CSUN Softball Aims for Another Series Win Against UC San Diego

LA JOLLA, Calif -- CSUN Softball (20-22, 13-8 Big West) will look to win another Big West series when it takes on the UC San Diego Tritons (13-25, 11-10 Big West) at Triton Softball Field 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 broadcast on ESPN+ with live statistics available on UCSDTritons.com.

FOR STARTERS
CSUN enters the series against UC San Diego in sole possession of third place in the Big West. The only season series loss for the Matadors came against Cal State Fullerton. Other than that, CSUN has been flawless in series victories against the rest of the Big West. This is the penultimate series of the regular season and the final road trip before the Big West Championships in Fullerton.

Currently in sixth place with a 13-25 overall and 11-10 conference record, UC San Diego enters the weekend on a three-game winning streak.

LAST TIME IN THE BATTER'S BOX
CSUN won its rubber match against the University of Hawai'i on Wednesday at Matador Diamond by a score of 10-5. 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.

CARRANCO THE CAPTAIN IN THE CIRCLE
Carranco has been one of CSUN's top pitchers seemingly since she first put on the uniform her freshman year in 2023. She has had impressive numbers during her first two seasons, and her junior year is no different. The junior from Clovis is 12-8 with a 2.92 ERA (good enough for third in the Big West) against some very strong opponents. She has 16 complete games so far this season while tallying 88 strikeouts in the process. She already has 146 innings pitched in 27 appearances. Carranco was a Preseason All Big-West Team honoree and she is proving to be worthy of that accolade so far.

TIARA WESTBROOK - THE TRANSFER THAT BRINGS THE FIRE
Westbrook transferred to CSUN from Oregon State this past season and has already had an immediate impact on this Matador lineup. Earlier this season she had a superb performance in the Mary Nutter Classic. Westbrook took Big West Player of the Week honors for her contributions. She batted .588 with a .882 slugging percentage. Overall, Westbrook is leading the team in home runs with nine, including one versus Hawai'i on Wednesday. She is leading the team in RBI's with 33 and in total bases with 78.

A YEAR DIFFERENCE IN BATTING AVERAGE
In 2024, CSUN was middle of the pack (6th) in batting average in the Big West at a .276 average. The Matadors have seen a major improvement in batting average so far in the 2025 campaign. As of this weekend, CSUN is second with a .299 clip, close to a 30-point difference from year to year. CSUN currently has five players batting over .300 with Tiara Westbrook leading the team with a .375 average in 40 games played.

SCOUTING UC SAN DIEGO
The Tritons have some threats on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. Graduate transfer Jaden Hill leads the team at the plate with a .390 batting average and .489 on base percentage. Zara Wasserman adds her bat with a team-high 20 RBIs. The Tritons are led in the circle by India Caldwell. She leads the team with a 3.84 ERA and .282 batting average against. The right-handed starter has tallied 93 strikeouts and has allowed only 56 earned runs over 131.1 innings of work.

The Tritons are riding a three-game winning streak after sweeping Cal Poly April 18-19. So far, UCSD has had series victories over Cal Poly, UC Davis, and UC Riverside. The Tritons have been known to have offensive outbursts. Two different times this season, they have scored 11 runs in a game. First they scored 11 against Cal State Bakersfield on March 28, and the second was against Cal Poly this past weekend on April 18.

Series History: CSUN leads the all-time series at 7-5 and is currently on a six-game winning streak against UC San Diego. In their last meeting in 2024, the Matadors came away with the finale win in a 9-7 result and clinched the series sweep.

CSUN Softball Aims for Another Series Win Against UC San Diego

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Players Mentioned

Isabella Alonso

Kaylee Escutia

Jerzie Liana

Tiara Westbrook