Matadors Wrap Up 2025 Big West Regular Season with Home Matchup Against UCSB

NORTHRIDGE, Calif -- CSUN Softball (22-23, 15-9 Big West) concludes the regular season with a home series against the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos (27-21, 16-8) Friday and Saturday at Matador Diamond. The series opens with a Friday doubleheader beginning at 1:00 p.m., with the second contest slated for a 3:00 p.m. start or 30 minutes after the first one concludes. Then, the series will end with Senior Day on Saturday with that game starting at 1:00 p.m. Friday's doubleheader will be livestreamed on ESPN+ with Alex Naveja on the call.

FOR STARTERS
The Matadors enter this weekend's matchup third in the Big West with a record of 15-9. Having already clinched a playoff spot in the Big West Championship, CSUN is trying to jump into the top two seeds to avoid playing in the first day of the tournament on Wednesday. CSUN has won seven of its eight Big West series this season, the only series loss came at Cal State Fullerton earlier this season.

At 16-8, UC Santa Barbara is one game ahead of both the Matadors (15-9) and Hawai'i (15-9) in the Big West standings. The Gauchos are fresh off a series win against UC Davis this past weekend, including a 3-1 win last Sunday.

LAST TIME IN THE BATTER'S BOX
The Matadors are coming off a 2-1 series win on the road against UC San Diego last weekend. In game one, CSUN was victorious 5-1. Kaylee Escutia and Jadyn Nielsen each hit a home run in the win. Nielsen led the Matadors with two RBI. Tiara Westbrook added an RBI as well. Lauryn Carranco pitched a complete game, striking out seven in the process.

CSUN also clinched the series on a game two victory Saturday afternoon. Jerzie Liana and Alexis Chavez each had two RBIs in the win.

ALONSO AND CARRANCO - THE TANDEM IN THE CIRCLE
Isabella Alonso and Lauryn Carranco have been a solid one-two punch in the circle for the Matadors. Amassing 277 innings between them, both have been workhorses and have been pivotal to the Matadors success this season. Largely because of Alonso and Carranco, CSUN is fourth in the Big West in ERA at 2.86. CSUN has also allowed the third fewest runs in the Big West at 84 total. Carranco individually is one of the top pitchers in the Big West, ranking fourth overall in ERA at 2.28. She has won nine games in Big West play. Alonso is 12th in the Big West with a 3.43 ERA and six wins.

TIARA WESTBROOK - THE STAR SLUGGER
Tiara Westbrook has made a huge impact since transferring from Oregon State this past season. She is leading the Matadors in batting average (.369), OPS (1.076), hits (48), home runs (9), on base percentage (.453), slugging percentage (.623) and total bases (81). 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 in the tournament. She is also second in the Big West for conference home runs with seven. When the sophomore from Arcadia does well, the Matadors do well.

BATTING AVERAGE - WHERE CSUN SHINES BEST
CSUN is second in the Big West in batting average with a .298 clip. The Matadors currently have five players batting over .300. Currently over the .300 mark is Westbrook (.369), Alexis Chavez (.351), Kylie Galindo (.330), Gizella Vargas Sandoval (.318) and Mikayla Carman (.313). Jadyn Nielsen is right behind those players with a .298 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.

SCOUTING UC SANTA BARBARA
The Gauchos are 16-8 in the Big West, good enough for second in the conference. The winner of this week's series has a decent chance of finishing second in the Big West heading into the inaugural Big West tournament. UCSB has had series wins versus Fullerton, Bakersfield, Cal Poly, UC San Diego, Long Beach State and UC Davis. Offensively, UCSB has three players batting over .300. Giselle Mejia leads the team with a .348 average. Following her is Tehya Banks with a .330 clip. Lastly, Delaina Ma'ae is third on the team, batting .323.

In the circle, UCSB is led by Malaya Johnson who is 16-8 with a 2.90 ERA this season. She has 15 complete games in 150 innings pitched. She had a one-hit shutout on Saturday against UC Davis to guide the Gauchos to a 1-0 win.

Earlier this season, UCSB scored a season high 14 runs against Big West leading Fullerton on March 16.

SERIES HISTORY: CSUN currently has a 37-26 record all time against the Gauchos. CSUN dropped its series versus UCSB last year, losing the last two games of the series. The most previous win against the Gauchos came on May 10, 2024, where CSUN won 4-3.

Matadors Wrap Up 2025 Big West Regular Season with Home Matchup Against UCSB

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Players Mentioned

Isabella Alonso

Mikayla Carman

Lauryn Carranco

Alexis Chavez

Kaylee Escutia

Kylie Galindo

Jerzie Liana

Jadyn Nielsen

Gizella Vargas Sandoval

Tiara Westbrook