CSUN Softball Opens 2021 Season This Weekend At Cal Poly

Softball Notebook #1

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---The CSUN softball team resumes play for the first time in more than a year this weekend when the Matadors travel to Cal Poly for a three-game series.

The Matadors and the Mustangs will play a doubleheader Saturday at 1 p.m. The series concludes Sunday at 1 p.m. With no fans allowed in the stands, you can follow the game via video steam on BigWest.tv, or live stats from Bob Janssen Field. All links will available on GoMatadors.com.

Charlotte Morgan took over the program in December after a stellar playing career at Alabama where she was a three-time All-American and a coaching career with stops at Georgia Tech, Oklahoma State, and UT Arlington.

Morgan has had a limited pre-season training camp to get the Matadors ready for the 2021 season, but she is up for the challenge.

"We are trying to get Fall and Spring workouts in five weeks," Morgan said. "We are trying to build every day and stay at a good speed and making sure that they understand everything since it is so new."

Morgan has several options to go within the circle. Leading the charge will be senior Kenedee Jamerson. Jamerson tied for the Big West lead in victories with Kellie White of Long Beach State (8). The lefty was 8-2 with one save in the circle and pitched the third-most innings in the conference (77.2). She recorded four complete games, tying her for seventh in the conference with former teammate Jillian James. Jamerson was 61st in Division I in walks per seven innings (1.26) while striking out 14. A two-way player, Jamerson hit .269 with four RBI...walked seven times, the second-most on the team and 19th most in the Big West.

The Matadors return two pitchers in Sami Garcia and Ellie Madison. Madison was 1-1 last season while Garcia pitched 4.1 innings in limited action. Like Jamerson, Garcia is a two-way player as she had two hits in 12 at-bats last season. Newcomers to the pitching staff are redshirt freshman Kayla Dominguez and freshman Eryka Gonzales. Dominguez was a three-time All-League selection for Valley Christian High School in Northern California. Gonzales was named first-team All-League, first-team All-County, and Coastal Canyon League Pitcher of the Year in 2018 as a member of the Camarillo High School program.

"We have a good variety in the staff," Morgan said. "They all have different strengths. Getting them back in here and getting them up to game speed. We are going to use a staff. That's what we have done where I have been previously. So, our mindset is going to be if we have to use all of you, then we will. Their go-to pitches are all different. So, it's my job to set them up for success."

The Matadors have several letter winners coming back to the offense. Senior Jaymi Steward should anchor the outfield. Steward is one of the top returning home run hitters in the Big West Conference. Steward was third on the team in home runs with four, ranking her ninth in the Big West.

She is also one of the top returning base stealers in the league. The Redlands native, stole 11 bases 13 attempts, leading the team, and ranking her third in the conference. Her 17 RBI in 2020 were the third most on the team and the 10th most in the league. Steward batted .355, the fourth-best on the team, and was the 14th highest in the Big West. An Academic All-Conference selection, she was third on the squad in slugging percentage (.556).

Senior Journey Rojas comes back for her fourth season of play after being tied for fifth on the team in RBI (6) with Alyssa Vazquez in 2020. Rojas could see time in both the infield and in the outfield.

Returning to the infield are juniors Kiarra Crockett-Pope and Aaliyah Swan. Crockett-Pope, the 2019 Big West Co-Freshman Field Player of the Year, is a home run threat. She has hit nine home runs in her career so far. Swan started all 23 of the games she played in during the 2020 season. Swan tied with Sami Garcia for the team lead in sacrifice hits with three, the fifth most in the Big West a year ago. She was fifth in the league in stolen bases with six (in six attempts).

Sophomore Savannah Favre appeared in 19 of the 24 games last season playing several different positions. She stole nine bases, the fourth most in the Big West (9-10) and was second on the team in the category. Her 0.45 stolen bases per game average were the 100th best in Division I. Favre hit .288 with three RBI and scored 11 runs, the fifth most in on the team.

Sophomore Jordan Kaeka is the lone returning catcher for the Matadors. She played in 10 games as a freshman with her lone RBI serving as the game-winner against Utah State (8-7) on Feb. 21, 2020.

Including Dominguez, CSUN welcomes seven newcomers to the program. Alexis Lemus (Infielder) transfers to the Matadors from Mt. SAC after beginning her collegiate career at the University of Connecticut. Paloma Usquiano (Infielder) comes to Northridge from the University of Arkansas where she redshirted the 2020 season.

Freshmen joining the Matadors are Maiya Alemania (Utility), Eryka Gonzales (Pitcher), Jaclyn Silva (Catcher/Infielder), and Tatum Wentworth (Catcher).

