CSUN Hosts Long Beach State to Resume Big West Play

GAME NOTES
NORTHRIDGE, Calif -- CSUN Softball (11-14, 4-1 Big West) returns home to continue Big West play against Long Beach State (14-10, 4-2 Big West) Friday and Saturday afternoon for a three-game series at Matador Diamond. The teams will square off in a doubleheader on Friday, with first pitches being at 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. Next both schools will finish the series with a game on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. Every game will be livestreamed on ESPN+.

LAST TIME IN THE BATTER'S BOX
CSUN Softball dropped a close game to the California Baptist Lancers 3-2 Tuesday night at John C. Funk Stadium. Gisella Vargas Sandoval and Sydney Friejanes accounted for the two Matador runs. Isabella Alonso struck out two in three innings.

In the previous weekend, the Matadors went 1-1 against the Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine Saturday afternoon at Matador Diamond. CSUN won the first game 4-1 but then dropped the second game 4-3.

LEADING THE BIG WEST IN PITCHING - YOUR CSUN MATADORS
In terms of Big West statistics, CSUN is leading the conference in pitching statistics. The Matadors are number one in ERA in Big West games with a 1.78 mark. CSUN has allowed the fewest runs (10), allowed the fewest home runs (0) and struck out 27 in 39 innings. CSUN has also allowed the fewest hits with 38.

CARRANCO THE CAPTAIN IN THE CIRCLE
Carranco has been the best Matador pitcher seemingly since she first put on the uniform her freshman year. She has had impressive numbers during her first two seasons, and her junior year is no different. The junior from Clovis is 7-5 with a 3.36 ERA against some very strong opponents. She has 11 complete games so far this season while tallying 63 strikeouts in the process. She already has 85 innings pitched in 15 appearances. Carranco was a Preseason All Big-West Team honoree and she is proving to be worthy of that accolade so far.

CARMAN THE CAPTAIN IN THE OUTFIELD
Outfielder and senior Mikayla Carman has been a leader on the offensive side of the ball so far in this young campaign. She has started in all 25 games and leads the team with a .377 batting average with a .500 on base percentage. She gets hits, 29 to be exact. And she draws walks, 15 of them to be exact, as she leads the team by far in that category. Carman was also selected to the Preseason All Big-West Team, and so far she is living up to the billing.

SCOUTING LONG BEACH STATE
The Beach enter this weekend with a 14-10 record and 4-2 in Big West play. The Beach is known for their pitching. They have a 2.49 ERA over 24 games played, which is good enough for 40th nationally. LBSU's best pitcher is Kate Barnett with a 1.22 ERA.

Long Beach State's defense has also been excellent in support of its pitching, ranking 42nd nationally with a .972 fielding percentage along with 19th with 13 double plays turned this season.

Batting wise, Senior Rebekah Durazo is having a great season. The catcher is leading the Big West in all three slash categories, batting .455 with a .550 on-base percentage and a .697 slugging percentage. Durazo is leading Long Beach State with 19 RBI, three home runs, 30 hits and seven doubles this season

The Beach sport a team .295 batting average over 24 games. They have 189 hits on the season.

Series History: LBSU leads 76-52. CSUN's last win came on March 29, 2024 where the Matadors won 7-3.

CSUN Hosts Long Beach State to Resume Big West Play

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Players Mentioned

Isabella Alonso

Mikayla Carman