CSUN Continues Homestand with Weekend Series with UC Davis

Friday, April 17

Northridge, Calif.

5:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

UC Davis

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Photo by: Chuck Marvel

CSUN Continues Homestand with Weekend Series with UC Davis

4/16/2026 1:04:00 PM | Baseball

BASE Game Notes - April 16

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball resumes Big West action by hosting UC Davis for the final time as a Big West competitor this weekend in a three-game series. The opener is set for Friday at 5 p.m. while the rest of the series is set for Saturday at 4 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. All three game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Ghizal Hasan on the call.

FOR STARTERS
In the Big West standings, CSUN (20-15) is holding on to fifth place with a 9-9 Big West record while the top spot in the conference is occupied by UC San Diego (11-4). Both UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly are in second place (10-5) while Cal State Fullerton is in fourth place (10-7). The Matadors are holding on to the fifth and final postseason spot for the Big West Championship with several teams in the hunt for that spot. UC Irvine sits in sixth place (7-8) followed by Hawai'i (8-10), Cal State Bakersfield (6-9), UC Davis (7-11), Long Beach State (6-12) and UC Riverside (5-10).

LAST TIME OUT
CSUN would power past LMU in the late innings on Tuesday, claiming a 12-7 victory at Robert J. Hiegert Field. The Matadors improved to 6-2 in midweek games with the victory. LMU led 7-5 heading to the bottom of the seventh before the Matadors posted six runs in the frame on just three hits, highlighted by a two-out triple from Colton Boardman that scored two runs and put CSUN ahead for good. The trio of Matthew Thomas, Will Linberg and Mateo Rickman each homered for the Matadors. On the pitching side, CSUN used 11 different pitchers on the night. Kody King pitched the most on the night, recording four outs while allowing no hits and striking out two as he picked up the victory.

LEADING THE BIG WEST
CSUN's offense continues to be one of the most explosive in the Big West this season. The Matadors' 56 homers top the conference and rank 34th in the nation on the campaign. In addition, CSUN has moved up to first in the Big West in a host of categories including batting average (.297), runs (242), triples (11), RBI (229), total bases (610), slugging percentage (.515) and on-base percentage (.384).

Individually, CSUN's newcomer Matthew Thomas has stormed to the top of many Big West categories offensively this season. The outfielder is tied for first in the Big West in batting average (.376) and home runs (13) while he is first in OPS (1.279), runs scored (41) and slugging percentage (.820). Fellow junior, Matthew Pena also shares first place in home runs in the conference with his 13 on the season.

ON THE MOUND
Sophomore right hander Gabriel Hernandez gets the ball in the opener of this weekend's series with the Aggies. Hernandez sports a 4.42 ERA to go with a 4-2 record over nine starts and a team-high 53 innings of work. In Big West play, Hernandez has lowered his ERA to 3.38 while racking up three wins and four quality starts. The rest of the weekend rotation will be determined over the weekend.

MATADOR QUICK HITS
Four Matadors are ranked in the Big West's top-10 batting list led by Matthew Thomas, who sports a conference-best .376 average, while Andrew Becker is sixth (.352), Mateo Rickman is eighth (.344) and Colton Boardman is ninth (.337) ... Thomas has moved into 10th place in the nation in slugging percentage at an .820 clip ... Kyle Panganiban, who has missed the past nine games with injury, previously enjoyed a great start to the season by hitting .324 with eight homers and 28 RBI. In Big West play though, Panganiban has hit a red-hot .354 in 12 games ... As a team, CSUN is hitting .307 in 18 Big West games with 23 home runs as a group ... Matador pitching is now ranked eighth in the nation in walks allowed per nine innings at a 3.23 clip. That average is second best in the Big West ... Junior right hander Jaiden Turner has been one of the top arms out of the bullpen this season. Turner sports a minuscule 1.65 ERA across 15 appearances while racking up 17 strikeouts in 16.1 innings. He also holds a 2.70 ERA in 6.2 innings of conference play.

SCOUTING UC DAVIS
The Aggies are 16-18 overall this season and 7-11 in Big West play. UC Davis is playing in its final season in the Big West before moving to the Mountain West Conference next season. Winners of five of their last six games, the Aggies won two out of three from Cal State Bakersfield last weekend before beating Pacific 6-5 this past Tuesday. As a team, UC Davis is second in the Big West in fielding percentage at .977 while the club hits .245 as a group and holds a staff 5.02 ERA. Elijah McNeal and Tyler Howard share the team lead in RBI at 17 apiece along with three homers each. McNeal is hitting .280 while Howard is batting .269. On the mound, Rowen Barnes is ranked 12th in the nation with his seven saves to go with a 0.90 ERA and 20 strikeouts.

Series History: CSUN and UC Davis are 31-31 against one another in the all-time series. The Aggies claimed a series win at home last season, taking the final two games of the series. CSUN though has won three straight series from UC Davis at home, most recently winning two of three during the 2024 season.

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