"We are going to do the little things offensively," Morgan said. "We don't have that one power hitter, so are going to try to play fast. We have great athletes, so we want to catch people on their heels. If you look across the board, no one has played consistently like they are used to. If you put the ball in play, the percentage of getting on base is higher. Errors are up. So, we can use that to our advantage. I want us to be tough outs."

Morgan rounded out her coaching staff with the additions of Chelsea Johnson and Greg Bergeron.

Johnson joins the Matadors' staff after spending the past two seasons as the volunteer assistant coach at UC Riverside. Johnson is a 2018 graduate of the University of New Mexico where she earned second-team All-Mountain West Conference honors on two occasions. She was named third-team NFCA All-West Region and first-team All-Conference as a sophomore in 2016. She made her mark on the Lobos program as she finished her career in the top 10 in New Mexico history in six different categories including batting average (.342), home runs (34), and RBI (139).

A 20+ year veteran of the Division I baseball ranks, Bergeron comes to Northridge most recently from Washington State, where he was the volunteer assistant coach with the Cougars' baseball program during the 2020 campaign. Bergeron moved to Pullman after spending four seasons (2015-19) at Long Beach State. Before Long Beach State, Bergeron was on the staff of current CSUN head baseball coach Dave Serrano at UC Irvine (2005-07), Cal State Fullerton (2008-11), and Tennessee (2012-15). In his four years at Cal State Fullerton, the Titans made the postseason in all four years while advancing to the Super Regionals three times and making one trip to the College World Series. Under his direction, the Titans offense had one of its most successful seasons in 2010 with a .337 team batting average, ranking 17th in the country and second in Cal State Fullerton Shistory.

His success in Fullerton was a continuation of the success that he also found at UC Irvine where he also helped the Anteaters to a College World Series appearance for the first time in school history. After starting as a volunteer assistant for the 2005 season, Bergeron began running the offense in 2006 with UCI topping the Big West in nearly every offensive category.

Before UCI, Bergeron spent eight years coaching at the junior college level beginning in 1997 at Cerritos College. He spent the next seven at El Camino College. He was the head coach at El Camino in 2004 after serving as an assistant for the previous six seasons. During his stint at El Camino, 52 players continued their careers at the four-year level as 30 advanced to the Division I level. His coaching career began at Loyola Marymount as a volunteer assistant in 1996.

Bergeron has worked with over 100 players who have been selected in the MLB Draft, five of which were taken in the first round. 22 have advanced to the Major Leagues.

"Bergy is coming over from baseball and taking the lead with our offense, doing our base running, and our defense," said Morgan. "He is learning our game but he is teaching us somethings and opening our eyes and getting us to think. That's exciting. Chelsea is our catching coach and was a great hitter. I throw live to our hitters every day. So, they are getting three coaches who are helping them on offense. I'm excited, we all bring different fields of expertise to the table. The kids feel that they have not one coach to go to, but there are multiple and we are all on the same page and believe in the same things."

Cal Poly is 5-5 after being swept by Stanford in a home doubleheader last Sunday.

Noellah Ramos is fifth in the Big West Conference in hitting as she is batting .400. Bailey Doherty is tied for seventh in the conference with two home runs.

A two-way threat, Doherty is third in the league in wins with three (3-2). She has a save. Her 46 strikeouts are also the third-most in the Big West and her 9.11 strikeouts per game are tops in the conference. This is the 136th, 137th, and 138th meetings between CSUN and Cal Poly with the Matadors leading the all-time series 82-52-1.

With one first-place vote, the CSUN softball team is ranked seventh in the preseason Big West Conference softball poll.

With CSU Bakersfield opting out of the season, nine Big West teams were ranked, led by Cal State Fullerton. The Titans, the 2019 conference champions, received seven first-place votes for 79 points. Long Beach State was awarded a first-place vote to earn 63 points and second place.

UC Davis (52), Hawai'i (44), and Cal Poly (43) are third, fourth, and fifth respectively. UC Riverside (37) is sixth, followed by the Matadors with 34 points and the final remaining first-place vote. UC Santa Barbara (27), and UC San Diego (26) round out the poll.

~#UniteTheValley~

CSUN Softball Opens 2021 Season This Weekend At Cal Poly

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Players Mentioned

Maiya Alemania

Kiarra Crockett-Pope

Kayla Dominguez

Savannah Favre

Sami Garcia

Eryka Gonzales

Kenedee Jamerson

Jillian James

Jordan Kaeka

Alexis Lemus

Journey Rojas

Jaclyn Silva

Jaymi Steward

Aaliyah Swan

Paloma Usquiano

Alyssa Vazquez

Tatum Wentworth