California State University Northridge Athletics
Tuesday, March 12
San Diego, Calif.
6:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
at
San Diego
Photo by: Chuck Marvel
CSUN Visits San Diego on Tuesday Night
3/11/2024 6:38:00 PM | Baseball
GAME NOTES
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball (9-6) continues its road stretch with a midweek game at San Diego on Tuesday evening at 6 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUP
CSUN at San Diego
LHP Destin Allen-Fox (0-0, 0.00) vs. RHP Ryan Kysar (0-0, 6.23 ERA)
LEADING OFF
CSUN is in the middle of an eight-game road stretch. After taking on San Diego on Tuesday night, the Matadors open Big West play on the road this weekend at Cal Poly starting Friday. CSUN will then return home for a midweek game next Tuesday, March 19 against Pepperdine before returning to the road for their next four games. The Matadors are looking to snap a four-game skid on Tuesday.
ABOUT THE LAST SERIES
CSUN would give No. 6 Oregon State a battle for four games with three decided by two runs or fewer, but the Beavers completed a four-game sweep in Corvallis over the weekend. The Matadors held leads in each of the first three games of the series while they had the go-ahead run at the plate or on base in their last at bat in three different games.
In game one, CSUN battled OSU to a 1-1 tie through five before the Beavers scored eight runs over the sixth and seventh innings en route to a 9-2 victory. A day later, CSUN scored six times over the first three frames with Conner Stewart hitting a game-tying two-run homer, but Oregon State went ahead in the third and added another in the fourth before its bullpen shut out CSUN in the later innings for an 8-6 win. In a back-and-forth game three, Roberto Gonzalez hit a go-head two-run homer in the eighth, but Oregon State answered with two in the home half of the eighth and pitched around a bases loaded jam in the ninth to prevail 7-6. The Beavers led 8-3 through five innings of game four before CSUN scored five over the last three innings, just falling short in the ninth as the Matadors again left the bases loaded in a 9-7 loss.
AT THE PLATE
CSUN's hitting duo of graduate Jakob Simons and junior Kevin Fitzer have led the team in batting as each are hitting .327 at the plate. Simons tops the team with 18 runs scored, 17 RBI, seven homers and five doubles to go with an .800 slugging percentage. Fitzer has four homers on the year with 14 runs scored, 10 RBI, five doubles and a .673 slugging percentage. Senior Kamau Neighbors has enjoyed a strong start in 2024 as well, hitting .320 with 12 runs scored, 11 RBI, five doubles and five stolen bases. As a team, the Matadors are hitting .262 with 17 homers and 24 stolen bases in 33 chances.
ON THE MOUND
CSUN turns to freshman left hander Destin Allen-Fox to start against San Diego on Tuesday. The start will be the first of Allen-Fox's career as he has made only one appearance, a relief outing of 1.2 shutout innings on Feb. 23.
While Joshua Romero was tagged with a loss at Oregon State last Saturday, the right hander has yet to give up an earned run this season. The Preseason All-American has worked 11.1 innings and struck out 12 batters to go with a 4-1 record.
A bright spot in last weekend's series, Thomas Bainton did not receive a decision in the opener of the series, but he allowed just one run on three hits over five innings to go with six strikeouts. On the season, Bainton sports a 1-0 record with a 2.14 ERA and 21 strikeouts as the team's Friday starter.Â
BIG WEST LEADERBOARDS
Heading into the week, Jakob Simons tops The Big West in OPS (1.293), slugging percentage (.800), home runs (7) and total bases while he is fourth in runs scored (18) and fifth in RBI (17). Kevin Fitzer is behind Simons in the home run department in second place with four while he is ranked third in total bases (37), fourth in slugging (.673) and seventh in OPS (1.104). Kamau Neighbors is also sixth in the conference in stolen bases (5) and ninth in walks (11). On the pitching side, Thomas Bainton's ERA of 2.14 is fifth-best in the league while Joshua Romero is first in wins (4) and fourth in saves (2). As a team, CSUN is second in the conference in homers (17), stolen bases (24) and sacrifice hits (18).
ABOUT SAN DIEGO
The Toreros are 7-7 on the season after dropping two of three games to nationally-ranked Dallas Baptist on the road. USD has won three of four games at Fowler Park this season with its only loss coming to Arizona in the finale of a series win. 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 WCC by the league's head coaches. Jack Gurevitch tops the team with a .,400 batting average with 10 runs scored while Jack Costello is hitting .345 with three home runs and 19 RBI. Making the Tuesday start against CSUN, Ryan Kysar has 13 strikeouts in 14 innings to go with a 6.23 ERA.
Series History: CSUN leads San Diego 38-29-2 all-time in baseball with wins in five straight. Two weeks ago, the Matadors rallied past the Toreros for a 7-4 win at Matador Field as Jakob Simons hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the seventh.
