Wednesday, April 23
Northridge, Calif
12:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
20-22, 13-8
10
vs
5
Hawai'i
26-16, 12-8
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Hawai'i
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12
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CSUN
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X
10
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Photo by: Chuck Marvel
Matadors Tally Three Home Run Day in Rubber Match Win Against Hawai’i, 10-5
4/23/2025 3:34:00 PM | Softball
NORTHRIDGE, Calif --- CSUN Softball has now moved into sole possession of third place in the Big West with a Wednesday Matinee 10-5 win over the Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine at Matador Diamond. CSUN ended up taking the series 2-1 after this game was initially postponed from March 14. Kaylee Escutia, Jerzie Liana, and Tiara Westbrook each hit a home run in the victory, while Isabella Alonso pitched three innings and tallied five strikeouts in the win.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The game was scoreless until the bottom of the second. Jerzie Liana led off the inning by launching her third home run over the wall in left-center to give the Matadors a 1-0 lead. CSUN added two more in the inning off a defensive miscue by Hawai'I pitcher Macy Brandl After a Gizella Vargas single to center field, Alexis Chavez bunted back to Brandl who threw the ball over the first baseman's head allowing both runs to score.
In the top of the third, Hawai'i got two runs back. Izabella Martinez hit a ball over the left field wall to make it 3-1. Then, Carys Murakami singled to shortstop. After two consecutive outs, the Rainbow Wahine got a single and a double to score their second run.
In the top of the fourth, UH would tie the game. After two straight singles and the runners advancing on a ground out, Murakami hit a sac fly to center field to make it a 3-3 ballgame.
In the bottom of the fourth, CSUN took over the lead once again. Vargas Sandoval singled to kick off the inning. Chavez then reached on a fielder's choice with the lead runner out at second. Kylie Galindo followed with a single to right field to put two runners on. Pinch hitter Maddie Paddie then came up to the plate and hit a ball to left field, but the left fielder dropped it, allowing the lead runner to score and giving CSUN a 4-3 lead.
Isabella Alonso came into the game in the fifth and had an immediate impact. She struck out the first two batters she faced on the way to a 1-2-3 inning.
The bottom of the fifth saw CSUN add three more runs. After a single and a walk, Kaylee Escutia sent a ball into orbit over the center field wall to make it 7-3. It was Escutia's first home run of the season.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Matadors added to their lead. Larissa Flores singled to right field to begin the inning. Then, Mikayla Carman tripled to right-center to score Flores, making it an 8-3 game. Vinessa Nunez promptly hit a ball to left field to score Carman via the sacrifice fly variety. Tiara Westbrook then stepped up to the plate and she did what she did best. She hit a home run off the scoreboard in left field to make it a 10-3 game.
Hawai'i added two more in the top of the seventh, but the CSUN lead was too much to overcome.
NEWS AND NOTES
ACCORDING TO HEAD COACH CHARLOTTE MORGAN
"We came out and we were prepared. First things first, I want to thank the men's basketball team for coming out and supporting us today. It felt like a postseason environment. Hawai'i is a great team, and we knew it was going to be a battle. I am really proud of how we responded as an offense. We haven't peaked yet, but they are trusting the process and us as coaches. Now we get to enjoy this but also get ready because we have a short turnaround as we face UC San Diego on Friday."
UP NEXT
CSUN will hit the road on Friday as the Matadors will take on the UC San Diego Tritons for a series in La Jolla from Friday to Saturday. The series opens with a Friday night game set for 5 p.m. and will wrap on Saturday with a doubleheader set for 1 p.m. All three games will be live on ESPN+ with live statistics available on UCSDTritons.com.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The game was scoreless until the bottom of the second. Jerzie Liana led off the inning by launching her third home run over the wall in left-center to give the Matadors a 1-0 lead. CSUN added two more in the inning off a defensive miscue by Hawai'I pitcher Macy Brandl After a Gizella Vargas single to center field, Alexis Chavez bunted back to Brandl who threw the ball over the first baseman's head allowing both runs to score.
In the top of the third, Hawai'i got two runs back. Izabella Martinez hit a ball over the left field wall to make it 3-1. Then, Carys Murakami singled to shortstop. After two consecutive outs, the Rainbow Wahine got a single and a double to score their second run.
