This weekend will be the first home series of the year for the baseball team as CSUN (1-3) hosts Texas Tech (4-1). The first pitch of the three-game series at Matador Diamond is set for Friday at 2 p.m.
CSUN will be looking for sophomore third baseman Ryan Pineda to keep his hot bat going as the Matadors will have to go to work to get on the right track.
The Matadors’ 1-3 record is a bit misleading. All three losses came in games that were decided by a single run, two of them came on walk-off home runs at Pepperdine.
The most recent game to get away from the Matadors was on Tuesday afternoon as the Loyola Marymount Lions squeaked out an 11-10 victory over CSUN at Matador Diamond.
For CSUN to put 10 runs on the board and still lose means the pitching needs to perform better.
On Tuesday, right-handed pitcher Bryan Longpre only lasted two innings as he gave up six runs in his CSUN debut.’ In order for the Matadors to win games, they will need to get as much help from the pitching as they can get.’ That means that guys like junior relieving pitcher Billy Ott have to step their game up and not only protect leads better, but minimize damage so the offense can do its job more effectively.
Some of the highlights of Tuesday’s game were two-run shots by senior catcher John Parham and sophomore first baseman Dominic D’Anna.’ Parham has shown that not only he can hit consistently, but, more importantly, in the clutch.
This weekend against Red Raiders, it’s important for the Matadors to show everyone that they can close out ball games.
Some of the Texas Tech players to keep an eye on are junior shortstop Joey Kenworthy and senior first baseman Chris Richburg, who both posted games in which they had four RBI’s last week.
The pitching for the Red Raiders looks solid as well, with senior right-handed pitcher Miles Morgan looking great in his debut for Texas Tech, striking out 11 batters.
For CSUN, sophomore right-handed pitcher Ryan Juarez will be looking to get his second win of the season after striking out six batters in his season debut.
Prior to Saturday’s game, there will be a ceremony to honor the 1970 Matadors, team which won the National Championship that season. The celebration will be part of the CSUN Hall of Fame program that takes place over the weekend.’ Fans are encouraged to arrive earlier than the 1 p.m. start time.
Sunday’s game at 12 p.m will close the series with Texas Tech.