#GoMatadors
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NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball (9-6) continues its road stretch with a midweek game at San Diego on Tuesday evening at 6 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUP
CSUN at San Diego
LHP Destin Allen-Fox (0-0, 0.00) vs. RHP Ryan Kysar (0-0, 6.23 ERA)
LEADING OFF
CSUN is in the middle of an eight-game road stretch. After taking on San Diego on Tuesday night, the Matadors open Big West play on the road this weekend at Cal Poly starting Friday. CSUN will then return home for a midweek game next Tuesday, March 19 against Pepperdine before returning to the road for their next four games. The Matadors are looking to snap a four-game skid on Tuesday.
ABOUT THE LAST SERIES
CSUN would give No. 6 Oregon State a battle for four games with three decided by two runs or fewer, but the Beavers completed a four-game sweep in Corvallis over the weekend. The Matadors held leads in each of the first three games of the series while they had the go-ahead run at the plate or on base in their last at bat in three different games.
In game one, CSUN battled OSU to a 1-1 tie through five before the Beavers scored eight runs over the sixth and seventh innings en route to a 9-2 victory. A day later, CSUN scored six times over the first three frames with Conner Stewart hitting a game-tying two-run homer, but Oregon State went ahead in the third and added another in the fourth before its bullpen shut out CSUN in the later innings for an 8-6 win. In a back-and-forth game three, Roberto Gonzalez hit a go-head two-run homer in the eighth, but Oregon State answered with two in the home half of the eighth and pitched around a bases loaded jam in the ninth to prevail 7-6. The Beavers led 8-3 through five innings of game four before CSUN scored five over the last three innings, just falling short in the ninth as the Matadors again left the bases loaded in a 9-7 loss.
AT THE PLATE
CSUN's hitting duo of graduate Jakob Simons and junior Kevin Fitzer have led the team in batting as each are hitting .327 at the plate. Simons tops the team with 18 runs scored, 17 RBI, seven homers and five doubles to go with an .800 slugging percentage. Fitzer has four homers on the year with 14 runs scored, 10 RBI, five doubles and a .673 slugging percentage. Senior Kamau Neighbors has enjoyed a strong start in 2024 as well, hitting .320 with 12 runs scored, 11 RBI, five doubles and five stolen bases. As a team, the Matadors are hitting .262 with 17 homers and 24 stolen bases in 33 chances.
ON THE MOUND
CSUN turns to freshman left hander Destin Allen-Fox to start against San Diego on Tuesday. The start will be the first of Allen-Fox's career as he has made only one appearance, a relief outing of 1.2 shutout innings on Feb. 23.
While Joshua Romero was tagged with a loss at Oregon State last Saturday, the right hander has yet to give up an earned run this season. The Preseason All-American has worked 11.1 innings and struck out 12 batters to go with a 4-1 record.
A bright spot in last weekend's series, Thomas Bainton did not receive a decision in the opener of the series, but he allowed just one run on three hits over five innings to go with six strikeouts. On the season, Bainton sports a 1-0 record with a 2.14 ERA and 21 strikeouts as the team's Friday starter.Â
BIG WEST LEADERBOARDS
Heading into the week, Jakob Simons tops The Big West in OPS (1.293), slugging percentage (.800), home runs (7) and total bases while he is fourth in runs scored (18) and fifth in RBI (17). Kevin Fitzer is behind Simons in the home run department in second place with four while he is ranked third in total bases (37), fourth in slugging (.673) and seventh in OPS (1.104). Kamau Neighbors is also sixth in the conference in stolen bases (5) and ninth in walks (11). On the pitching side, Thomas Bainton's ERA of 2.14 is fifth-best in the league while Joshua Romero is first in wins (4) and fourth in saves (2). As a team, CSUN is second in the conference in homers (17), stolen bases (24) and sacrifice hits (18).
ABOUT SAN DIEGO
The Toreros are 7-7 on the season after dropping two of three games to nationally-ranked Dallas Baptist on the road. USD has won three of four games at Fowler Park this season with its only loss coming to Arizona in the finale of a series win. 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 WCC by the league's head coaches. Jack Gurevitch tops the team with a .,400 batting average with 10 runs scored while Jack Costello is hitting .345 with three home runs and 19 RBI. Making the Tuesday start against CSUN, Ryan Kysar has 13 strikeouts in 14 innings to go with a 6.23 ERA.
Series History: CSUN leads San Diego 38-29-2 all-time in baseball with wins in five straight. Two weeks ago, the Matadors rallied past the Toreros for a 7-4 win at Matador Field as Jakob Simons hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the seventh.
#GoMatadors
Â
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