CSUN Opens Weekend Series with Long Beach State on Thursday

Thursday, April 2

Northridge, Calif.

5:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

Long Beach State

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Photo by: Chuck Marvel

CSUN Opens Weekend Series with Long Beach State on Thursday

4/1/2026 3:26:00 PM | Baseball

BASE Game Notes - April 1

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball kicks off a three-game series with Long Beach State on Thursday at Robert J. Hiegert Field. The opener is set for 5 p.m. on ESPN+ while the series continues on Friday at 2 p.m. and concludes on Saturday at 1 p.m. Free audio will be available all weekend at GoMatadors.com/Radio with Ghizal Hasan on the call.

FOR STARTERS
The Matadors (15-12, 6-6 Big West) have split their first 12 games in Big West play through four weekends of competition. CSUN heads into this weekend's series tied for fourth place in the conference standings with Cal State Fullerton (6-6). UC San Diego leads the conference with an 8-1 league record followed by Cal Poly in second place (10-2) and UC Santa Barbara in third place (5-4). Below CSUN and Fullerton, the trio of Hawai'i, UC Davis and Cal State Bakersfield are tied for sixth place with identical 5-7 conference records.

Following this week's series with Long Beach State, CSUN will host a non-conference game with Pepperdine on Tuesday, April 7 before returning to the road to take on UC Riverside in a three-game series (April 10-12).

LAST TIME OUT
The Matadors dropped a midweek matchup with Pepperdine in Malibu on Tuesday by a 6-5 score. CSUN fell behind 5-1 in the contest before scoring three in the fifth inning and the tying run with two outs in the top off the ninth courtesy of an RBI single from freshman Mateo Rickman. The Waves though came away with a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth to prevail and even the season series at 1-1. Matthew Thomas finished with three hits including an RBI while Rickman had two hits and two RBI. On the pitching side, six Matador hurlers saw action in the contest, led by freshman Gage McCown who tossed 2.1 shutout frames in relief.

HOME RUN HITTERS
CSUN enters the week leading the Big West and ranking 29th overall in the nation in total home runs with 45 this season. That home run total is just four fewer than the team's entire total from the 2025 season. Three Matadors are ranked in the top five in the Big West in homers led by Matthew Pena who is first with 10 on the season. Matthew Thomas is right behind, tied for second place with nine while Kyle Panganiban is ranked fifth with eight homers. In total, 11 Matadors have at least one home run with nine recording two or more.

MATADOR QUICK HITS
The Matadors remain the Big West leaders in total bases (464) and slugging percentage (.510) while the team ranks second in batting average (.285), base hits (259), RBI (169) and triples (10) this season ... In addition to home runs, junior Matthew Pena is first in the Big West in OPS (1.194) while he is placed second in slugging percentage (.765) and fourth in RBI (28) ... Newcomer Matthew Thomas has recorded 30 hits this season, 23 of which have gone for extra base hits. Thomas tops the Big West with a .770 slugging percentage while he is second in OPS (1.189) and runs scored (29), third in doubles (11) and fourth in RBI (28). At the plate overall, Thomas is hitting at a .330 clip ... Sophomore Colton Boardman is off to a strong start in his second season with CSUN, leading the team in batting at a .391 clip, good enough for second-best in the Big West. Boardman has already surpassed his entire hit total from last season (24) by recording 27 this year ... Right hander Gabriel Hernandez has taken over Friday starting duties for CSUN as late. Hernandez (2-2) sports a 4.93 ERA with 24 strikeouts across seven starts in 2026, however, he has lowered his ERA to 3.55 in Big West play with 19 strikeouts in 25.1 total innings in conference.

SCOUTING LONG BEACH STATE
The Dirtbags are 9-18 overall this season with a 4-8 mark in Big West play. In last week's action, the Dirtbags took the series opener with UC Irvine but dropped the next two games to lose the weekend series. Holding a 7-8 record at Blair Field this season, Long Beach State is 2-10 away from home. The team leads the Big West in walks with 142 recorded on the season while the Dirtbags are second in on base percentage (.386) and third in stolen bases (29). LBSU is hitting .247 at the plate to go with a 6.29 ERA on the mound. Trevor Goldenetz and Dylan Lina are the Big West leaders in batting average and RBI, respectively. Lina also tops the Dirtbags with seven homers. On the mound, Jason Gerfers (2-2) has racked up a team-best 37 strikeouts to go with a 3.76 ERA across eight appearances.

Series History: The Dirtbags lead the Matadors 88-75-1 in the all-time series. However, CSUN has won the past four series between the two teams including taking two of three games last season in Long Beach. The Matadors have also won two of three games in each of the past two series played in Northridge.

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