The Cal State Northridge softball team continued to struggle over the break, as the team lost two of three to the Cal State Fullerton Titans at Matador Diamond April 9 and were swept by the host Cal Poly Sal Luis Obispo Mustangs over the Easter Weekend. The Matadors also lost a makeup game to the Long Beach State 49ers, also at Matador Field 2-1 April 12.

One of the few bright spots for CSUN has been the torrid hitting of freshman shortstop Amanda Peek. Over the break, Peek was 9-18 (.500) with five home runs and seven runs batted in. She is currently batting .413 with 10 home runs and 19 runs batted in and has gone from the leadoff spot to the No. 3 spot in the Matador lineup.

“She’s been playing real well,” head coach Barbara Jordan said of Peek.

The Matadors started out well, as they took the first game from the Titans 2-0. CSUN scored the first run in the first inning on a one-out sacrifice flyball to left by senior designated hitter Janine Grund that scored Peek.

Peek also scored CSUN’s second run in the fifth inning when she hit her sixth home run to left center.

Freshman pitcher Selena Salazar allowed only two hits for the complete game shutout in the win.

In the second game, it was Fullerton who struck first as Crystal Vieyra homered to left-center in the fifth inning to give the Titans a 1-0 lead.

Grund, however, responded for the Matadors as she homered to left-center field in the sixth to tie the game.

Fullerton, however, broke the game open with a five-run seventh inning to come away with a 6-1 win.

CSUN hoped to redeem itself in the series finale, but again came up short, losing 9-1.

Fullerton’s Ashley Van Boxmeer led of the game with a home run to center field. The Titans got another run later that inning on an RBI sacrifice by Jenna Wheeler.

The Matadors responded in their half of the first when Peek singled to left, advanced to second on a Kelly Zakosek bunt sacrifice and later scored on a one out single by Grund, which cut the Fullerton lead to one.

The Titans, however, broke the game wide open when they scored four runs in the fifth inning and followed that effort with three more runs in the sixth inning, invoking the eight-run mercy rule.

Three days later, the Matadors took the field for a make-up game against the Long Beach State 49ers, a game which had been postponed several times due to inclement weather. Long Beach got on the board first in the fifth inning when a passed ball allowed Tiffanie Wedell to score from third, giving the 49ers a 1-0 lead.

CSUN responded in the sixth inning when Peek sent a Michelle Turner pitch over the left field wall for her seventh home run of the season to tie the game. Long Beach, however, got the winning run in the seventh inning when it loaded the bases and eventually scored on a wild pitch by Salazar that scored Brooke LeSage from third.

The Matadors had a chance to tie and win the game in the bottom half of the seventh. Senior Janine Grund hit a ground ball to shortstop Jessica Beaver, but Beaver’s throw to first baseman Jonae Perez was off, allowing Grund to reach safely.

Freshman Sarah Kahn came in to pinch run for Grund and moved up to second, and then third on sacrifice’s by senior Heather Martin and freshman Micah Putnam.

Senior Jan Moshier then came up to the plate with Kahn 90 feet away from home plate, but Turner struck out Moshier to end the game.

Things didn’t get any better against Cal Poly the following weekend. The Matadors lost the first two games by scores of 8-6, then were blown out in the series finale 11-2 in five innings. Peek continued to give opposing pitchers problems, as she hit three more home runs against the Mustangs,

“We did better offensively,” Jordan said. “We put up more runs than we had the last two weekends, so that was nice to see, we hit up to our capabilities this weekend.”

The Matadors will now look to redeem themselves when they host the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos for three games at Matador Diamond this weekend. The Matadors and Gauchos will play a doubleheader on April 22 starting at noon and the final game will be on April 23, also at noon.

Ivan Yeo can be reached at ivan.yeo.80@csun.edu.