Friday, March 28
Northridge, Calif.
5:30 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
6-15, 3-7
15
vs
10
Hawai'i
18-6, 6-4
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Hawai'i
0
2
0
0
6
0
2
0
0
10
8
5
CSUN
5
0
4
0
3
0
3
0
X
15
16
1
Photo by: Chuck Marvel
CSUN Outslugs Hawai'i in 15-10 Victory
3/28/2025 9:24:00 PM | Baseball
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball pounded out 16 hits including three homers in a 15-10 win over Hawai'i on Friday evening at Robert J. Hiegert Field. Kyle Panganiban finished with four hits and two RBI while Roberto Gonzalez was a triple shy of the cycle, producing three hits with a home run. Andrew Becker and Matthew Pena drove in two runs each and homered as well.
HOW IT HAPPENED
CSUN would waste little time jumping on Hawai'i ace Itsuki Takemoto in the first inning. On the very first pitch of the frame, Gonzalez led off with an opposite field solo homer that just stayed fair in left. A pitch later, Panganiban collected a base hit then two batters later Jarren Sanderson charted a base hit to center field. A second CSUN run scored following the Sanderson hit after a fielding error by center fielder Matthew Miura. Moments later, a balk by Takemoto allowed Sanderson to score to suddenly make it a 3-0 game. The Matadors kept the inning alive with a two-out walk from Kurata before Pena blasted a two-run homer to right for a 5-0 lead.
Hawai'i answered back with some two-out hitting of its own in the second. After starter Ryan Halamicek struck out the first two batters, a bunt hit followed by a two-run shot from Kamana Nahaku cut the lead to 5-2.
An inning later, CSUN answered with another big inning as the Matadors knocked out Takemoto. Kurata added to the lead with an RBI single to plate Sanderson while a two-out double from Elijah Fairchild drove in two more. The inning would be capped by an RBI double from Gonzalez, extending the Matador lead to 9-2.
Halamicek cruised through the third and fourth innings on the mound but ran into trouble in the top of the fifth. The Hawai'i bats came alive, producing three hits and two walks before the big blow came on a three-run homer from Ben Zeigler-Namoa. The once seven run lead was cut to 9-8 after the six-run frame.
As they did earlier in the game, the Matadors responded quickly in the bottom of the fifth. After two of the first three batters reached, Panganiban delivered with a two-run single up the middle. Panganiban eventually came around to score on a heads up play at third base when a Becker strikeout and a throw to first base gave the Matador second baseman enough time to race home and score.
CSUN picked up a big bounce back inning from Halamicek in the sixth as the right hander pitched a scoreless frame keeping the lead at 12-8. The CSUN bullpen took over in the seventh with Tyler Mejia picking up a strikeout to start, however, back-to-back Hawai'i hits cut the lead to 12-9. The Rainbow Warriors later drew three consecutive walks, forcing in another run before Logan Miller recorded the third out to keep the lead at 12-10.
Looking to respond again, CSUN would answer for three more in the bottom of the seventh. A critical interference call allowed CSUN to come away with its first run of the inning. The play took shape when Panganiban picked up a two-out hit. Trent Abel attempted to score from second base on the play but was thrown out at the plate. However, an interference call at third base when Abel was rounding the base, allowed the run to score. Moments later, Becker belted a two-run homer on the first pitch to extend to an 15-10 advantage.
CSUN picked up two crucial shutout frames from Miller over the eighth and ninth innings with Hawai'i managing just a walk.
NOTES OF THE GAME
ACCORDING TO COACH EDDIE CORNEJO
"The plan early on was to try to make Takemoto change and be different because when he establishes the zone he's really good. He has like 12 pitches, so our job was to get on the pitches early, cause him to change and the guys did a really good job of that."
POST GAME COMMENTS FROM ANDREW BECKER ABOUT THE GAME AND HIS SUCCESS THIS SEASON
"We have four goals to each game and one of them is answer back, so whenever they score, we want to score every inning. I feel like we did a good job of stunting their momentum by scoring right away. That really let us keep our energy high and silence theirs.
"Every day it's been work and and trying to get better. I've tried to take every step and when I make a mistake, just wipe it really quick, and take every bat as a competition against a pitcher and try to beat him."
UP NEXT
CSUN looks to secure a series win on Saturday when it takes on Hawai'i at 4:30 p.m. Jill Painter Lopez will have the call on ESPN+.
#GoMatadors
Â
HOW IT HAPPENED
CSUN would waste little time jumping on Hawai'i ace Itsuki Takemoto in the first inning. On the very first pitch of the frame, Gonzalez led off with an opposite field solo homer that just stayed fair in left. A pitch later, Panganiban collected a base hit then two batters later Jarren Sanderson charted a base hit to center field. A second CSUN run scored following the Sanderson hit after a fielding error by center fielder Matthew Miura. Moments later, a balk by Takemoto allowed Sanderson to score to suddenly make it a 3-0 game. The Matadors kept the inning alive with a two-out walk from Kurata before Pena blasted a two-run homer to right for a 5-0 lead.
Hawai'i answered back with some two-out hitting of its own in the second. After starter Ryan Halamicek struck out the first two batters, a bunt hit followed by a two-run shot from Kamana Nahaku cut the lead to 5-2.
