Friday, April 26
Northridge, Calif.
3:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
vs
Cal State Bakersfield
Photo by: Chuck Marvel
CSUN Opens Homestand with CSUB This Weekend
4/25/2024 8:16:00 PM | Baseball
GAME NOTES
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball opens a four-game homestand with a weekend series with Cal State Bakersfield. The three-game series opens Friday at 3 p.m. before continuing on Saturday at 2 p.m. and concluding on Sunday at 1 p.m. All three games will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Ghizal Hasan on the call.
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
Cal State Bakersfield at CSUN
RHP Ryan Verdugo (2-4, 2.83 ERA) vs. RHP Thomas Bainton (2-1, 4.76 ERA)
RHP Gary Grosjean (1-4, 4.24 ERA) vs. RHP Ryan Halamicek (5-2, 5.04 ERA)
TBA vs. TBA
LEADING OFF
CSUN (24-14, 11-4 Big West) enters the weekend with a five-game winning streak and in a virtual tie for first place in The Big West standings. The Matadors hold identical Big West records with UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara while UC San Diego sports a 13-5 record near the top. Cal Poly (12-6) is also just a half game back of CSUN and the rest of the field.
The Matadors have hit the halfway mark of the Big West season and have five conference series remaining. Next week, CSUN will make the trek to Hawai'i for a three-game series before facing the top of the conference in consecutive weeks in UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara and UC Irvine to close the regular season.
LAST TIME OUT
Riding a three-game sweep of Cal State Fullerton, CSUN kept up its winning ways with a 15-2 victory at Fresno State on Tuesday. The Matadors pounded out 19 hits including seven extra base hits in the game with Jakob Simons and Kamau Neighbors belting homers. CSUN scored 13 times over the first four innings, highlighted by a six-run top of the fourth while six Matador pitchers combined to limit Fresno State to just two runs. Neighbors finished with four RBI and three hits in the game and Andrew Gauna added three hits and a pair of RBI.
SURGING AT THE PLATE
After homering on Tuesday, Jakob Simons set a new career-high in home runs in a season with 15, surpassing the 14 he hit last year. Over his last eight games, Simons has belted four homers while producing 20 RBI. He has also hit his way into the team lead in RBI with 51, which is the most by a Matador since Albee Weiss in 2018 (61 RBI). On the season, Simons is batting .340 with a team-high 49 runs scored and 11 stolen bases.
Kamau Neighbors has extended his on-base streak to 20 games and hit streak to 19 games where he has raised his batting average from .286 on March 17 to .359. Neighbors has three homers, 27 RBI and 37 runs scored on the year. Freshman Jarren Sanderson has also remained hot at the plate as he is batting .354 with 21 RBI while he has batted .377 in conference play. Kevin Fitzer, who has missed the last six games, still remains the team leader in average at .404 to go with 10 homers and 37 RBI.
ON THE MOUND
Thomas Bainton, CSUN's Friday starter, tops the Matadors with 48 strikeouts and 51 innings pitched while he has a 4.76 ERA and 2-1 record. On Saturday, Ryan Halamicek will take the mound as he comes in with a 5-2 record, 21 strikeouts and 5.04 ERA on the year.
CSUN closer Joshua Romero sports a team-best 1.98 ERA along with seven wins, all out of the bullpen. Romero, who picked up two saves last weekend, has six saves on the year with 23 strikeouts. Hayden Hall is also coming off a strong series in Fullerton where he picked up two wins as he now stands at 5-1 with a 3.00 ERA.
BIG WEST LEADERBOARDS
CSUN enters the weekend first in The Big West in sacrifice hits (41) while the team is second in batting (.295), runs scored (303), hits (390), homers (42), RBI (273), slugging percentage (.450) and fielding percentage (.979). Individually, Kevin Fitzer is first in the conference in OPS (1.362) and slugging percentage (.844) and second in batting (.404) and homers (10). Jakob Simons tops the league in home runs (15) and RBI (51) and he ranks second in OPS (1.222), runs scored (49) and slugging percentage (.738). Also, Kamau Neighbors is up to seventh in runs scored (37) and ninth in OPS (.991). On the pitching side, Joshua Romero is first in the conference in wins (7) and third in saves (6).
ABOUT CAL STATE BAKERSFIELD
The Roadrunners come in with an 11-27 overall record and 6-12 Big West mark. The team has a 10-12 record in home games but has gone 1-15 away from Bakersfield this season. Last week, CSUB suffered a three-game sweep at the hands of UC San Diego, but two of those games were one-run decisions. Jonah Shields leads the team in batting at a .301 clip to go with 10 RBI while Kyler Stancato has a team-high 15 RBI. Friday starter Ryan Verdugo (2-4) paces the team with 70 strikeouts and a 2.84 ERA in 10 starts.
