Tuesday, February 27
Northridge, Calif.
2:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
vs
San Diego
Photo by: Connor Clark
CSUN Opens Four-Game Homestand with San Diego
2/26/2024 7:42:00 PM | Baseball
FULL GAME NOTES
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball returns home for the start of a four-game homestand on Tuesday. The Matadors take on San Diego in a midweek game beginning at 2 p.m. Ghizal Hasan has the call on ESPN+ and GoMatadors.com/Radio.
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUP
San Diego at CSUN
RHP Conner Thurman (0-0, 6.75 ERA) vs. RHP Diego Gutierrez (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
LEADING OFF
CSUN swept a four-game road trip last week with a midweek win at San Diego State and a three-game sweep of Utah Tech. With the sweep, CSUN has won nine consecutive road games, dating back to last season. The Matadors have the third-best record in The Big West at 5-2 through two weeks of the season.
CSUN and San Diego are playing the first of two games this season as the teams have a return date scheduled at Fowler Park on March 12. CSUN opens a three-game home series with Nevada starting Friday at 2 p.m. With rain the forecast this weekend, stay tuned to GoMatadors.com for any changes to baseball schedule.Â
LAST TIME OUT
The Matadors made their first-ever trip to Utah Tech a memorable one as CSUN not only earned its first series win of the season but also its first series sweep. The Matadors scored a season-high 14 runs and pounded out 13 hits in a game one 14-5 win over Utah Tech on Friday. Both Jakob Simons and Kevin Fitzer belted three-run homers in the game one victory while Thomas Bainton collected his first victory with five shutout innings of work. In game two, Shunsuke Sakaino had four of the team's 11 hits while freshman Ryan Halamicek tossed 5.2 innings with one run allowed in a 7-1 victory. CSUN would dig a 5-1 hole in the finale of the series before rallying for two in the seventh and three in the ninth as Conner Stewart hit a game-tying two-run homer with two outs and Mason Le smacked the game-winning hit.
DIEGO MAKES SECOND START
Sophomore right hander Diego Gutierrez makes his second consecutive Tuesday start when he takes on San Diego. Gutierrez made his first appearance on the mound since the 2022 season last Tuesday at San Diego State. He would toss 4.1 innings, allowing one unearned run while tying a career high in strikeouts with six. In 2022, Gutierrez earned a weekend starting role as a freshman where he posted a 2.92 ERA and 3-1 record.
AT THE PLATE
Senior infielder Nathan Barraza picked up seven hits in the Utah Tech series as he comes into the week with a .350 average and three RBI. Another senior infielder, Kamau Neighbors is off to a strong 2024 as well, hitting .348 with seven RBI and eight total hits. On the back of a pair of three-run homers this year, graduate outfielder Jakob Simons tops the Matadors with 10 RBI and four home runs while he is slugging .828. Junior outfielder Kevin Fitzer and senior outfielder Andrew Sojka each have two homers on the young season.
ON THE MOUND
A Preseason All-American, senior Joshua Romero is picking up where he left from last season when he earned All-Big West Second Team accolades. Romero has tossed six shutout innings on the year with seven strikeouts and a 2-0 record out of the bullpen. After posting 13 saves last season, the right hander has one save on the year.
Already 18 total CSUN pitchers have at least made one appearance this season with newcomer Blake Ignaciak topping the team with five games pitched. A junior, Ignaciak had yet to allow an earned run in 4.2 innings while he has five strikeouts. Sophomore newcomer Hayden Hall has made three appearances out of the bullpen and posted a 2.25 ERA over four innings of work. Freshman Lucas Casey has also made two appearances and allowed a 3.38 ERA with two strikeouts in 2.2 innings.
SCOUTING SAN DIEGO
The Toreros (4-3) are coming off a home series win over Arizona. The team also has a win over 16th-ranked Texas and UC San Diego this season. The Toreros went 24-25-1 overall last season with a 17-10 record in the WCC. Prior to the season, USD was picked to finish second in the West Coast Conference by the league's head coaches. The team had two placed on the Preseason All-WCC Team in Jack Gurevitch and Angelo Peraza. Gurevitch is batting .500 on the season with six runs and five RBI while Peraza is hitting .333 at the plate to go with four RBI. Austin Smith tops the team with three homers and Jack Costello has a team-high 11 RBI. Head coach Brock Ungricht is in his third season with the program.
Series History: CSUN leads San Diego 37-29-2 in the all-time series with wins in four consecutive meetings. In 2023, CSUN swept the season series with the Matadors coming out on top at Matador Field 12-10.
