The Matadors took on the Pepperdine Waves in a low scoring 4-2 victory Tuesday to bring their win streak up to two.

Although there were some highlight defensive plays throughout the first four innings from both teams, the Matadors found themselves in a scoreless game through the top of the fifth inning.

Pepperdine scored the first run of the game on an RBI single from catcher Max Aude. The Matadors limited the damage by getting their third out of the inning and closing out the fifth.

Pepperdine continued this slight momentum shift in the sixth inning by advancing a runner around the bases – yet another run on the board for the Waves. CSUN was unable to capitalize on any runs before ending the sixth inning.

Throughout the game, the Matadors were able to get runners on base but had trouble maintaining their baserunners as they attacked the plate. They were able to hit hard but got picked off by Pepperdine fielders.

First baseman Matthew Pena hit a game changing home run for the Matadors, bringing in the designated hitter Mateo Rickman home and tying up the game.

“[I was] trying to stay patient at the plate throughout my first couple at bats, not going my way, but I was trying to stay in the process of not trying to do too much,” Pena said. “My goal was just to hit a line drive somewhere, and it happened to be a little bit elevated, and so I put an easy swing on it, and it went over.”

The ball game once again retained its steady low scoring status with a tie score during the bottom of the seventh. Outfielder Matthew Thomas managed to hit a home run, boosting the score to 3-2 and giving the Matadors their first lead of the game.

CSUN continued to ride the momentum, managing to load the bases in the same inning. However, the Matadors were unable to bring anybody home.

With the bases loaded at the top of the eighth, the Matadors found themselves in a tense situation with the lead potentially on the line. Pitcher James Voorhies made sure to put away the Waves before they had the chance to strike, leaving the top of the eighth scoreless once again.

At the bottom of the eighth, two Matadors wound up on base. Outfielders Andrew Becker and Vaughn Coleman decided to give the Matadors a better chance at scoring on a double steal.

Thomas hit an RBI sacrifice fly out into center field, giving his teammates the opportunity to put another run on the board and making the final score 4-2.

Thomas spoke about the Matadors traveling to UC Riverside for a quick turnaround week in the next few days.

“We’re just going with the same mindset of just trying to take it to Riverside right away from any one pitch one. We’ll be the away team – I like that personally better because we get to hit first and hopefully put some runs on them in the first inning,” Thomas said. “We just got to go in with the mentality of we’re gonna kick your butt.”

The Matadors will take on the UC Riverside Highlanders in a three game series at Riverside Sports Complex on Thursday, April 9, and Friday, April 10. Both games will be played at 2 p.m.

The two teams close that series out on Sunday, April 12 at 1p.m. All games will be broadcast on ESPN+.