USD Tourney, No. 21 UCF, And The USA National Team Await CSUN

Softball Notebook

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.—CSUN embarks on a six-game, four-day tour that begins Saturday at the San Diego Tournament against Mount Saint Mary's (1:30 p.m.) and Villanova (4 p.m.). The Matadors face the University of San Diego in a doubleheader on Sunday that will begin at 11 a.m. to conclude the tournament.

Mount Saint Mary's is 0-13 after losing all five games the Mounties played in the San Diego Classic last week. Kaia Bonshock is 48th in Division I in doubles entering this week (0.42). She has recorded five doubles as she is hitting a team-leading .333. She has driven in half (8) of the team's runs this year (16). CSUN defeated MSM 10-0 last week in the first meeting between the two teams.

Villanova is 11-9 after going 3-2 at the University of Arkansas Tournament last week. The Wildcats are in San Diego for a week of play, beginning Wednesday night against San Diego State before traveling across town to the University of San Diego.

The Wildcats received two votes in this week's USA Today/NFCA Top 25 poll and five votes in this week's USA Softball/ESPN Top 25 poll. Paige Rauch is a dual-threat for Villanova. She is the Division I leader in home runs with 10. Her nine wins in the circle have her sixth in Division I to begin this week's action. She is hitting .426 with 25 RBI and a .984 slugging percentage (the 13th highest in Division I this week). This is the first meeting between CSUN and Villanova in softball.

The Toreros, who co-hosted the San Diego Classic with San Diego State in which the Matadors played in last week, are 10-11. USD was 3-3 during last week's tournament and begin this tournament with Mount Saint Mary's and Villanova on Thursday.

Sara Silveyra is the toughest to strike out in Division I to begin this week. She is 1-of-24 D-1 softball players to not have struck out in game this year. Silveyra has recorded 62 official at-bats this season. She is Villanova's leader in batting average at .389. This is the 12th meeting between CSUN and San Diego with the Matadors leading the all-time series 8-3.

After 23 games on the road, CSUN opens the home slate Monday afternoon when CSUN hosts UCF. The Knights are ranked in each of the four national softball polls with a high of No. 21 in the Softball America Top 25.

The action concludes Tuesday when the Matadors face the USA Softball National Team in an exhibition game that is part of the "Stand Beside Her" tour, presented by Major League Baseball. First pitch is set for 5 p.m. in Santee, Calif. at the Santee Sports Plex. All links will be available on GoMatadors.com.

UCF begins the week ranked 21st in the SoftballAmerica.com Top 25, 22nd in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25, tied for 22nd in the USA Softball/ESPN Top 25, and 24th in the D1Softball.com Top 25. The Knights are 16-2 with eight of those victories coming against "Power 5" conference schools.

The Knights will have a busy week ahead. UCF hosts No. 12 Florida State Wednesday night before entering the Long Beach State/UCLA Louisville Slugger Invitational this weekend. The Knights will play No. 1 UCLA, No. 16 Michigan, and No. 18 Minnesota among their six games in the tournament. This is the first meeting between CSUN and UCF in softball.

Shannon Doherty begins this week sixth in Division I in hitting as she is batting .545. Her .585 on-base percentage is 15th in Division I. Alea White is statistically the number-one pitche for UCF. She has eight victories and 61 strikeouts. This is the first meeting between CSUN and UCF in softball.

The USA Softball National Team is 14-0 so far on the "Stand Beside Her" tour, presented by Major League Baseball. The Red, White, & Blue, have outscored their Division I opponents 113-14.

Matador head coach Tairia Flowers serves as an assistant coach for the National Team and in fact, will move over to their dugout in Tuesday night's second game when the club plays San Diego State. Haylie McCleney (.517), Janie Reed (.514), and Ali Aguilar (.500) are all hitting .500 or better for the national team. Monica Abbott is 6-0 with a save and has not given up an earned run in seven appearances (31.2 innings).

The team will play Cal State San Marcos and UC San Diego on Sunday in Irvine before facing CSUN and San Diego State in Santee.

Kenedee Jamerson was named Big West Conference Pitcher of the Week Mar. 2. Jamerson registered a 1.29 ERA over 16.1 innings over three appearances. She allowed walked two and struck out seven while only three of the seven runs she allowed were earned. Jamerson got the win in a complete game effort against Brown. She scattered four hits and just one run in the 5-1 victory. She did not walk a batter and struck out three.

Jamerson pitched well in CSUN's 4-3 win over North Dakota, getting the no-decision after the Fighting Hawks scored three unearned runs off her in the sixth. She allowed six hits in 5.2 innings with one strikeout. She also started against San Diego State and yielded three runs (two earned) with three strikeouts. On the season, Jamerson is 8-2 with a 2.68 ERA. She has pitched 65.1 of the 125 innings for the Matadors in 2020. She has struck out 27 while walking 13. Jamerson has tossed four complete games and one shutout for CSUN.

Kira Cauley begins the action this week on a 14-game hitting streak. Cauley's streak is tied for the fourth longest with Beth Calcante since CSUN moved to the Division I level in 1991. Taylor Glover holds the school record for longest Division I hitting streak as hit in 17 games in a row in both 2014 and 2016. The junior left fielder is hitting .397 on the year with seven RBI. She has scored 16 times.

Senior third baseman Jessica Alexander hit .533 during the San Diego Classic Feb. 28-Mar. 1. Alexander leads the team in hitting (.426) and is tied with Jaymi Steward and Morgan Stevens for the team lead in home runs with four. She leads the team in RBI with 21. She is second on the team in slugging percentage (.689) and third in on-base percentage (.446).

~#UniteTheValley~

USD Tourney, No. 21 UCF, And The USA National Team Await CSUN

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Players Mentioned

Jessica Alexander

Kira Cauley

Taylor Glover

Kenedee Jamerson

Jaymi Steward