UC Santa Barbara at Cal State Northridge Preview

LOS ANGELES (Interstat) — UC Santa Barbara aims for a series sweep against Cal State Northridge on Sunday evening at Matador Field, with first pitch scheduled under clear skies and 80-degree heat.

The Gauchos (33-15, 10-4 Big West) have dominated the opening two games of this three-game set, posting an 8-4 victory Friday and a 5-4 win Saturday. A victory Sunday would give UCSB its seventh win in eight games, with the lone blemish a blowout loss to UCLA.

Cal State Northridge (24-25, 8-9) enters in a 2-6 slide, having dropped five of those six games by three runs or fewer. The Matadors have not won consecutive games since early April.

Pitchers to Watch

UC Santa Barbara right-hander Calvin Proskey has been nearly untouchable of late. The Gauchos are 4-0 in his past four appearances, including Saturday’s series-opening win in which he allowed three earned runs over six innings with four strikeouts while scattering no hits. Over his last three starts, Proskey has surrendered one earned run total. He has yet to allow a hit in any of those outings.

Cal State Northridge right-hander Adam Christopher has struggled to replicate that success. He took the loss Saturday despite a solid line — 4.1 innings, one hit, two earned runs, two strikeouts — as the Matadors’ bullpen faltered. Over his past six outings, Christopher has yielded at least two earned runs in four of them. He lasted just 0.2 innings against UC Davis on April 17, surrendering four earned runs on four hits.

Recent Matchup

Saturday’s contest saw UCSB’s Nick Husovsky go 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs, while reliever Josh Jannicelli tossed two scoreless innings. For CSUN, Vaughn Coleman went 2-for-5 with a homer and Matthew Pena added two hits and three RBIs.

Projection

Interstat’s game simulator projects a 6-2 final in favor of UC Santa Barbara, with the Gauchos holding a 73% win probability.

Up Next

UCSB returns home to host California Baptist on Monday. Cal State Northridge has a week off before opening a series at Hawaii on May 17.