CSUN Travels to Cal Poly for Weekend Series

Friday, April 24

San Luis Obispo, Calif.

6:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

Cal Poly

Photo by: Chuck Marvel

CSUN Travels to Cal Poly for Weekend Series

4/23/2026 1:53:00 PM | Baseball

BASE Game Notes - April 23

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball heads to San Luis Obispo for a pivotal Big West series against Cal Poly, starting Friday at 6 p.m. The remainder of the series is scheduled for Saturday at 3 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. All three games will be broadcast on ESPN+.

FOR STARTERS
The Matadors (22-17, 11-10 Big West) still remain in the fifth and final postseason spot in the Big West standings with four weekends left in the regular season. CSUN holds a one game edge on Hawai'i (10-11) for that fifth spot while UC Irvine and UC Riverside remain in the hunt for the final postseason spot at 8-10 each. The trio of UC Santa Barbara, Cal Poly and UC San Diego are tied for first place at 12-6 followed closely by Cal State Fullerton with a 12-7 record. The top five in the standings will advance to the 2026 Big West Baseball Championship in Irvine next month.

LAST TIME OUT
CSUN wrapped up a five-game homestand on Tuesday, dropping a close 4-3 decision to San Diego State at Robert J. Hiegert Field. Trent Abel recorded three doubles along with an RBI while Kyle Panganiban and Xavier Rios each drove in one run. The Matadors, who trailed by two runs on two separate occasions in the game, rallied to within one at 4-3 on an RBI double in the eighth from Abel but stranded the tying run at second base. CSUN would leave nine total on base paths in the game. On the mound, CSUN used eight different pitchers as Zach Johnson saw the most action, recording five outs with no runs allowed out of the bullpen.

ON THE MOUND
CSUN will send sophomore right hander Gabriel Hernandez (4-3) to the hill in Friday's opener against Cal Poly. Hernandez, who assumed the Friday starting role last month, has turned in four quality starts while ranking fifth in the Big West with four wins. After seeing his season end prematurely in 2025 due to injury, Hernandez sports 5.08 ERA with 35 strikeouts in 56.2 innings in 2026. Freshman right hander Charles Rogers starts on Saturday while Sunday's starter will determined over the weekend. Rogers, who opened five of the last nine games, has worked 26 innings and posted a 7.27 ERA with 15 strikeouts this season.

LEADING THE BIG WEST
CSUN's offense continues to be one of the most explosive in the Big West this season as the Matadors top the conference in runs scored (264). The team is 28th in the nation in slugging at .507 while the Matadors are first in the Big West in homers (57), RBI (250), total bases (670) and on-base percentage (.381). The CSUN lineup is also hitting at a .297 clip, second only to Cal Poly (.303).

Individually, Matthew Thomas continues to lead the Big West in OPS (1.194), runs scored (41) and slugging percentage (.757) while he shares the home run lead with teammate Matthew Pena at 13 apiece. Pena is also atop the conference with 40 runs batted in.

MATADOR QUICK HITS
CSUN's pitching staff enters the weekend seventh in the nation in walks allowed per nine innings, averaging 3.18. Gabriel Hernandez has played a big role in that average, allowing just nine walks for a 1.43 average to rank 23rd in the nation ... The Matadors are 40th in the nation with their 57 total home runs, which is the most for the program in a season since 2018 ... Two Matadors are ranked in the top-10 in batting in the Big West as Matthew Thomas is fourth (.358) and Andrew Becker is fifth (.355) ... Thomas is one of four Matadors to rank the in the top-10 in OPS in the conference. Behind Thomas (1.194), Matthew Pena is ranked second (1.091) followed by Vaughn Coleman (1.001) in sixth and Kyle Panganiban (.997) in seventh ... Speaking of Thomas, he enters the week 18th in the nation in slugging (.757) ... As a team, CSUN is hitting .307 in 21 Big West games with 24 home runs ... Junior right hander Jaiden Turner has been one of the top arms out of the bullpen this season. Turner sports a minuscule 1.45 ERA across 17 appearances while racking up 18 strikeouts in 18.2 innings. He also holds a 2.35 ERA in 7.2 conference innings.

SCOUTING CAL POLY
The Mustangs are 21-18 overall with a 12-6 record in conference, as they hold on to a share of first place in the Big West. Cal Poly won two of three at UC San Diego last weekend before falling at Pepperdine 6-3 this past Tuesday. Cal Poly boasts the top batting average in the Big West at .303. The Mustangs are also first in hits (427) and third in homers (37). On the pitching side, the Mustangs boast a 5.17 staff ERA to ranks sixth in the league. Alejandro Garza shares the Big West lead in batting (.369) to go with four homers and 36 RBI. Ryan Tayman is ranked third in the conference in homers (12) while he has a team-best 40 RBI. Griffin Naess, who starts Friday on the mound, leads the team with 51 strikeouts to with a 5-2 record.

Series History: CSUN leads Cal Poly 127-121 in their all-time series. The Mustangs though have won five of the past six series including two straight while winning 15 of the last 20 meetings overall. CSUN is seeking its first series win in San Luis Obispo since sweeping a three-game set in 2006.

#GoMatadors