The struggling Matadors baseball team will welcome Cal State Bakersfield (8-23) to Matador Field today as both teams will be looking for a positive in the non-conference affair.

The Matadors (14-20) will likely send out a number of pitchers as Head Coach Steve Rousey typically likes to give his pitching staff an opportunity to get some action in these non-Big West Conference games.

It’s definitely been a struggle as of late for CSUN, which has lost six of its last seven games ‘- five of which were conference games.’ The losses have been amassed on the road as the Matadors have yet to win a game away from Northridge. CSUN also lost two of three at home to Cal State Fullerton last weekend.

Starting for CSUN will be Paul Tremlin (3-1), who has an ERA of 5.48.

In order for the Matadors to be successful, the big bats will need to go to work.’ Senior catcher John Parham is batting .265 with 19 RBIs and 35hits while senior outfielder Richard Cates is batting .380 with 54 hits and 19 RBIs of his own.

Cates and Parham have been solid contributors, helping the Matadors win and coming up with big plays in critical moments.’ With the way the pitching has been for CSUN, successful at-bats are vital for the Matadors.

Starting for the Roadrunners will be Brandon Van Dam (0-1), who has an ERA of 9.42.’ This is the inaugural season for this CSUB team that has no seniors on its roster.

The first pitch will be thrown at 3 p.m. Follow our blog, ‘The Matador Score,’ for live updates.