Red Hot Baseball and Softball Ready for Big West
The CSUN Baseball and Softball teams are done with the preliminaries, and they’re ready for what looks like some hot Big West Conference action starting March 27 here at their respective diamonds at California State University, Northridge.
The Matador Softball team (25-9) is directed by Coach Tairia Flowers, who has a stellar one-two punch on the mound with Brianna Elder (10-3, 2.02 ERA, 122 strikeouts in 100.1 innings) and two-time Big West Conference Pitcher of the Week freshman Zoe Conley (11-3, 1.48 ERA). Leading the way offensively are Katie Hooper (.410 average, 10 homers and 36 RBI) and Taylor Glover (.407, 33 runs and 21 stolen bases). The Matadors host a final non-conference game against UCLA on March 26 at 2 p.m. before opening Big West play against Cal Poly with a weekend series that starts with a doubleheader on March 28 at noon.
CSUN Baseball is bouncing back in 2015 with a 19-6 mark after going 18-38 in 2014 in Coach Greg Moore’s first year with the Matadors. Chester Pak is batting a sizzling .344 with six home runs, 20 RBI and 24 runs scored, all team highs, and Yusuke Akitoshi is hitting .315 with 15 runs, 15 RBI and seven stolen bases. On the mound Rayne Raven is 4-1 with a 1.02 ERA, with a 16-strikeout performance on Feb. 14. Calvin Copping is 4-1 with a 2.62 ERA.
The Big West Conference is plenty excited about the upcoming season, as evidenced by this video to promote baseball.