CSUN Visits Hawai'i in Final Regular Season Series

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Baseball wraps up the regular season with a Big West series with Hawai'i this week. The opener is set for Wednesday before continuing on Thursday and concluding on Friday. All three games will begin at 9:35 p.m. PT with coverage on ESPN+.

LAST BIG WEST SERIES WITH THE BOWS
CSUN (24-26, 11-16 Big West) faces Hawai'i for the final time as Big West adversaries this week as the Rainbow Warriors are wrapping up their final season in the Big West before moving to the Mountain West Conference in 2026-27. Since the Bows joined the Big West in 2013, the Matadors are 11-16 against Hawai'i including going 7-8 at Les Murakami Stadium.

BACK AGAINST THE WALL
CSUN will compete in must-win mode for the remainder of the regular season. The Matadors have slipped to eighth place in the Big West standings and sit three games back of the final postseason spot in the Big West Championship with three games to play. In order to qualify for the postseason, CSUN would need to sweep Hawai'i and have UC Irvine drop one game in its series with Cal State Bakersfield this week. Any more losses for CSUN would eliminate the Matadors from postseason contention.

ABOUT LAST WEEKEND
The Matadors dropped all three games to UC Santa Barbara in their final three home games of the year. CSUN led 3-0 in the opener of the series as the Matadors knocked out UCSB's ace pitcher Jackson Flora in the fifth inning, but the Gauchos scored four runs over the final three innings to prevail 8-4. In game two, CSUN took a one-run lead to the eighth inning before UCSB came away with a timely two-run homer late to collect a 5-4 victory. In the finale, UCSB scored times in the first inning and held on the rest of the way in a 4-2 decision.

THOMAS' OUTSTANDING YEAR
Matthew Thomas has been one of the most impactful transfers in the Big West this season as the junior outfielder leads the league and the team in a host of categories. Thomas enters the week first in the Big West in OPS (1.136), doubles (20) and slugging percentage (.711) while he shares the conference lead in homers with teammate Matthew Pena at 15. His 20 doubles this season are the most by a Matador in a season since Kevin Patrick in 1998. In addition, Thomas is the team leader in batting average (.350), runs scored (47) and on-base percentage (.425). In Big West play, Thomas has improved his batting average to .361 while he has homered five times and driven in 17 runs.

NO MERE FRESHMAN
Center fielder Vaughn Coleman continues to make waves in his first collegiate season. Now with 10 homers on the year, Coleman has hit the second-most home runs by a Matador freshman in the school's Division I era. Coleman only trails Eric Horvat, who homered 12 times as a freshman in 1998. On the RBI front, Coleman's 36 this season are the fifth-most by a freshman in the school's D1 era and the most since 1998 (Horvat). Overall, Coleman is ranked fifth in the Big West in slugging percentage (.578), sixth in OPS (1.001) and tied for sixth in homers.

LEADING THE BIG WEST
CSUN's offense continues to be one of the most explosive in the Big West as the Matadors top the conference in home runs (73), RBI (296), triples (14) and slugging percentage (.495). The team is also ranked second in the Big West in several more offensive categories including batting average (.292), hits (503), doubles (102) and total bases (852). The Matadors' 73 home runs are the program's most for a season since 2002.

MATADOR QUICK HITS
CSUN's pitching staff enters the weekend ranked eighth in the nation in walks allowed per nine innings, averaging 3.18. Sophomore starter Gabriel Hernandez has played a big role in that average, allowing just 12 walks for a 1.60 average to rank 23rd in the nation ... The Matador defense has turned 49 double plays on the season, good enough for second in the Big West and sixth in the nation ... Matthew Thomas ranks 12th in the nation with his 20 doubles ... Closer James Voorhies' five saves this season are the most by a Matador freshman since Louis Cohen had six in 2012. Voorhies is also ranked third in the Big West with his five saves.

SCOUTING HAWAI'I
The Rainbow Warriors come in with a 25-21 overall record and 14-13 mark in the Big West. The team sports an 18-9 home record on the year including going 7-5 against Big West teams. Hawai'i is coming off a series loss at UC Davis where the Bows dropped the last two games of the series. The Bows are eighth in the nation in earned run average at 3.56 while the team boats five shutouts and a .224 opposing batting average. Isaiah Magdaleno checks in at third place in the conference in ERA at 2.59 to go with 98 strikeouts and a 6-4 record. On the hitting side, Ben Ziegler-Namoa leads the team with five homers and 37 RBI while sporting a .304 batting average. The team has stolen 56 bases, good enough for second place in the Big West.

Series History: CSUN leads Hawai'i 42-28 in the all-time series while the Rainbow Warriors hold a 20-18 edge in Honolulu. The Matadors dropped two of three games to Hawai'i last season, falling in heartbreaking fashion in the finale of the series as the Bows rallied from six runs down in the ninth.

#GoMatadors

CSUN Visits Hawai'i in Final Regular Season Series

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Players Mentioned

Vaughn Coleman

Gabriel Hernandez

Matthew Pena

Matthew Thomas

James Voorhies

California State University Northridge Athletics