CSUN Kicks Off Big West Home Schedule Facing UC San Diego

Friday, March 13

Northridge, Calif.

5:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

UC San Diego

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Photo by: Chuck Marvel

CSUN Kicks Off Big West Home Schedule Facing UC San Diego

3/11/2026 8:44:00 PM | Baseball

BASE Game Notes - March 12

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball (10-6, 2-1 Big West) hosts its first Big West series at Robert J. Hiegert Field this weekend against UC San Diego. The opener is set for Friday at 5 p.m. while the series continues on Saturday at 2 p.m. and concludes on Sunday at 1 p.m. Games two and three of the series will be broadcast at ESPN+ while audio broadcasts will be available at GoMatadors.com/Radio.

ON THE MOUND
For the second straight Friday, CSUN will turn to junior right hander Traig Oughton when the Matadors face UC San Diego. Oughton has gone 2-0 with a 5.49 ERA and 14 strikeouts over his first four starts with the Matadors. On Saturday, CSUN sends sophomore right hander Gabriel Hernandez who holds a 1-1 record along with 10 strikeouts and a 5.89 ERA. CSUN's Sunday starter will be determined over the weekend.

LAST TIME OUT
CSUN posted a 12-1 run-rule victory over Pepperdine in seven innings on Monday at Robert J. Hiegert Field. Five CSUN pitchers combined to limit the Waves to one run on six hits while racking up eight total strikeouts. CSUN trailed 1-0 in the game before roaring back with 12 unanswered runs as the Matadors scored five in the third and seven in the fifth. Eight of the nine Matador starters recorded at least one hit with both Will Linberg and Colton Boardman producing two hits. Kyle Panganiban would hit a grand slam in the seven-run fifth inning. Senior Adam Christopher earned his first career win as a Matador after tossing 2.1 innings of relief and allowing no runs.

CSUN TAKES SERIES AT UC IRVINE
The Matadors won their first Big West series last weekend by knocking off defending Big West regular season champion UC Irvine two out of three times. The Matadors won the opener 5-4, rallying from four runs down in the eighth as CSUN scored four in the eighth and the go-ahead run in the ninth. Vaughn Coleman had the winning hit in game one while fellow freshman Mateo Rickman tied the game in the eighth on an RBI double.

UC Irvine took game two 4-2, but the Matadors rallied for a 9-2 win in the rubber game on Sunday. CSUN erased an early 2-0 deficit and scored seven in the eighth to break the game open. Matador pitching held the Anteaters to no runs over the final seven innings of game three.

BECKER AND TURNER EARN BIG WEST HONORS
CSUN Baseball swept the Big West weekly awards on March 9 as sophomore Andrew Becker collected Big West Field Player of the Week honors and junior Jaiden Turner was awarded Big West Pitcher of the Week. The honors were the first in both of their careers.

In a week where CSUN went 3-1, Becker slashed .500/.589/.750 at the plate while producing eight hits, one homer, three RBI and six runs scored. Becker recorded four hits in a come-from-behind 9-8 win over Michigan and scored the winning run in the 12th inning. On the mound, Turner was dominant, racking up 5.1 shutout innings of work over three relief appearances. Turner tossed 3.2 shutout innings against Michigan in the eventual win in extras while he earned the win in the finale at UC Irvine with a shutout inning in relief.

GOING FOR EXTRA CREDIT
Newcomer Matthew Thomas has enjoyed a fast start to his Matador career this season. The junior outfielder leads the Big West in a host of categories this season including OPS (1.344), runs scored (21), home runs (7) and slugging percentage (.915). Along with those impressive numbers, Thomas has already accumulated 17 extra base hits out of his 20 hits total this season as he has recorded seven doubles and three triples through 16 games. Thomas has hit safely in 13 games on the year and posted seven multi-hit efforts.

MATADOR QUICK HITS
CSUN's offense is near the top of multiple categories in the Big West entering the weekend including ranking first in homers (26), triples (7) and slugging percentage (.500). The Matadors are also second in runs (106), doubles (29) and RBI (97) along with third in batting average (.267) ... Sophomore Kyle Panganiban tops the Big West in RBI with 22, which is seven short of his entire total from last season. Panganiban is also slashing .316/.443/.684 to go with six home runs ... Sophomore Colton Boardman sports a team-high .355 batting average with 11 hits and four RBI. Senior Will Linberg is also hitting above the .300 mark at a .321 clip ... When CSUN has scored in the first inning this season, the team has gone 5-1. The Matadors are also 5-2 when scoring first in games.

SCOUTING UC SAN DIEGO
The Tritons come in at 4-10 overall after dropping six straight. Last weekend, UCSD was swept in a four-game series at Cincinnati. The team is opening its Big West schedule this weekend in Northridge. On the season, the Tritons are third in the Big West with 15 home runs while the team sports a .198 batting average through 14 games. The UCSD pitching staff has an 8.00 ERA, earning 8.5 strikeouts per nine innings.

Gabe Camacho leads the Tritons with six homers and 19 RBI to go with a .292 batting average while Trevian Martinez has driven in 11 runs and batted .265. Steele Murdock gets the starting nod on Friday on the mound as he sports a 9.64 ERA. Both Murdock and Saturday's starting pitcher Nic Gregson lead the team with 19 strikeouts.

Series History: The Matadors lead the Tritons in the all-time series 10-9 while UCSD has won nine of 16 meetings since joining the Big West. Last season, CSUN took the opener in La Jolla but dropped the last two games of the series to UC San Diego.

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