clip. Braun is now second in The Big West in strikeouts (45) while Kenji Pallares is first in wins (4) and Joshua Romero is first in saves (5).
SERIES HISTORY
In a series that dates back to CSUN's first season in 1959, the Matadors lead UC Riverside 126-96-1 all-time. The Matadors have won four-straight games in the series and coming off a three-game sweep at UCR last season when CSUN posted three consecutive shutouts. However, the Highlanders won the last series played at Matador Field in 2021, taking three of four games.
CSUN leads California Baptist 8-1 in the all-time series. The teams first squared off in the 1994 season with CSUN winning the first eight meetings before CBU claimed a 4-3 win at Matador Field in 2019. The teams have only played twice since 1999 with each side winning once.
SCOUTING UC RIVERSIDE
The Highlanders snapped a seven-game skid on Monday with an 8-2 win over California Baptist. UCR would drop to 0-3 in Big West play after being swept by Long Beach State last weekend. The team has gone 3-6 away from home this season. Prior to this season, the league's head coaches picked UCR to finish 11th in The Big West standings. Justin Johnson is in his third season at the helm of the program.
Anthony McFarland tops the team with a .319 batting average while Jayden Lopez has a .293 batting average with one home run and nine RBI. Jacob Badawi and Alphonzo Mancinas also share the team lead with Lopez in RBI with nine. Tucker Juline sports a 1.82 ERA, which is fifth-best in The Big West, while posting nine strikeouts in 24.2 innings.
SCOUTING CALIFORNIA BAPTIST
The Lancers (12-13) have dropped the past three games including a pair of midweek games this week to UC Riverside (8-2) and Long Beach State (3-2). The team though holds a 5-4 mark in the WAC and will host Utah Tech this weekend before heading to CSUN. Coming off a 36-win season in 2022, CBU was picked to finish third this season by the league's head coaches. Gary Adcock is in his 20th season as head coach of the Lancers.
Garret Ostrander leads the Lancers with a .364 batting average. Other top CBU hitters include Julian Alvarez who is batting .333 with three homers and 17 while Mitchel Simon tops the squad with a nine homers and 25 RBI to go with a .330 average at the dish. Dustin Garcia also has collected 25 RBI while homering eight times. On the mound, Jacob Wilson sports a 2.53 ERA and 26 strikeouts over 13 relief appearances. As a team, CBU has homered 34 times and stolen 32 bases.
#GoMatadors
Â
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball (14-6, 3-3 Big West) opens a Big West series with UC Riverside on Friday at 3 p.m. at Matador Field. The series will continue on Saturday at 2 p.m. before concluding Sunday at 1 p.m. Following the UCR three-game set, CSUN hosts California Baptist on Monday afternoon at 3 p.m. Games on Sunday and Monday will be broadcast on ESPN+ while Ghizal Hasan has the call each day at GoMatadors.com/Radio.
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
UC Riverside at CSUN
RHP Tucker Juline (1-1, 1.82 ERA) vs. RHP Lucas Braun (1-3, 4.17 ERA)
RHP Eric Marrujo (2-2, 6.17 ERA) vs. RHP Thomas Bainton (2-1, 5.12 ERA)
RHP Corbin Baker (0-3, 6.30 ERA) vs. TBA
California Baptist at CSUN
Pitchers to be announced
LAST TIME OUT
CSUN won its fourth-straight home game with a high-scoring 12-10 victory over San Diego on Tuesday. The Matadors racked up 16 hits with Mason Le and Shunsuke Sakaino posting three-hit games. Ben Griffin and Graysen Tarlow drove in two runs apiece while Kevin Fitzer blasted a two-run homer.
The Matadors held an 11-4 lead after six innings before holding off the Toreros over the last three innings to improve to 14-6 on the season.
MATADOR HEADLINES
After another two-hit game on Tuesday, Kevin Fitzer has now produced multiple-hit games in four of the last five games and in five of eight games overall. Fitzer has batted .444 over the past eight games, raising his batting average from .286 on March 13 to .364 heading into this week. He has also driven in 10 runs over that eight-game stretch to go with two home runs.Â
In league play, Fitzer and Ali Camarillo lead the team with .400 batting averages (8-for-20) in the team's six games. Fitzer has a team-high seven RBI against conference opponents while Camarillo had doubled three times and driven in three runs. On the pitching side, Lucas Braun has posted a 1.88 ERA in two Friday conference starts to go with 14 strikeouts in 14.1 innings.
CSUN enters the UCR series second in The Big West in batting average (.284) and stolen bases (33), third in on-base percentage (.394) and fourth in runs scored (143). The Matadors' pitching staff is ranked fourth in team earned run average (4.34).
Individually, Jakob Simons continues The Big West in stolen bases while he is third in home runs (5), fourth in runs (20), sixth in slugging percentage (.609) and eighth in on-base percentage (.466). Graysen Tarlow checks in at third in the league in batting average (.379) and on-base percentage (.494). Fitzer has moved up to sixth in the league in batting at a .364 clip. Braun is now second in The Big West in strikeouts (45) while Kenji Pallares is first in wins (4) and Joshua Romero is first in saves (5).
SERIES HISTORY
In a series that dates back to CSUN's first season in 1959, the Matadors lead UC Riverside 126-96-1 all-time. The Matadors have won four-straight games in the series and coming off a three-game sweep at UCR last season when CSUN posted three consecutive shutouts. However, the Highlanders won the last series played at Matador Field in 2021, taking three of four games.
CSUN leads California Baptist 8-1 in the all-time series. The teams first squared off in the 1994 season with CSUN winning the first eight meetings before CBU claimed a 4-3 win at Matador Field in 2019. The teams have only played twice since 1999 with each side winning once.
SCOUTING UC RIVERSIDE
The Highlanders snapped a seven-game skid on Monday with an 8-2 win over California Baptist. UCR would drop to 0-3 in Big West play after being swept by Long Beach State last weekend. The team has gone 3-6 away from home this season. Prior to this season, the league's head coaches picked UCR to finish 11th in The Big West standings. Justin Johnson is in his third season at the helm of the program.
Anthony McFarland tops the team with a .319 batting average while Jayden Lopez has a .293 batting average with one home run and nine RBI. Jacob Badawi and Alphonzo Mancinas also share the team lead with Lopez in RBI with nine. Tucker Juline sports a 1.82 ERA, which is fifth-best in The Big West, while posting nine strikeouts in 24.2 innings.
SCOUTING CALIFORNIA BAPTIST
The Lancers (12-13) have dropped the past three games including a pair of midweek games this week to UC Riverside (8-2) and Long Beach State (3-2). The team though holds a 5-4 mark in the WAC and will host Utah Tech this weekend before heading to CSUN. Coming off a 36-win season in 2022, CBU was picked to finish third this season by the league's head coaches. Gary Adcock is in his 20th season as head coach of the Lancers.
Garret Ostrander leads the Lancers with a .364 batting average. Other top CBU hitters include Julian Alvarez who is batting .333 with three homers and 17 while Mitchel Simon tops the squad with a nine homers and 25 RBI to go with a .330 average at the dish. Dustin Garcia also has collected 25 RBI while homering eight times. On the mound, Jacob Wilson sports a 2.53 ERA and 26 strikeouts over 13 relief appearances. As a team, CBU has homered 34 times and stolen 32 bases.
#GoMatadors
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