From June 17 to August 9, GoMatadors.com will present the top CSUN Moments from the 2023-24 sports season. Today, we celebrate the Matador baseball team reaching 30 consecutive wins for a third straight year for the first time in over two decades.
 

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The CSUN Baseball team reached several milestones in head coach Eddie Cornejo‘s second year at the helm. Playing in the highly competitive Big West, the Matadors reached 30 victories for a third consecutive season, a feat the program had not accomplished since 1996-98. CSUN would finish at 30-24 overall, clinching a fifth consecutive winning season for the first time as a Division I program. In fact, CSUN had not won five-straight winning seasons since 1989-93 with two of those seasons spent as a Division II team.

The Matadors’ 16-14 conference record also set a new benchmark for the program — a fourth straight winning conference mark. Previously, CSUN had not accomplished four or more consecutive winning conference seasons since the program competed as a Division II team in the CCAA in the 1980s.

 

Also in 2024, CSUN once again battled for a Big West title until the final weeks of the season, holding onto first place until the beginning of May. The team’s most impressive victory on the year would perhaps be its final win of the season, an upset win over No. 13 UC Irvine on May 24. CSUN erupted for 14 runs in the victory, highlighted by a nine-run third inning to knock off a future NCAA regional team by a 14-9 score.

The 2024 season also consisted of the Matadors’ longest win streak in eight seasons when CSUN won eight in a row, capped by a Nathan Barraza walk-off single to complete a sweep of Nevada. Speaking of walk-off hits, Jakob Simons blasted a walk-off three-run homer to defeat Nevada in the opener of that series as well. In all, CSUN had four walk-off hits on the year with Will Linberg and Shunsuke Sakaino each collecting game-winning hits over Long Beach State and Cal State Bakersfield, respectively. While not exactly walk-off hits, CSUN also rallied for thrilling wins on the road in its last at bat several times this season as CSUN scored six in the ninth, four of which with two outs, to rally for a 10-8 win over Cal Poly and the Matadors tallied four in the ninth with two outs to upend UC Riverside 15-13.

CSUN was again represented on the All-Big West team in 2024 with three Matadors earning awards. Simons capped off an outstanding CSUN career with an All-Big West Second Team honor after leading the Big West with 16 home runs to go with 56 RBI. Kevin Fitzer also received all-conference accolades with an Honorable Mention following a season where he hit 11 homers and drove in 42 runs. In the bullpen, Joshua Romero received an All-Big West Honorable Mention as he wrapped up his career with a team-high eight wins and seven saves along with 35 strikeouts.

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