CSUN Travels To LSU Invitational This Weekend

Softball Notebook

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.—The CSUN softball team heads back out on the road as the Matadors travel to the state of Louisiana for the first time this weekend when the Matadors enter the LSU Invitational.

The tournament begins Friday morning at 7:30 p.m. Pacific Time when CSUN faces Memphis. The Tigers improved to 5-4 after going 3-1 at the Florida Gulf Coast Invitational last weekend.

Baylee Smith is hitting a team leading .500 with one home run and 12 RBI. Smith has a .929 slugging percentage and a .516 on-base percentage. Four Memphis pitchers have recorded a win so far in 2019. Karli Perque is 2-1 with 15 strikeouts. This is the second time that CSUN and the Tigers are playing each other. The Matadors defeated Memphis 4-2 during the 2007 University of San Diego Tournament.

Friday concludes at 10 a.m. (PT) as the Matadors face Stanford. Stanford is off to a 6-2 start. The Cardinal were 2-1 last weekend at their own DeMarini Invitational. Stanford enters the week ranked

Kristina Inouye is tied with Smith for fourth in Division I in runs batted in with 12. Inouye is hitting .435 on the season, which is second on the team to Emily Schultz's .444. Carolyn Lee leads a pitching staff ranked 44th in Divsion I in ERA at 1.91. Lee is 1-1 with an 0.79 ERA which is ranked in the top 125 in D-1. She has struck out 20 in 26.2 innings this season.

Saturday gets underway at 12:30 p.m. (PT) when CSUN takes on No. 15/17 Michigan. Michigan is ranked 15th in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 and 17th in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 entering the week.

The Wolverines went 1-3 at the ACC/Big Ten Challenge last week to fall to 4-5 on the season. Natalia Rodriguez is leading the team in batting with a .429 average. Katie Alexander is 35th in Division I in home runs with three. She has 11 RBI. Alex Storako is 3-3 in the circle. She leads the team in strikeouts (27) and innings pitched (26.1).

This is the first time since 2007 in which the Matadors and Wolverines are playing softball. CSUN leads the all-time series 2-1-1. The teams will play again next week at the Judi Garman Classic in Fullerton.

The day wraps up at 3 p.m. (PT) as the Matadors play the host, No. 7/8 LSU. Ranked seventh in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 and eighth in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 poll, LSU is 9-2 this season.

Amanda Sanchez leads Division I in doubles with seven and is seventh in hits with 11. Her .577 batting average ranks her sixth in Division I. Shelbi Sunseri is the Division I leader in home runs (5) and RBI (16). Sunseri is dual threat as she is tied for 34th in Division I in victories with teammates Maribeth Gorsuch and Shelby Wickersham. Suneri has also posted one save.
CSUN and LSU are playing for the first time since 2012. The Tigers lead the all-time series 2-0.
The tournament concludes Sunday at 7 a.m. (PT) as CSUN faces Stanford for the second time.

CSUN went 2-1 at the Early Bird Classic this past weekend. The Matadors swept Army West Point 9-4 and 4-3 before dropping a 7-5 decision to Binghamton. The final two games against Santa Clara and CSU Bakersfield were either halted (1-1 vs SCU) or postponed (CSUB) due to darkness.

Megan Stevens hit .750 for the tournament. She was not retired in her first seven plate appearances, going 5-for-5 with a home run and four doubles. She also recorded the save in the 4-3 victory over Army West Point. Jessica Alexander hit .625 with four runs scored during the EBC. Mackenzie Babbitt hit .500 in three games, scoring three times.

Jillian James struck out 18 batters in 8.2 innings during the tournament including 11 against Binghamton. Elise Madison was 1-1 in two appearances for the Matadors during the meet.

~www.GoMatadors.com~

CSUN Travels To LSU Invitational This Weekend

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Players Mentioned

Jessica Alexander

Mackenzie Babbitt

Jillian James

Elise Madison

Megan Stevens

California State University Northridge Athletics