CSUN Meets Cal State Fullerton on the Road this Weekend

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball heads to Cal State Fullerton this weekend for a three-game Big West series. The opener is set for Friday at 6:30 p.m. while the series continues on Saturday at 5 p.m. and concludes on Sunday at 1 p.m. All three games will stream live from Goodwin Field on ESPN+.

FOR STARTERS
Through two weekends of the Big West season, the Matadors hold an 11-9 overall record and 2-4 mark in the Big West. Cal State Fullerton (10-10, 5-1 Big West) has won both of its conference series to start league play and sit one game back of first place in the Big West standings. Following this weekend's series, the Matadors will play seven of eight games at Robert J. Hiegert Field including back-to-back home conference series against Cal State Bakersfield (March 27-29) and Long Beach State (April 2-4).

ON THE MOUND
Sophomore right hander Gabriel Hernandez will start in Friday's series opener at Cal State Fullerton while junior right hander Traig Oughton gets the Saturday start against the Titans. Hernandez, who is making his first career Friday start, sports a 4.91 ERA with a 1-1 record and 13 strikeouts in 25.2 innings. Over his last two starts, Hernandez has allowed three runs in 12.2 total innings. Oughton holds a 6.35 ERA across five starts this season to go with a 2-0 record and 16 strikeouts in 22.2 total innings.

LAST TIME OUT
The Matadors tied a season-high in hits with 16 in an 11-9 victory at Fresno State on Tuesday, snapping a three-game skid. Freshman Vaughn Coleman drove in a season-high six RBI and belted two home runs in the win while freshman Mateo Rickman and sophomore Colton Boardman totaled three hits apiece. All nine Matador starters recorded at least one base hit on the day. CSUN scored in seven innings and multiple times in four frames. The Matadors led 6-5 entering the seventh inning before posting a two-run seventh and a three-run ninth inning.

PENA GOES DEEP
With his nine home runs this season, junior outfielder Matthew Pena has already set a new career high for homers in his collegiate career, surpassing his six from 2025. Pena has homered three times over the past four games while he has recorded three multi-homer games already this season. His nine homers lead the Big West and rank 25th overall in the nation. Entering this weekend's games, Pena tops the Big West in OPS (1.332) and slugging percentage (.879).

GOING FOR EXTRA CREDIT
When junior outfielder Matthew Thomas connects on a base hit, more often than not it will go for extra bases. Of his 23 total hits this year, Thomas has recorded 20 extra base hits including eight homers and nine doubles. In the Big West, Thomas leads the league in runs scored (23) while he ranks second in homers (8) and slugging percentage (.849) and third in OPS (1.263). Thomas has hit safely in 16 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 week including ranking first in runs (141), RBI (131), homers (34), triples (8) and slugging percentage (.513) ... Sophomore Kyle Panganiban tops the team in RBI with 22, which is seven short of his entire total from last season. Panganiban is also slashing .267/.389/.547 to go with six home runs ... Sophomore Colton Boardman sports a team-high .408 batting average with 20 hits and seven RBI. His batting average ranks second-best in the Big West ... Three other Matador hitters are batting above .300, which includes Mateo Rickman (.317), Matthew Pena (.310) and Matthew Thomas (.310) ... Freshman right handed closer James Voorhies has emerged as one of the top pitchers on the staff this season. With a team-high 19 strikeouts, Voorhies has posted a 2.51 ERA with two wins and two saves. Opposing hitters have managed just a .200 average against Voorhies.

SCOUTING CAL STATE FULLERTON
The Titans (10-10) have won five of six conference games, most recently sweeping UC Irvine last weekend at Goodwin Field. Fullerton had won five straight games before falling to UNLV on the road this past Tuesday by a 4-3 score. The team is ranked fifth in the Big West in batting average at .257 along with fifth in home runs with 13. Fullerton's pitching staff sports a 4.02 ERA to rank fourth in the conference.

Paul Contreras leads the Titans with a .328 batting average and four home runs. In the RBI department, Contreras and Nick Miller each hold a team-high 11 on the season. Friday's starting pitcher Mikiah Negrete ranks third in the Big West in ERA at 2.12 and fifth in strikeouts at 32 while sporting a 3-1 record. Dylan Smith (1-2, 4.94 ERA) and Jayden Harper (0-0, 6.38) round out the pitching rotation this weekend.

Series History: Fullerton leads CSUN 85-60 in the all-time series after sweeping a three-game set in Northridge last season. CSUN has won the past two series in Fullerton including taking all three games in a 2024 series sweep.

#GoMatadors

CSUN Meets Cal State Fullerton on the Road this Weekend

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Players Mentioned

Colton Boardman

Vaughn Coleman

Gabriel Hernandez

Traig Oughton

Kyle Panganiban

Matthew Pena

Mateo Rickman

Matthew Thomas

James Voorhies

California State University Northridge Athletics