Give credit to CSUN pitcher Mia Pagano. Asked about her team’s match-up at No. 15 UCLA, the junior said she looked forward to facing a team that came into the game batting .357 for the year. “We just need to stay confident and know that we can do it,” she said. The Matadors (8-32) couldn’t do it against the Bruins Wednesday afternoon at Easton Stadium. While they started the game in fantastic fashion by putting up two runs in the… Read more

As Mia Pagano’s first grand slam of her life went over the left wall at Bob Janssen Field – pointing the way to a 4-0 CSUN win Saturday against Cal Poly – an array of emotions fluxed through her. “I didn’t even know how to react,” Pagano said. “(My teammates) were so excited for me. It was just the best feeling.” Pagano, who also took the mound on the day, not only matched a career high with four RBI, she… Read more

Thirty minutes after surviving a nerve-wracking slugfest of a Game 1 in which he pinch-ran a crucial run for CSUN (15-19, 3-5 Big West), pitcher Alex Muren got on the mound for Game 2 to make sure the Mustangs’ powerful offense was held in check at least once Saturday afternoon at Matador Field. Eight Cal Poly hits later, it was clear that offense dominating defense was going to remain the theme of the afternoon, much to Muren’s dismay. “(Cal Poly)… Read more

With an MPSF playoff spot all but locked up but with the pesky Waves not wanting to go down without a fight in the fourth set Thursday night at the Matadome, the CSUN bench began to get antsy. Pepperdine point after Pepperdine point, the Matador reserves restlessly cringed on the sidelines – more at the feeling of bottled-in euphoria waiting to be released than at the fear of the Waves mounting a miraculous comeback. On the court, CSUN outside hitter… Read more

A struggling offense for most of 2012, the Matadors broke out of a four-game slump that had seen them score only a single run in the stretch in the second game of a Sunday doubleheader. Facing New Mexico for the second time in the afternoon at Matador Diamond, CSUN put up 10 runs on a season-high 13 hits, a far cry from its almost-scoreless stint which included getting complete shut out by UC Davis during a three-game home series earlier… Read more

Having witnessed two teammates succumb before the powerful New Mexico bats, CSUN pitcher Brianna Elder tried just about everything to escape the same fate and – in the process – give her team a chance at a late rally during the second game of Sunday’s doubleheader against the Lobos at Matador Diamond. But against the Division-I leaders in home runs, even throwing balls was a challenge. “No matter if I threw a high pitch or a low pitch or out… Read more

After going through two extra-inning games in which they went scoreless through the first seven innings, the Aggies came out swinging during Saturday’s series finale and led from start to end in a 3-0 win over CSUN at Matador Diamond. The Matadors (7-27, 2-4 Big West), who lost all momentum they’d gotten from a road series win at Pacific last week, were downed by UC Davis twice Friday in a doubleheader. Both games went intro extra innings as neither team… Read more

A CSUN attack that came into a Saturday matinee showdown against UC Santa Barbara averaging nearly 10 goals per game was held to less than a third of that in a 5-3 loss to the Gauchos at UCSB’s campus pool. It was the first time in six games that the Matadors (15-16, 1-2 Big West) did not score 10 or more goals for a contest. CSUN averaged 13.3 goals per match during that stretch, in which they came out victorious… Read more

In a long afternoon of softball at Matador Diamond, the Matadors (7-23, 2-3 Big West) came up short twice in extra innings against UC Davis, assuring themselves a loss for the three-game series against Aggies this weekend. In what was already slated to be a lengthy Friday with a doubleheader against UCD starting a five-game weekend homestand for CSUN, Matadors and Aggies went scoreless through seven innings in both games. But UC Davis (14-22, 4-1) scored in each of the… Read more