CSUN At CSUB Thursday; Silicon Valley This Weekend

Softball Notebook

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.—Six games await the CSUN softball team this week. Action begins on Thursday when CSUN plays a rescheduled game against CSU Bakersfield at 3 p.m. This is a makeup for the Feb. 17 contest that was postponed due to darkness.

After going 6-38 a year ago, CSUB is 7-7 this season. The Roadrunners were 2-0 at the Southern Utah Red Desert Classic last weekend before rain claimed the final three games of the tournament.

Cydney Curry leads the team in hitting (.357). Chris Hipa has a team leading three home runs and seven RBI. Freshman Kiara Azevedo is 4-2 in the circle. This is the 63rd time that CSUN and CSUB are playing each other with the Matadors leading the all-time series 45-17.

From Bakersfield, the Matadors head to Northern California for the Silicon Valley Classic II. The first four CSUN games will be played at San José State. The tournament begins Friday at 9 a.m. against Northern Kentucky. Friday concludes at 4:30 p.m. against Nevada.

Northern Kentucky was 0-3 at the Belmont Bruin Classic last weekend before weather cancelled the final two games of the tournament. NKU is 3-8 overall. Madi Mulder is hitting a team best .438 and is tied for the team lead in RBI (7) with Toree Stalter. Stalter has smacked a Norse high two home runs. This is the first time that CSUN and Northern Kentucky are playing softball against each other.

Nevada is coming off a 3-1 weekend at the Arkansas Tournament to improve to 9-6 overall. Sierra Mello leads the team in hitting (.353). Kenzi Goins is hitting .340 and paces the squad in home runs (2) and RBI (11). At 4-1, Julia Jensen is the top pitcher for the Wolfpack. This is the 13th time that CSUN and Nevada are playing softball. The Matadors have won 10 in a row in the series to take a 10-2 all-time lead.

Saturday's play begins against Weber State at 11:30 a.m. before winding up against San José State at 2 p.m.

Weber State is 4-9 after going 1-2 at the SDSU Classic last weekend. The Wildcats had two games rained out during the tournament. Landi Hawker (.417) is the team's leading hitter. Tatiana Su'esu'e is 3-3 in a team high 47 innings in the circle for the Wildcats. CSUN and Weber State are playing for the ninth time with the Wildcats leading the all-time series 5-3.

San José State are 10-7 after going 1-2 at the San Diego Classic last weekend. The Spartans lost two games due to weather during the tournament. Arianna Maranda is hitting .348 with a team best three home runs and a team high 13 RBI. Pitchers Jessica Ullegue and Caroline Bowman are both 4-2 this season. This is the 20th time in the all-time series between CSUN and SJSU with the Matadors leading 15-4.

The tournament wraps up at Santa Clara on Sunday against the Broncos with a scheduled game at 9 a.m.

Due to weather, Santa Clara has not played since Feb. 24. The Broncos are 2-10. Sammy Needham leads the team in batting average (.471) and RBI (7). This is the 24th time that CSUN and Santa Clara are playing softball with the Matadors leading the all-time series 20-3.

The Matadors (6-11) put up a 2-2 record at the Judi Garman Classic last week. CSUN defeated Connecticut (6-3) and UTSA (2-1) before falling to Michigan (1-0) and Loyola Marymount (3-0).

Sophomore Jillian James is off to a strong start in the circle. Her 79 strikeouts rank her 19th in Division I to start the week of Mar. 4. Her 9.4 strikeouts per seven innings is the 25th best in D-1 this week. Junior Megan Stevens sits 11th in Division I to begin the week of Mar. 4 in doubles with eight. Her 0.47 doubles per game average is 35th best in Division I this week.

~www.GoMatadors.com~

CSUN At CSUB Thursday; Silicon Valley This Weekend

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Players Mentioned

Jillian James

Megan Stevens

California State University Northridge Athletics