Saturday, March 15
Northridge, Calif.
1:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
vs
UC Irvine
Photo by: Chuck Marvel
CSUN Returns Home to Host UC Irvine in Big West Action
3/13/2025 11:17:00 AM | Baseball
GAME NOTES
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball returns home for the first time in three weeks when it hosts UC Irvine in a weekend Big West series at Robert J. Hiegert Field. The opener is set for Friday at 5:30 p.m. before continuing on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. and concluding on Sunday at 1 p.m. The opener and finale of the series will be broadcast on ESPN+.
FOR STARTERS
CSUN (2-11) looks to get back on the winning track on its home field. The Matadors have played their last seven games on the road and 10 of 13 overall this season. Six of the seven games on the recent road stretch were against top-20 opponents in Oklahoma and UC Santa Barbara. While the Matadors lost all six of those games against ranked opponents, the last four games were all decided by two runs or fewer.
LAST TIME OUT
The Matadors closed the road trip with a 7-1 midweek loss at LMU on Tuesday. The Lions jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning before adding a single tally in the second and fourth innings. CSUN would threaten in the top of the second with the bases loaded and one out but managed to score just one run on a bases loaded walk from Roberto Gonzalez. The Matadors, who left the bases loaded again in the ninth, were held to two hits on the night. On the flip side, five Matador relievers combined to limit the Lions to one run on three hits over the last seven innings.
CSUN DROP SERIES AT UCSB TO OPEN BIG WEST PLAY
CSUN gave 16th-ranked UC Santa Barbara all it could handle over a hard-fought three-game series at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium. Despite holding a late lead in all three games, CSUN walked away with three heartbreaking defeats. The defending Big West champion Gauchos were down to their final out in game one of the series before tying the game with an RBI single and eventually winning the game in 13 innings by a 4-3 score. In game two, CSUN held an 8-7 lead as late as the seventh inning, but UCSB rallied once more for a 10-8 victory. The script would flip a bit in game three with UCSB leading 7-0 before CSUN roared back to take a 9-8 lead on the back of a six-run eighth, only to fall in walk-off fashion, 10-9, on a home run.
TOP MATADOR PERFORMERS
Freshman Andrew Becker has been bright spot in the Matador lineup in the early going this season, batting a team-best .375 with 12 hits, six runs and five RBI. Senior Roberto Gonzalez has produced at the top of the Matador lineup as well, batting .311 with a team-high 14 hits and seven runs scored to go with a current 12-game on-base streak. Other top run producers thus far include sophomore Matthew Pena with a team-high two homers and 10 RBI along with freshman Kyle Panganiban who has 10 hits, seven runs scored and seven RBI with a homer.
On the pitching side, sophomore Ryan Halamicek gets the Friday start against UC Irvine this week as he sports a team-high 19.1 innings pitched to go with 15 strikeouts. Junior Diego Gutierrez has a team-high 16 strikeouts in four starts thus far while sophomore Gabriel Hernandez has worked 11 innings, struck out 14 and posted a 2.45 ERA out of the bullpen.
SCOUTING UC IRVINE
The Anteaters are 11-5 on the season with a 2-1 mark in the Big West. The team opened up Big West play last week, taking two of three games from Long Beach State before falling on Tuesday at UCLA by an 11-4 score. A season ago, UCI went 45-14 overall and 22-8 in conference to finish in second place. The Anteaters played in the 2024 NCAA Tournament and finished as regional finalists in Corvallis. On the year, UCI tops the Big West in runs (145), batting (.300), on-base percentage (.437) and slugging (.496). Jacob McCombs tops the team with 28 hits, 23 RBI, five homers and a .412 batting average while Colin Yeaman is hitting .391 with two homers and 18 RBI. Slugger Anthony Martinez has 13 RBI in just eight games. Trevor Hansen leads the pitching staff with 22 strikeouts to go with a 2-0 record and 4.87 ERA.
