The Matadors (23-8) went undefeated on the first day of the Louisville Slugger Classic after handing the University of Connecticut Huskies (8-16) a 7-1 loss, before shutting out the host University of the Pacific Tigers (9-22) 4-0.
The Matador’s one-two punch of senior pitcher Brianna Elder and freshman pitcher Zoe Conley froze opposing batters on Friday. Elder, en route to her sixth complete game of the season, allowed just one run scored and four hits while striking out seven batters for her ninth victory of the season.
Conley was called on to start game two, and pitched just as well as her game one counterpart. The Salesian High School stand out shut down the Tiger’s offense, giving up just two hits and zero runs, while fanning five in seven complete innings on the hill.
In game one of the double-header, sophomore outfielders Taylor Glover and Taylor Nate set the pace offensively. Both players collected three hits and a RBI on the day. Glover, who arguably has some of the fastest wheels on the team, was just a home run short of completing the cycle. Nate went a different route, forcing a walk to add to her three hits in three official at-bats.
The second game of the afternoon was not kind to the tournament’s host university. The Matadors plated four, which was more than enough for Conley to secure her tenth win of the season.
The Matadors slapped 13 hits off of tiger senior pitcher Dani Bonnet. Freshman shortstop Savannah Horvath crushed CSUN’s lone home run of the day over the left field fence to break a third-inning tie. Sophomore catcher Courtney Horne, who was absent from the first game, slapped a game-high three hits and a RBI off Bonnet.
Senior Outfielder Kaitlin Toerner was anything but inconsistent. Collecting two hits on three at-bats in both games of the tournament.
Glover, and Sophomore utility Katie Hooper also added two hits to CSUN’s hit total. Hooper collected two RBI on the day, one in each contest, to add to her Big West leading RBI total.
At 23-8, CSUN is off to their best start through 30 games since 1996. The Matadors have just four non-conference games left before they invite the Cal Poly Mustangs (16-16) to the Matador Diamond for the first game of Big West conference play.
The Matadors are scheduled for another double-header on Saturday. Day two of the tournament will see Northridge face off against Grand Canyon University (18-14), whom the Matadors have already defeated twice this season, at 10 am, before welcoming back the Huskies for game two at 12:15 pm.