Series History: CSUN leads Bakersfield 23-13 in the all-time series with wins in four straight. Last season, the Matadors swept a three-game series in Bakersfield, but each game was decided by three runs or fewer.
#GoMatadors
Â
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball opens a four-game homestand with a weekend series with Cal State Bakersfield. The three-game series opens Friday at 3 p.m. before continuing on Saturday at 2 p.m. and concluding on Sunday at 1 p.m. All three games will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Ghizal Hasan on the call.
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
Cal State Bakersfield at CSUN
RHP Ryan Verdugo (2-4, 2.83 ERA) vs. RHP Thomas Bainton (2-1, 4.76 ERA)
RHP Gary Grosjean (1-4, 4.24 ERA) vs. RHP Ryan Halamicek (5-2, 5.04 ERA)
TBA vs. TBA
LEADING OFF
CSUN (24-14, 11-4 Big West) enters the weekend with a five-game winning streak and in a virtual tie for first place in The Big West standings. The Matadors hold identical Big West records with UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara while UC San Diego sports a 13-5 record near the top. Cal Poly (12-6) is also just a half game back of CSUN and the rest of the field.
The Matadors have hit the halfway mark of the Big West season and have five conference series remaining. Next week, CSUN will make the trek to Hawai'i for a three-game series before facing the top of the conference in consecutive weeks in UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara and UC Irvine to close the regular season.
LAST TIME OUT
Riding a three-game sweep of Cal State Fullerton, CSUN kept up its winning ways with a 15-2 victory at Fresno State on Tuesday. The Matadors pounded out 19 hits including seven extra base hits in the game with Jakob Simons and Kamau Neighbors belting homers. CSUN scored 13 times over the first four innings, highlighted by a six-run top of the fourth while six Matador pitchers combined to limit Fresno State to just two runs. Neighbors finished with four RBI and three hits in the game and Andrew Gauna added three hits and a pair of RBI.
SURGING AT THE PLATE
After homering on Tuesday, Jakob Simons set a new career-high in home runs in a season with 15, surpassing the 14 he hit last year. Over his last eight games, Simons has belted four homers while producing 20 RBI. He has also hit his way into the team lead in RBI with 51, which is the most by a Matador since Albee Weiss in 2018 (61 RBI). On the season, Simons is batting .340 with a team-high 49 runs scored and 11 stolen bases.
Kamau Neighbors has extended his on-base streak to 20 games and hit streak to 19 games where he has raised his batting average from .286 on March 17 to .359. Neighbors has three homers, 27 RBI and 37 runs scored on the year. Freshman Jarren Sanderson has also remained hot at the plate as he is batting .354 with 21 RBI while he has batted .377 in conference play. Kevin Fitzer, who has missed the last six games, still remains the team leader in average at .404 to go with 10 homers and 37 RBI.
ON THE MOUND
Thomas Bainton, CSUN's Friday starter, tops the Matadors with 48 strikeouts and 51 innings pitched while he has a 4.76 ERA and 2-1 record. On Saturday, Ryan Halamicek will take the mound as he comes in with a 5-2 record, 21 strikeouts and 5.04 ERA on the year.
CSUN closer Joshua Romero sports a team-best 1.98 ERA along with seven wins, all out of the bullpen. Romero, who picked up two saves last weekend, has six saves on the year with 23 strikeouts. Hayden Hall is also coming off a strong series in Fullerton where he picked up two wins as he now stands at 5-1 with a 3.00 ERA.
BIG WEST LEADERBOARDS
CSUN enters the weekend first in The Big West in sacrifice hits (41) while the team is second in batting (.295), runs scored (303), hits (390), homers (42), RBI (273), slugging percentage (.450) and fielding percentage (.979). Individually, Kevin Fitzer is first in the conference in OPS (1.362) and slugging percentage (.844) and second in batting (.404) and homers (10). Jakob Simons tops the league in home runs (15) and RBI (51) and he ranks second in OPS (1.222), runs scored (49) and slugging percentage (.738). Also, Kamau Neighbors is up to seventh in runs scored (37) and ninth in OPS (.991). On the pitching side, Joshua Romero is first in the conference in wins (7) and third in saves (6).
ABOUT CAL STATE BAKERSFIELD
The Roadrunners come in with an 11-27 overall record and 6-12 Big West mark. The team has a 10-12 record in home games but has gone 1-15 away from Bakersfield this season. Last week, CSUB suffered a three-game sweep at the hands of UC San Diego, but two of those games were one-run decisions. Jonah Shields leads the team in batting at a .301 clip to go with 10 RBI while Kyler Stancato has a team-high 15 RBI. Friday starter Ryan Verdugo (2-4) paces the team with 70 strikeouts and a 2.84 ERA in 10 starts.
Series History: CSUN leads Bakersfield 23-13 in the all-time series with wins in four straight. Last season, the Matadors swept a three-game series in Bakersfield, but each game was decided by three runs or fewer.
#GoMatadors
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