An inning later, CSUN answered with another big inning as the Matadors knocked out Takemoto. Kurata added to the lead with an RBI single to plate Sanderson while a two-out double from Elijah Fairchild drove in two more. The inning would be capped by an RBI double from Gonzalez, extending the Matador lead to 9-2.
Halamicek cruised through the third and fourth innings on the mound but ran into trouble in the top of the fifth. The Hawai'i bats came alive, producing three hits and two walks before the big blow came on a three-run homer from Ben Zeigler-Namoa. The once seven run lead was cut to 9-8 after the six-run frame.
As they did earlier in the game, the Matadors responded quickly in the bottom of the fifth. After two of the first three batters reached, Panganiban delivered with a two-run single up the middle. Panganiban eventually came around to score on a heads up play at third base when a Becker strikeout and a throw to first base gave the Matador second baseman enough time to race home and score.
CSUN picked up a big bounce back inning from Halamicek in the sixth as the right hander pitched a scoreless frame keeping the lead at 12-8. The CSUN bullpen took over in the seventh with Tyler Mejia picking up a strikeout to start, however, back-to-back Hawai'i hits cut the lead to 12-9. The Rainbow Warriors later drew three consecutive walks, forcing in another run before Logan Miller recorded the third out to keep the lead at 12-10.
Looking to respond again, CSUN would answer for three more in the bottom of the seventh. A critical interference call allowed CSUN to come away with its first run of the inning. The play took shape when Panganiban picked up a two-out hit. Trent Abel attempted to score from second base on the play but was thrown out at the plate. However, an interference call at third base when Abel was rounding the base, allowed the run to score. Moments later, Becker belted a two-run homer on the first pitch to extend to an 15-10 advantage.
CSUN picked up two crucial shutout frames from Miller over the eighth and ninth innings with Hawai'i managing just a walk.
NOTES OF THE GAME
- CSUN improves to 6-15 overall and 3-7 in Big West play while Hawai'i drops to 18-6 overall and 6-4 in conference.
- Six Matadors scored twice on the night while five recorded multi-hit games and five had multi-RBI games.
- Becker extended his on-base streak to 17 games and his hit streak to eight.
- Panganiban has also hit safely in eight straight games.
- Halamicek picked up the win with six innings of work and eight runs allowed on just six hits. He struck out six batters.
- Miller worked the final 2.1 innings, allowing no runs and just two walks.
ACCORDING TO COACH EDDIE CORNEJO
"The plan early on was to try to make Takemoto change and be different because when he establishes the zone he's really good. He has like 12 pitches, so our job was to get on the pitches early, cause him to change and the guys did a really good job of that."
POST GAME COMMENTS FROM ANDREW BECKER ABOUT THE GAME AND HIS SUCCESS THIS SEASON
"We have four goals to each game and one of them is answer back, so whenever they score, we want to score every inning. I feel like we did a good job of stunting their momentum by scoring right away. That really let us keep our energy high and silence theirs.
"Every day it's been work and and trying to get better. I've tried to take every step and when I make a mistake, just wipe it really quick, and take every bat as a competition against a pitcher and try to beat him."
UP NEXT
CSUN looks to secure a series win on Saturday when it takes on Hawai'i at 4:30 p.m. Jill Painter Lopez will have the call on ESPN+.
#GoMatadors
Â
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Halamicek, Ryan (1-3)
L: Itsuki Takemoto (2-4)
S: Miller, Logan (1)
Batting:
2B: Ben Zeigler-Namoa 1
HR: Ben Zeigler-Namoa 1 ; Kamana Nahaku 1
RBI: Shunsuke Sakaino 2 ; Ben Zeigler-Namoa 4 ; Kamana Nahaku 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Shunsuke Sakaino 1 ; Matthew Miura 2 ; Ben Zeigler-Namoa 2 ; Jordan Donahue 1 ; Kamana Nahaku 2 ; Draven Nushida 1 ; Hunter Faildo 1
HBP: Kamana Nahaku 1
Batting:
2B: Gonzalez, Roberto 1 ; Fairchild, Elijah 1
HR: Gonzalez, Roberto 1 ; Becker, Andrew 1 ; Pena, Matthew 1
RBI: Gonzalez, Roberto 2 ; Panganiban, Kyle 2 ; Becker, Andrew 2 ; Kurata, Matthew 1 ; Pena, Matthew 2 ; Fairchild, Elijah 2
SH: Linberg, Will 1 ; Fairchild, Elijah 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Gonzalez, Roberto 2 ; Panganiban, Kyle 2 ; Becker, Andrew 2 ; Sanderson, Jarren 2 ; Kurata, Matthew 2 ; Pena, Matthew 1 ; Abel, Trent 3 ; Fairchild, Elijah 1
SB: Panganiban, Kyle 1 ; Becker, Andrew 1
CS: Sanderson, Jarren 1
HBP: Gonzalez, Roberto 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
2
H
4
RBI
2
AB
4
R
2
H
3
RBI
2
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
2
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF/LHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF/OF
/ Baseball
1B/DH
/ BaseballOF
/ BaseballA Conversation With Dave Serrano
Friday, May 15
Baseball HC reveal 2019
Sunday, June 23
National Student-Athlete Day 2019 - Jayson Newman
Friday, April 05
CSUN Baseball - 27 Miles
Friday, November 09