#GoMatadors
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball returns home for the start of a four-game homestand on Tuesday. The Matadors take on San Diego in a midweek game beginning at 2 p.m. Ghizal Hasan has the call on ESPN+ and GoMatadors.com/Radio.
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUP
San Diego at CSUN
RHP Conner Thurman (0-0, 6.75 ERA) vs. RHP Diego Gutierrez (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
LEADING OFF
CSUN swept a four-game road trip last week with a midweek win at San Diego State and a three-game sweep of Utah Tech. With the sweep, CSUN has won nine consecutive road games, dating back to last season. The Matadors have the third-best record in The Big West at 5-2 through two weeks of the season.
CSUN and San Diego are playing the first of two games this season as the teams have a return date scheduled at Fowler Park on March 12. CSUN opens a three-game home series with Nevada starting Friday at 2 p.m. With rain the forecast this weekend, stay tuned to GoMatadors.com for any changes to baseball schedule.Â
LAST TIME OUT
The Matadors made their first-ever trip to Utah Tech a memorable one as CSUN not only earned its first series win of the season but also its first series sweep. The Matadors scored a season-high 14 runs and pounded out 13 hits in a game one 14-5 win over Utah Tech on Friday. Both Jakob Simons and Kevin Fitzer belted three-run homers in the game one victory while Thomas Bainton collected his first victory with five shutout innings of work. In game two, Shunsuke Sakaino had four of the team's 11 hits while freshman Ryan Halamicek tossed 5.2 innings with one run allowed in a 7-1 victory. CSUN would dig a 5-1 hole in the finale of the series before rallying for two in the seventh and three in the ninth as Conner Stewart hit a game-tying two-run homer with two outs and Mason Le smacked the game-winning hit.
DIEGO MAKES SECOND START
Sophomore right hander Diego Gutierrez makes his second consecutive Tuesday start when he takes on San Diego. Gutierrez made his first appearance on the mound since the 2022 season last Tuesday at San Diego State. He would toss 4.1 innings, allowing one unearned run while tying a career high in strikeouts with six. In 2022, Gutierrez earned a weekend starting role as a freshman where he posted a 2.92 ERA and 3-1 record.
AT THE PLATE
Senior infielder Nathan Barraza picked up seven hits in the Utah Tech series as he comes into the week with a .350 average and three RBI. Another senior infielder, Kamau Neighbors is off to a strong 2024 as well, hitting .348 with seven RBI and eight total hits. On the back of a pair of three-run homers this year, graduate outfielder Jakob Simons tops the Matadors with 10 RBI and four home runs while he is slugging .828. Junior outfielder Kevin Fitzer and senior outfielder Andrew Sojka each have two homers on the young season.
ON THE MOUND
A Preseason All-American, senior Joshua Romero is picking up where he left from last season when he earned All-Big West Second Team accolades. Romero has tossed six shutout innings on the year with seven strikeouts and a 2-0 record out of the bullpen. After posting 13 saves last season, the right hander has one save on the year.
Already 18 total CSUN pitchers have at least made one appearance this season with newcomer Blake Ignaciak topping the team with five games pitched. A junior, Ignaciak had yet to allow an earned run in 4.2 innings while he has five strikeouts. Sophomore newcomer Hayden Hall has made three appearances out of the bullpen and posted a 2.25 ERA over four innings of work. Freshman Lucas Casey has also made two appearances and allowed a 3.38 ERA with two strikeouts in 2.2 innings.
SCOUTING SAN DIEGO
The Toreros (4-3) are coming off a home series win over Arizona. The team also has a win over 16th-ranked Texas and UC San Diego this season. The Toreros went 24-25-1 overall last season with a 17-10 record in the WCC. Prior to the season, USD was picked to finish second in the West Coast Conference by the league's head coaches. The team had two placed on the Preseason All-WCC Team in Jack Gurevitch and Angelo Peraza. Gurevitch is batting .500 on the season with six runs and five RBI while Peraza is hitting .333 at the plate to go with four RBI. Austin Smith tops the team with three homers and Jack Costello has a team-high 11 RBI. Head coach Brock Ungricht is in his third season with the program.
Series History: CSUN leads San Diego 37-29-2 in the all-time series with wins in four consecutive meetings. In 2023, CSUN swept the season series with the Matadors coming out on top at Matador Field 12-10.
#GoMatadors
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ Baseball
UTIL
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF/RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
C
/ BaseballA Conversation With Dave Serrano
Friday, May 15
Baseball HC reveal 2019
Sunday, June 23
National Student-Athlete Day 2019 - Jayson Newman
Friday, April 05
CSUN Baseball - 27 Miles
Friday, November 09