In the top of the fourth, UH would tie the game. After two straight singles and the runners advancing on a ground out, Murakami hit a sac fly to center field to make it a 3-3 ballgame.
In the bottom of the fourth, CSUN took over the lead once again. Vargas Sandoval singled to kick off the inning. Chavez then reached on a fielder's choice with the lead runner out at second. Kylie Galindo followed with a single to right field to put two runners on. Pinch hitter Maddie Paddie then came up to the plate and hit a ball to left field, but the left fielder dropped it, allowing the lead runner to score and giving CSUN a 4-3 lead.
Isabella Alonso came into the game in the fifth and had an immediate impact. She struck out the first two batters she faced on the way to a 1-2-3 inning.
The bottom of the fifth saw CSUN add three more runs. After a single and a walk, Kaylee Escutia sent a ball into orbit over the center field wall to make it 7-3. It was Escutia's first home run of the season.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Matadors added to their lead. Larissa Flores singled to right field to begin the inning. Then, Mikayla Carman tripled to right-center to score Flores, making it an 8-3 game. Vinessa Nunez promptly hit a ball to left field to score Carman via the sacrifice fly variety. Tiara Westbrook then stepped up to the plate and she did what she did best. She hit a home run off the scoreboard in left field to make it a 10-3 game.
Hawai'i added two more in the top of the seventh, but the CSUN lead was too much to overcome.
NEWS AND NOTES
- CSUN is now 20-22 and 13-8 in Big West play with the victory.
- Westbrook launched her team-leading ninth home run in the sixth inning.
- Liana is now second on the team with three home runs. Her long shot happened in the second.
- Lauryn Carranco is now 12-8 on the season.
- Alonso earned her first save since 2023.
- Escutia led the team with three RBI's
- Carman, Escutia, Liana, Nunez and Westbrook each tallied at least one RBI in the win.
- This was the third time this season that the Matadors put up at least 10 runs
ACCORDING TO HEAD COACH CHARLOTTE MORGAN
"We came out and we were prepared. First things first, I want to thank the men's basketball team for coming out and supporting us today. It felt like a postseason environment. Hawai'i is a great team, and we knew it was going to be a battle. I am really proud of how we responded as an offense. We haven't peaked yet, but they are trusting the process and us as coaches. Now we get to enjoy this but also get ready because we have a short turnaround as we face UC San Diego on Friday."
UP NEXT
CSUN will hit the road on Friday as the Matadors will take on the UC San Diego Tritons for a series in La Jolla from Friday to Saturday. The series opens with a Friday night game set for 5 p.m. and will wrap on Saturday with a doubleheader set for 1 p.m. All three games will be live on ESPN+ with live statistics available on UCSDTritons.com.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Carranco, Lauryn (12-8)
L: Brandl, Macy (13-6)
S: Alonso, Isabella (1)
Batting:
2B: Ah Yat, Milan 1 ; Cinzori, Ellyanna 2
HR: Martinez, Izabella 1
RBI: Martinez, Izabella 1 ; Murakami, Carys 1 ; Ah Yat, Milan 1 ; Cinzori, Ellyanna 2
SF: Murakami, Carys 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Martinez, Izabella 1 ; Murakami, Carys 2 ; Thompson, Kennedy 1 ; Borges, Chloe 1
SB: Murakami, Carys 1
Batting:
3B: Carman, Mikayla 1
HR: Westbrook, Tiara 1 ; Liana, Jerzie 1 ; Escutia, Kaylee 1
RBI: Carman, Mikayla 1 ; Nunez, Vinessa 1 ; Westbrook, Tiara 1 ; Liana, Jerzie 1 ; Escutia, Kaylee 3
SH: Chavez, Alexis 1
SF: Nunez, Vinessa 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Carman, Mikayla 1 ; Westbrook, Tiara 1 ; Ruiz, Jizzell 1 ; Liana, Jerzie 1 ; Vargas Sandoval, Gizella 2 ; Chavez, Alexis 1 ; Escutia, Kaylee 2 ; Flores, Larissa 1
HBP: Jackson, Raegan 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
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INF
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OF
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C/UTIL
/ SoftballC
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P/SS
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INF
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INF
/ Softball1B/OF
/ SoftballSoftball--CSUN vs. Hawai'i
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