Friday, May 3
Manoa, Hawaii
9:35 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
at
Hawai'i
Photo by: Chuck Marvel
CSUN Makes Weekend Trip to Hawai'i
5/2/2024 2:50:00 PM | Baseball
GAME NOTES
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball (28-14, 14-4 Big West) hits the road for a weekend series at Hawai'i. The opener is set for Friday at 9:35 p.m. before continuing on Saturday at 9:35 p.m. and concluding on Sunday at 4:05 p.m. Friday's opener will be broadcast on ESPN+ while live audio will be available for the rest of the series via ESPN Honolulu.
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUP
CSUN at Hawai'i
RHP Thomas Bainton (3-1, 4.40 ERA) vs. LHP Sebastian Gonzalez (0-0, 3.33 ERA)
RHP Ryan Halamicek (5-2, 5.11 ERA) vs. LHP Randy Abshier (2-4, 5.66 ERA)
TBA vs. TBA
LEADING OFF
Winners of nine straight, CSUN enters the weekend in a three-way tie for first place with UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara in The Big West standings. Cal Poly, which holds fourth place at 15-6, is just a half game while UC San Diego is two games back of the top spot at 13-8.
CSUN's nine-game winning streak is the program's longest since the 2016 season when the Matadors won 13 straight. After dropping its first Big West series to Cal Poly, CSUN has won five consecutive series in conference play.
LAST TIME OUT
CSUN won its ninth in a row with a 2-0 victory over San Diego State on Tuesday at Matador Field. Eight Matador pitchers combined to toss a seven-hit shutout as Blake Ignaciak was credited with the win with 1.1 innings of relief and Hayden Hall earned the save with a shutout ninth. The Matadors broke a scoreless tie in the sixth when Jakob Simons scored on a throwing error. Shunsuke Sakaino reached base three times and drove in a run in the sixth to add to the lead. CSUN has held the opposition scoreless over its last 18 innings.
SURGING AT THE PLATE
Andrew Sojka has worked his way into the starting lineup as of late as the senior has hit .536 during a nine-game hit streak (15-for-28). During the streak, Sojka has improved his batting average from .177 to a season-high .289. Shunsuke Sakaino has also hit the ball well as of late, going 14-for-29 over his last eight games for a .483 average. Sakaino has raised his batting average from .256 to .300 during the past eight games while he has 26 runs scored and 23 RBI on the season.
Kevin Fitzer remains the team leader in batting with a .382 average to go with 10 homers, 38 RBI and a .780 slugging percentage. Freshman Jarren Sanderson has moved into second place on the team in batting as he holds a .348 average along with 21 RBI. Jakob Simons has become the first player to record 50 runs and 50 RBI in a season since 2010 when Ryan Pineda accomplished the feat. On the year, Simons tops CSUN with 15 homers, 51 RBI and 50 runs scored to go with a .333 batting average.
ON THE MOUND
Friday starter Thomas Bainton opens the series with Hawai'i as he is coming off a win over Cal State Bakersfield last week. Bainton has a team-best 54 strikeouts with a 3-1 record and 4.40 ERA. Ryan Halamicek, who starts Saturday, has gone 5-2 on the year with 24 strikeouts and a 5.11 ERA.
In the bullpen, Joshua Romero holds an 8-2 record, 2.12 ERA and 25 saves over a team-high 18 appearances. Romero secured his seventh save and 20th of his career last week against Cal State Bakersfield.
BIG WEST LEADERBOARDS
CSUN leads The Big West in triples (12) and fielding percentage (.980) while the team ranks second in batting average (.292), runs (318), RBI (284), total bases (644), sacrifice hits (43) and stolen bases (66). Individually, Kevin Fitzer remains the league leader in OPS (1.274) and slugging percentage (.780) and he ranks second in homers (10) and third in doubles (13). Jakob Simons currently ranks first in homers (15) while he is second in OPS (1.182), runs scored (50), RBI (51) and slugging percentage (.689). Mason Le also tops the conference in sacrifice hits with 10. On the pitching side, Joshua Romero is first in wins (8) and second in saves (7).
ABOUT HAWAI'I
The Rainbow Warriors are 26-15 overall with a 9-9 record in Big West play. Winners of five in a row, Hawai'i swept defending Big West champion UC San Diego in La Jolla last week while the team has won two-straight conference series. Jordan Donahue is ninth in The Big West in batting average at .371 while Austin Machado is hitting .343 with three homers and 36 RBI. Kyson Donahue leads Hawai'i with five homers to go with 33 RBI and a .341 batting average. Randy Abshier tops the squad with 67 strikeouts while he has a 5.66 ERA. As a team, Hawai'i is tied with CSUN for second place in The Big West in batting average at .292.
Series History: CSUN leads Hawai'i 41-23 in the all-time series. The Matadors would drop the first game of their series to Hawai'i in 2023 before rallying for an 11-2 win in game two and an 8-6 win in the rubber game to take the series. The Matadors though lost two of three to the Rainbow Warriors two seasons ago in Honolulu.
