CSUN Travels To San Diego Classic This Weekend

Softball Notebook

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.—The CSUN softball team travels to the San Diego Classic this weekend. The Matadors will play at the University of San Diego on Friday when CSUN faces the University of North Dakota at 9 a.m. and Weber State at 11:30 a.m.

North Dakota went 1-4 at the Silicon Valley Classic last weekend to fall to 4-10 on the season. The top hitter for UND so far this season is Angel Love who is batting .317. She is also the team leader in home runs (1) and RBI (7). Lauren Field has the lowest ERA for the Fighting Hawks at 4.02. Jannay Jones leads the club in strikeouts with 16 while Nikki Pica has a team-high two victories. This will be the fourth time that CSUN and UND are playing softball. The Matadors lead the all-time series 3-0.

Weber State is 5-10 on the year after going 2-3 at the University of Texas Tournament last weekend. The Wildcats played No. 4 Texas tough before losing 9-4 to close the tournament. Takesha Saltern paces the team in hitting with a .358 average. Her two triples have her ranked 19th in Division I this week. Faith Hoe is hitting .350 as leads Weber State in RBI with 11. Mariah Ramirez is 4-4. She has five complete games in eight starts this season. She has 32 strikeouts and 35 walks in 58.1 innings of work. CSUN and Weber State are playing for the 10th time with the Wildcats leading the all-time series 5-4. The Matadors defeated Weber State 7-1 last season at the Silicon Valley Classic II.

On Saturday, play continues at USD when CSUN takes on Mount St. Mary's (Md.) at 9 a.m. and Brown University at 11:30 a.m.

The Mountaineers are 0-8. The Mount was 0-4 last weekend at the Gardner-Webb Tournament. Kaia Bonshock is 10th in Division I in doubles entering this week (0.63). She has recorded five doubles as she is hitting .364. The top hitter on the Mount is Vanessa Martin who is batting .417. This is the first time that CSUN and Mt. Saint Mary's are playing softball. The teams will meet again next week as part of the University of San Diego Tournament.

Brown opened the 2020 campaign last weekend at the UNC Wilmington Tournament. The Bears won the opener against UNCW 12-3 but lost their next four at the tournament. Karina Chavarria had five hits in 13 at-bats during the tournament. Lauren Innerst is 1-1 with a 5.73 ERA and eight strikeouts. This is the first time CSUN and Brown are playing softball against each other.

The tournament concludes Sunday at 2 p.m. when the Matadors play at San Diego State. The Aztecs are 11-6 after going 2-3 at the Mary Nutter Classic last weekend. SDSU lost to No. 5 Arizona and No. 24 Mississippi State during the tournament.

San Diego State will take on California Baptist on Wednesday night before hosting the tournament this weekend. Taylor Adams' .351 batting average is tops on the squad. Her 20 hits are the 39th most in Division I this week. Maggie Balint begins the week eighth in Division I in strikeouts with 76. She is 28th in D-1 in strikeouts per seven innings (10.3). At one point, CSUN and SDSU were both members of the Western Athletic Conference. This is the 58th time that the teams are playing softball with CSUN leading the all-time series 37-19-1.

Live stats are only scheduled for the San Diego State game. However, if this changes, any links will be available on GoMatadors.com.

CSUN improved to 11-3 last week as the Matadors went 4-0 at the Grand Canyon Purple Classic. The Matadors' 11-3 start is the best for the club since 2015 when CSUN was also 11-3. It is only the sixth time since CSUN moved to Division I in 1991 that the Matadors have won 10 or more games in the first 14 of a season.

Megan Stevens was selected Big West Softball Field Player of the Week for the second time Feb. 24. Stevens hit .692 (9-for-13) with a .706 on-base percentage and 1.692 slugging percentage to lead the Matadors to a 4-0 GCU Purple Classic record.

Seven of her nine hits went for extra bases, including four doubles and three home runs Stevens scored seven times and notched 10 RBI, accounting for half of CSUN's 34 runs against Drake, Utah State twice and host Grand Canyon. Stevens homered in three consecutive games, driving in four apiece in wins over Drake (7-4) and Utah State (8-7). In a rematch against the Aggies, Stevens went deep again to lead CSUN to a run-rule 11-3 victory. She finished that game 3-for-3 with three runs scored and two RBI. She also walked three times for the week. Stevens also pitched two times for CSUN, going 1-0 and not giving up a run in 6.1 innings.

Stevens wasn't the only Matador to have a strong weekend in Phoenix. Jaymi Steward was 8-of-15 at the plate (.533) during the four-game set. She hit one home run and drove in six runs. Steward was a perfect 6-of-6 in stolen base attempts. For the year, Steward is hitting .370 with three home runs and 10 RBI. She leads the team in stolen bases with eight (8-of-9).

~#UniteTheValley~

CSUN Travels To San Diego Classic This Weekend

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Players Mentioned

Megan Stevens

Jaymi Steward