SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The Gauchos match up at home this weekend for a Big West series against the CSUN Matadors, looking to get back into the win column. This three-game series will begin with a doubleheader on Saturday, April 18, with the first of two games starting at 12 p.m., followed by a single game at 1 p.m. on Sunday, April 19 to finish.
PROMOTIONS
This weekend's series is presented by Pepsi and fans can pick up a Celsius T-Shirt at game one of Saturday's doubleheader. On Sunday, the Gauchos invite all youth softball players to come out for the Gauchos Youth Day. Young athletes can pick up a Gaucho Wig upon entering the stadium on Sunday and postgame will get the opportunity to run the bases and get autographs from Gaucho softball athletes.
ABOUT LAST WEEK
Over the weekend, the Gauchos were swept by Long Beach State, who currently sit just below the Gauchos in third place in the Big West standings. Highlight performances of the weekend included Bella Fuentes, who, in game one, went 2-of-3 from the plate, notching an RBI and her fourth double of the season. In game two, Tehya Banks went 2-of-3, stealing her ninth base of the season, and scoring her 35th run of 2026, a new season high. Emily Carr also recorded her 6th home run of the season in the final game of the series.
SCOUTING THE MATADORS
CSUN enters the weekend in seventh place in the conference standings, while the Gauchos currently sit in second, three games behind Fullerton. The Matadors are currently 11-25 and 7-11 in Big West play. After losing a thriller on Sunday, April 12, by a UC Davis walk-off walk, they bounced back Monday taking both games to win the series.
CSUN is hitting .270 as a team, with four players (min. 2PA/G and 75% GP) batting above .300. Madison Okano leads the team with a .336 batting average and .891 OPS, as well as in runs, hits, and home runs. Raegan Jackson, another prominent offensive force, is hitting .326 while leading all players in doubles and RBIs.
CSUN has produced exciting wins during the 2026 season, including a 4-3 win against Oregon State University, in which they withstood a late comeback attempt by the Beavers, as well as a 3-1 away win at San Diego State, last year's Mountain West champions.
CSUN currently has a team ERA of 6.04, with their starters jointly posting an ERA of 5.14. Most of their innings have been split almost equally between Kaitlyn Tso and Malia Williams, both accounting for 81 percent of those played. Alizae Cole has the next most innings pitched with roughly 10% of the total, recording a 2-1 W-L record in 12 games played.
FOLLOW ALONG
Saturday's doubleheader begins at noon, and Sunday's game is set for 1p.m. All three games will be available on ESPN+ as well as live stats online.