Series History: UC Irvine leads CSUN 54-40 in the all-time series after taking two of three games from the Matadors last season. Prior to last year, the Matadors had won the previous two series with the Anteaters.
#GoMatadors
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NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball returns home for the first time in three weeks when it hosts UC Irvine in a weekend Big West series at Robert J. Hiegert Field. The opener is set for Friday at 5:30 p.m. before continuing on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. and concluding on Sunday at 1 p.m. The opener and finale of the series will be broadcast on ESPN+.
FOR STARTERS
CSUN (2-11) looks to get back on the winning track on its home field. The Matadors have played their last seven games on the road and 10 of 13 overall this season. Six of the seven games on the recent road stretch were against top-20 opponents in Oklahoma and UC Santa Barbara. While the Matadors lost all six of those games against ranked opponents, the last four games were all decided by two runs or fewer.
LAST TIME OUT
The Matadors closed the road trip with a 7-1 midweek loss at LMU on Tuesday. The Lions jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning before adding a single tally in the second and fourth innings. CSUN would threaten in the top of the second with the bases loaded and one out but managed to score just one run on a bases loaded walk from Roberto Gonzalez. The Matadors, who left the bases loaded again in the ninth, were held to two hits on the night. On the flip side, five Matador relievers combined to limit the Lions to one run on three hits over the last seven innings.
CSUN DROP SERIES AT UCSB TO OPEN BIG WEST PLAY
CSUN gave 16th-ranked UC Santa Barbara all it could handle over a hard-fought three-game series at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium. Despite holding a late lead in all three games, CSUN walked away with three heartbreaking defeats. The defending Big West champion Gauchos were down to their final out in game one of the series before tying the game with an RBI single and eventually winning the game in 13 innings by a 4-3 score. In game two, CSUN held an 8-7 lead as late as the seventh inning, but UCSB rallied once more for a 10-8 victory. The script would flip a bit in game three with UCSB leading 7-0 before CSUN roared back to take a 9-8 lead on the back of a six-run eighth, only to fall in walk-off fashion, 10-9, on a home run.
TOP MATADOR PERFORMERS
Freshman Andrew Becker has been bright spot in the Matador lineup in the early going this season, batting a team-best .375 with 12 hits, six runs and five RBI. Senior Roberto Gonzalez has produced at the top of the Matador lineup as well, batting .311 with a team-high 14 hits and seven runs scored to go with a current 12-game on-base streak. Other top run producers thus far include sophomore Matthew Pena with a team-high two homers and 10 RBI along with freshman Kyle Panganiban who has 10 hits, seven runs scored and seven RBI with a homer.
On the pitching side, sophomore Ryan Halamicek gets the Friday start against UC Irvine this week as he sports a team-high 19.1 innings pitched to go with 15 strikeouts. Junior Diego Gutierrez has a team-high 16 strikeouts in four starts thus far while sophomore Gabriel Hernandez has worked 11 innings, struck out 14 and posted a 2.45 ERA out of the bullpen.
SCOUTING UC IRVINE
The Anteaters are 11-5 on the season with a 2-1 mark in the Big West. The team opened up Big West play last week, taking two of three games from Long Beach State before falling on Tuesday at UCLA by an 11-4 score. A season ago, UCI went 45-14 overall and 22-8 in conference to finish in second place. The Anteaters played in the 2024 NCAA Tournament and finished as regional finalists in Corvallis. On the year, UCI tops the Big West in runs (145), batting (.300), on-base percentage (.437) and slugging (.496). Jacob McCombs tops the team with 28 hits, 23 RBI, five homers and a .412 batting average while Colin Yeaman is hitting .391 with two homers and 18 RBI. Slugger Anthony Martinez has 13 RBI in just eight games. Trevor Hansen leads the pitching staff with 22 strikeouts to go with a 2-0 record and 4.87 ERA.
Series History: UC Irvine leads CSUN 54-40 in the all-time series after taking two of three games from the Matadors last season. Prior to last year, the Matadors had won the previous two series with the Anteaters.
#GoMatadors
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