Friday, March 28
Northridge, Calif.
5:30 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
vs
Hawai'i
Photo by: Anthony Fortie
CSUN Returns Home to Host Hawai'i
3/27/2025 11:46:00 AM | Baseball
GAME NOTES
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball returns to Robert J. Hiegert Field this weekend for a three-game series with Hawai'i. The series opener is set for 5:30 p.m. on Friday with game two scheduled for Saturday at 4:30 p.m. and the finale set for Sunday at 1 p.m. An audio only broadcast will be available on Friday at GoMatadors.com/Radio with Jill Painter Lopez on the call while Saturday and Sunday's games will be broadcast on ESPN+.
FOR STARTERS
The Matadors (5-15, 2-7 Big West) are coming off their first series win in Big West play over the weekend and look to keep up that momentum against a red-hot Hawai'i team. This weekend's series with the Rainbow Warriors will complete a short stint at home as CSUN returns to the road for its next two games, both midweek contests next week at Saint Mary's (April 1) and at San Francisco (April 2). CSUN though will open a home series next weekend against Cal State Fullerton from April 4-6.
ABOUT LAST WEEK
CSUN made the trip to Cal State Bakersfield last weekend and came away with a series victory after taking the final two games of the series. Bakersfield rallied for the win in game one behind a four-run eighth inning for an 11-7 victory. CSUN would even the series with a 7-4 win in game two as the Matadors turned the game around with a five-run fifth inning while the Matador bullpen tossed three shutout innings. Sunday's series finale would be a wild one with CSUB scoring four in the eighth inning to take a 7-5 lead before CSUN answered with five in the ninth inning and held on late for the 10-9 decision to claim the series.
OFFENSE BREAKS OUT
The Bakersfield series saw a number of Matadors break out at the plate. Senior catcher Matthew Kurata, a former Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunner, slashed .429/.636/.857 including hitting a solo homer in the finale of the series while freshman Kyle Panganiban hit .417 with five hits, five runs, two RBI and a home run. Sophomore Jarren Sanderson posted his best series of the season, collecting a team-best six RBI with three runs scored and a home run to go with a .417 batting average. Another freshman, Andrew Becker kept up his hot hitting by going 5-for-14 at the plate (.357) with four RBI and three runs scored. Overall, CSUN hit .299 as a team.
MILLER TIME
Sophomore right hander Logan Miller has been one of the standouts out of the bullpen through the opening weeks of the season. Miller tossed 3.2 shutout innings with four strikeouts last week in relief at Cal State Bakersfield, helping hold leads. On the year, he shares the team lead with Blake Ignaciak for the most appearances with 10 while Miller has 13 strikeouts and a 2.38 ERA. Batters have also been held to a .162 batting average in 11.1 innings against Miller.
TOP MATADOR PERFORMERS SO FAR
CSUN's true freshman Andrew Becker continues to lead the Matadors in hits (23) to go with 11 RBI and three stolen bases. Becker's season .371 batting average ranks eighth-best in the Big West. Junior Will Linberg is also hitting above the .300 clip, posting a .302 average with six RBI and 13 total hits. A close second in the hit department, Kyle Panganiban has 22 on the year and sports a .289 batting average with a team-best 15 runs scored. In the home run department, Matthew Kurata and Matthew Pena have three apiece to lead the team while Pena has a team-high 12 RBI.
On the pitching side, CSUN's weekend starters of sophomore Ryan Halamicek and junior Diego Gutierrez share the team lead in strikeouts with 26 apiece. Halamicek, CSUN's Friday starter, has worked the most time on the mound with 31.2 innngs pitched and Gutierrez is a close second at 30.2 innings to go with two wins. Freshman Max Mendes (2-0) made his first starts of the season last week against Columbia (March 18) and Cal State Bakersfield (March 23) and fared well in lowering his season ERA to 4.20 to go with 12 strikeouts and a .196 batting average against.
SCOUTING HAWAI'I
The Rainbow Warriors hold an 18-5 overall record with a 6-3 Big West record as the team comes in winners of six in a row. The team has won back-to-back Big West series, defeating UC Santa Barbara two out of three times and sweeping UC Davis most recently. The team though lost its only road series of the season in BIg West play when UC Riverside won two of three earlier in March. In the Big West, Hawai'i ranks first in walks (123) and stolen bases (48) while the team is second in batting average (.304). On the pitching side, the team paces the conference with a 3.12 ERA and .219 batting average against. Former Matador Shunsuke Sakaino ranks fourth in the Big West in runs scored with 25 while he leads the team with a .366 batting average. Jared Quandt has a team-high 20 RBI with a .338 batting average. The team's rotation consists of Itsuki Takemoto who sports a 2-3 record with a 3.09 ERA and 30 strikeouts along with Liam O'Brien (2-0, 0.94 ERA, 30 strikeouts) and Cooper Walls (2-0, 2.66 ERA and 20 strikeouts).
Series History: CSUN leads Hawai'i 41-26 in the all-time series. The Bows would sweep a three-game series in Hawai'i last season. Overall, Hawai'i has won six of the last eight meetings, but CSUN has won the past three series at home.
