CSUN Returns Home for Big West Series Against Rival Cal State Fullerton

GAME NOTES

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. --- The CSUN softball team (9-20, 5-7 Big West) is set to take on the Cal State Fullerton Titans (21-11, 10-2 Big West) in a three game series from April 3-4 at Matador Diamond. The teams will play a doubleheader on Friday, with first pitch of the first game taking place at 1:00 p.m. The second game of the doubleheader will begin 30 minutes after the conclusion of game one. Lastly, the series will wrap with a singular game on Saturday. First pitch of the series finale will happen at 1:00 p.m. All games will be streamed live on ESPN+.

LAST TIME OUT
CSUN played one game earlier this week against the California Baptist Lancers in Riverside. The Matadors fell in heartbreaking fashion, a walkoff single which ended in a 4-3 victory for CBU. Madison Okano and Makenzi Padilla both drove in runs for the Matadors. Malia Williams pitched a solid game, going all seven innings, while striking out three with just two earned runs allowed.

CSUN's last Big West series came against Hawai'i in Honolulu last week. CSUN fell in its three games against Hawai'i on Friday and Saturday. Highlights included in game two of the series with pitcher Malia Williams delivering a season best performance. She went all six innings, allowing two earned runs, and striking out a season-high six while allowing only four hits. Another highlight included Hawai'i native Makenzie Kila driving in two runs in the game three defeat. It was a special moment for Kila and her family in attendance.

RAEGAN TAKING ON HER ROLE AS THE LEADER
Raegan Jackson is one of the longest tenured Matadors on the team. She is a certified leader with her presence but also her play as well. After being named a 2025 All-Big West Honorable Mention, she has not lost a beat in her senior season in 2026. Jackson has 30 hits in the 29 games played so far and is currently 11th in the Big West in batting average at .375. She has 12 stolen bases in 12 chances including stealing three bags against Portland State on February 8, which was a career high.

MADISON OKANO - THE SPARKPLUG
"We go as Madison Okano goes," said Interim Head Coach Jodie Cox after the last series win against Cal Poly at Matador Diamond. CSUN had five outs to work with, down two runs on Sunday, March 22 and Okano came up clutch. She clobbered a pitch over the wall in left to cut the lead in half at 7-6. It sparked the Matador offense. CSUN would go on to score six runs in the inning to win the game 11-7. A junior transfer from Gilbert, Ariz., Okano played 20 games last season in her backyard at Arizona State. Okano was one of Coach Cox's biggest commits in the offseason, and she has proven to be a force. She leads the team in homers at four. She is second on the team in batting average at .347 and fourth on the team in OPS at .922.

ONE-TWO PUNCH IN THE CIRCLE
Williams and Tso have logged the majority of innings in the circle this season for the Matadors. Tso has pitched 90 and Williams has pitched 67 innings out of the total 184 innings played. Tso is leading the team in ERA at a 4.12 clip. Williams has a 5.54 ERA in 16 games started. In the series win over Cal Poly two weeks ago, both players threw their season high for innings in one game. Tso pitched eight innings in an extra-inning win against Cal Poly on March 21, while Williams pitched all seven innings in a close 2-3 defeat against those same Mustangs.

SCOUTING CAL STATE FULLERTON
The Titans enter this weekend's matchup second in the Big West, having only dropped two conference games. They are second in the Big West in batting average with a .318 clip while they lead the Big West in home runs at 32. Their two best sluggers, Nataly Lozano and Sarah Perez are batting .407 and .406 respectively, that's good enough for third and fourth in the Big West.

Lozano is also tied with another Titan slugger, Ava Arce, for home runs with seven each to lead the Big West.

This Titan team also shines in the circle. They lead the Big West in ERA at 3.35 and in strikeouts at 161. Leanna Garcia is second in the Big West and leads the team with a 2.63 ERA. Two-time pitcher of the week Trisha McCleskey is second on the team with a 2.92 ERA, that's good for fifth in the Big West. She also leads the conference in innings pitched at 119.2, which are 10 more innings than second best.

SERIES HISTORY:
Series History: CSUF leads the series history with an 86-39-1 record. CSUN's last win came on April 4th of 2024 where CSUN won 3-1 at Matador Diamond.

CSUN Returns Home for Big West Series Against Rival Cal State Fullerton

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Players Mentioned

Raegan Jackson

Madison Okano

Makenzi Padilla

Malia Williams

California State University Northridge Athletics