Cal State Northridge took Itsuki Takemoto deep off the first pitch he threw, setting the tone as the Matadors pressured Hawaii’s defense all night Friday.

CSUN got UH to commit a season-high five errors and racked up season highs in runs and hits for a Rainbow Warriors opponent in a 15-10 slugfest in favor of the Matadors to open a three-game Big West series at Hiegert Field in Northridge, Calif.

UH (18-6, 6-4 Big West), coming off back-to-back walk-off wins against UC Davis and Hawaii Hilo on Monday and Tuesday, got home runs from Ben Zeigler-Namoa and Kamana Nahaku but CSUN (6-15, 3-7) had more than enough firepower of its own in snapping the Rainbow Warriors’ six-game winning streak.

The 'Bows have so far struggled on the road against teams not expected to contend for the league title, having dropped three of four away from Les Murakami Stadium to UC Riverside and CSUN.

UH gave up five runs in the first — Roberto Gonzalez and Matthew Pena went deep and the ‘Bows aided CSUN’s cause with an error and a balk — and trailed 9-2 after three innings. They rallied back within a run with a six-run fifth, but CSUN got three back in the bottom of the frame.

UH put up another crooked number in the seventh, only to see CSUN score three after the change.

Takemoto (2-4) gave up nine runs, five earned, and 10 hits in 2 2/3 innings as his ERA swelled to 4.06. Relievers Ethan Thomas and Freddy Rodriguez were also tagged for multiple runs; only Kyle Dobyns was unscathed in throwing the last 1 1/3 innings.

Ryan Halamicek (1-3) went six innings with eight runs charged to pick up the win for the Matadors.

UH’s error count was its highest in the four-year Rich Hill era; the last time UH committed five was at CSUN on May 15, 2021.

Zeigler-Namoa drove in four runs and Nahaku three for UH.

The teams resume the series at 1:30 p.m. Hawaii time Saturday.

Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.