#GoMatadors
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NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball returns to Robert J. Hiegert Field this weekend for a three-game series with Hawai'i. The series opener is set for 5:30 p.m. on Friday with game two scheduled for Saturday at 4:30 p.m. and the finale set for Sunday at 1 p.m. An audio only broadcast will be available on Friday at GoMatadors.com/Radio with Jill Painter Lopez on the call while Saturday and Sunday's games will be broadcast on ESPN+.
FOR STARTERS
The Matadors (5-15, 2-7 Big West) are coming off their first series win in Big West play over the weekend and look to keep up that momentum against a red-hot Hawai'i team. This weekend's series with the Rainbow Warriors will complete a short stint at home as CSUN returns to the road for its next two games, both midweek contests next week at Saint Mary's (April 1) and at San Francisco (April 2). CSUN though will open a home series next weekend against Cal State Fullerton from April 4-6.
ABOUT LAST WEEK
CSUN made the trip to Cal State Bakersfield last weekend and came away with a series victory after taking the final two games of the series. Bakersfield rallied for the win in game one behind a four-run eighth inning for an 11-7 victory. CSUN would even the series with a 7-4 win in game two as the Matadors turned the game around with a five-run fifth inning while the Matador bullpen tossed three shutout innings. Sunday's series finale would be a wild one with CSUB scoring four in the eighth inning to take a 7-5 lead before CSUN answered with five in the ninth inning and held on late for the 10-9 decision to claim the series.
OFFENSE BREAKS OUT
The Bakersfield series saw a number of Matadors break out at the plate. Senior catcher Matthew Kurata, a former Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunner, slashed .429/.636/.857 including hitting a solo homer in the finale of the series while freshman Kyle Panganiban hit .417 with five hits, five runs, two RBI and a home run. Sophomore Jarren Sanderson posted his best series of the season, collecting a team-best six RBI with three runs scored and a home run to go with a .417 batting average. Another freshman, Andrew Becker kept up his hot hitting by going 5-for-14 at the plate (.357) with four RBI and three runs scored. Overall, CSUN hit .299 as a team.
MILLER TIME
Sophomore right hander Logan Miller has been one of the standouts out of the bullpen through the opening weeks of the season. Miller tossed 3.2 shutout innings with four strikeouts last week in relief at Cal State Bakersfield, helping hold leads. On the year, he shares the team lead with Blake Ignaciak for the most appearances with 10 while Miller has 13 strikeouts and a 2.38 ERA. Batters have also been held to a .162 batting average in 11.1 innings against Miller.
TOP MATADOR PERFORMERS SO FAR
CSUN's true freshman Andrew Becker continues to lead the Matadors in hits (23) to go with 11 RBI and three stolen bases. Becker's season .371 batting average ranks eighth-best in the Big West. Junior Will Linberg is also hitting above the .300 clip, posting a .302 average with six RBI and 13 total hits. A close second in the hit department, Kyle Panganiban has 22 on the year and sports a .289 batting average with a team-best 15 runs scored. In the home run department, Matthew Kurata and Matthew Pena have three apiece to lead the team while Pena has a team-high 12 RBI.
On the pitching side, CSUN's weekend starters of sophomore Ryan Halamicek and junior Diego Gutierrez share the team lead in strikeouts with 26 apiece. Halamicek, CSUN's Friday starter, has worked the most time on the mound with 31.2 innngs pitched and Gutierrez is a close second at 30.2 innings to go with two wins. Freshman Max Mendes (2-0) made his first starts of the season last week against Columbia (March 18) and Cal State Bakersfield (March 23) and fared well in lowering his season ERA to 4.20 to go with 12 strikeouts and a .196 batting average against.
SCOUTING HAWAI'I
The Rainbow Warriors hold an 18-5 overall record with a 6-3 Big West record as the team comes in winners of six in a row. The team has won back-to-back Big West series, defeating UC Santa Barbara two out of three times and sweeping UC Davis most recently. The team though lost its only road series of the season in BIg West play when UC Riverside won two of three earlier in March. In the Big West, Hawai'i ranks first in walks (123) and stolen bases (48) while the team is second in batting average (.304). On the pitching side, the team paces the conference with a 3.12 ERA and .219 batting average against. Former Matador Shunsuke Sakaino ranks fourth in the Big West in runs scored with 25 while he leads the team with a .366 batting average. Jared Quandt has a team-high 20 RBI with a .338 batting average. The team's rotation consists of Itsuki Takemoto who sports a 2-3 record with a 3.09 ERA and 30 strikeouts along with Liam O'Brien (2-0, 0.94 ERA, 30 strikeouts) and Cooper Walls (2-0, 2.66 ERA and 20 strikeouts).
Series History: CSUN leads Hawai'i 41-26 in the all-time series. The Bows would sweep a three-game series in Hawai'i last season. Overall, Hawai'i has won six of the last eight meetings, but CSUN has won the past three series at home.
#GoMatadors
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