#GoMatadors
Â
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball (28-14, 14-4 Big West) hits the road for a weekend series at Hawai'i. The opener is set for Friday at 9:35 p.m. before continuing on Saturday at 9:35 p.m. and concluding on Sunday at 4:05 p.m. Friday's opener will be broadcast on ESPN+ while live audio will be available for the rest of the series via ESPN Honolulu.
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUP
CSUN at Hawai'i
RHP Thomas Bainton (3-1, 4.40 ERA) vs. LHP Sebastian Gonzalez (0-0, 3.33 ERA)
RHP Ryan Halamicek (5-2, 5.11 ERA) vs. LHP Randy Abshier (2-4, 5.66 ERA)
TBA vs. TBA
LEADING OFF
Winners of nine straight, CSUN enters the weekend in a three-way tie for first place with UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara in The Big West standings. Cal Poly, which holds fourth place at 15-6, is just a half game while UC San Diego is two games back of the top spot at 13-8.
CSUN's nine-game winning streak is the program's longest since the 2016 season when the Matadors won 13 straight. After dropping its first Big West series to Cal Poly, CSUN has won five consecutive series in conference play.
LAST TIME OUT
CSUN won its ninth in a row with a 2-0 victory over San Diego State on Tuesday at Matador Field. Eight Matador pitchers combined to toss a seven-hit shutout as Blake Ignaciak was credited with the win with 1.1 innings of relief and Hayden Hall earned the save with a shutout ninth. The Matadors broke a scoreless tie in the sixth when Jakob Simons scored on a throwing error. Shunsuke Sakaino reached base three times and drove in a run in the sixth to add to the lead. CSUN has held the opposition scoreless over its last 18 innings.
SURGING AT THE PLATE
Andrew Sojka has worked his way into the starting lineup as of late as the senior has hit .536 during a nine-game hit streak (15-for-28). During the streak, Sojka has improved his batting average from .177 to a season-high .289. Shunsuke Sakaino has also hit the ball well as of late, going 14-for-29 over his last eight games for a .483 average. Sakaino has raised his batting average from .256 to .300 during the past eight games while he has 26 runs scored and 23 RBI on the season.
Kevin Fitzer remains the team leader in batting with a .382 average to go with 10 homers, 38 RBI and a .780 slugging percentage. Freshman Jarren Sanderson has moved into second place on the team in batting as he holds a .348 average along with 21 RBI. Jakob Simons has become the first player to record 50 runs and 50 RBI in a season since 2010 when Ryan Pineda accomplished the feat. On the year, Simons tops CSUN with 15 homers, 51 RBI and 50 runs scored to go with a .333 batting average.
ON THE MOUND
Friday starter Thomas Bainton opens the series with Hawai'i as he is coming off a win over Cal State Bakersfield last week. Bainton has a team-best 54 strikeouts with a 3-1 record and 4.40 ERA. Ryan Halamicek, who starts Saturday, has gone 5-2 on the year with 24 strikeouts and a 5.11 ERA.
In the bullpen, Joshua Romero holds an 8-2 record, 2.12 ERA and 25 saves over a team-high 18 appearances. Romero secured his seventh save and 20th of his career last week against Cal State Bakersfield.
BIG WEST LEADERBOARDS
CSUN leads The Big West in triples (12) and fielding percentage (.980) while the team ranks second in batting average (.292), runs (318), RBI (284), total bases (644), sacrifice hits (43) and stolen bases (66). Individually, Kevin Fitzer remains the league leader in OPS (1.274) and slugging percentage (.780) and he ranks second in homers (10) and third in doubles (13). Jakob Simons currently ranks first in homers (15) while he is second in OPS (1.182), runs scored (50), RBI (51) and slugging percentage (.689). Mason Le also tops the conference in sacrifice hits with 10. On the pitching side, Joshua Romero is first in wins (8) and second in saves (7).
ABOUT HAWAI'I
The Rainbow Warriors are 26-15 overall with a 9-9 record in Big West play. Winners of five in a row, Hawai'i swept defending Big West champion UC San Diego in La Jolla last week while the team has won two-straight conference series. Jordan Donahue is ninth in The Big West in batting average at .371 while Austin Machado is hitting .343 with three homers and 36 RBI. Kyson Donahue leads Hawai'i with five homers to go with 33 RBI and a .341 batting average. Randy Abshier tops the squad with 67 strikeouts while he has a 5.66 ERA. As a team, Hawai'i is tied with CSUN for second place in The Big West in batting average at .292.
Series History: CSUN leads Hawai'i 41-23 in the all-time series. The Matadors would drop the first game of their series to Hawai'i in 2023 before rallying for an 11-2 win in game two and an 8-6 win in the rubber game to take the series. The Matadors though lost two of three to the Rainbow Warriors two seasons ago in Honolulu.
#GoMatadors
Â
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