Matadors Take On San Diego State, Oklahoma, IU Indy and Utah Tech to Open Season

GAME NOTES
NORTHRIDGE, Calif -- CSUN opens the 2025 season with a double-header this Thursday as the Matadors will take on San Diego State and defending national champion Oklahoma at SDSU Softball Stadium. First pitch against SDSU will take place at 1 p.m. while the second game against the Sooners will happen at 3 p.m.

The Matadors will then finish the weekend by playing in the Easton Classic. CSUN will take part in another double-header, this time against IU Indy at 11 a.m. and finishing up with Utah Tech at 1:30 p.m. Both games will happen at Anderson Family Field hosted by Fullerton.

LETS TALK ABOUT 2024
CSUN ended last season with a 25-26 overall record and a Big West record of 9-18, which landed them at ninth place in the conference. After an opening day loss to No. 9 Oklahoma State, the Matadors rattled off a 10 game win streak from Feb. 9 - Feb. 23. Despite going 9-18 in Big West play, CSUN did finish the season winning four out of its last six games.

Outfielder Mikayla Carman was eighth in the Big West in batting average at .366. Carman, now a senior, was named to the Big West All Preseason-Team for 2025.

CSUN had the fourth best pitching staff in the Big West, as the Matadors sported a 3.22 ERA.
Pitcher Lauyrn Carranco was eighth in earned-run average at 2.83. Carranco was also fifth in innings pitched at 153.1. She was also named to the Big West All Preseason-Team for 2025.

ABOUT SAN DIEGO STATE
The Aztecs are coming off an impressive 2024 campaign where they went 31-20 overall and 15-7 in the Mountain West. SDSU won the Mountain West tournament title and earned a spot in the NCAA tournament. They are highlighted by the Pitcher of the Year in the Mountain West, Cece Cellura. Cellura pitched in 31 games with a 2.78 ERA.

SDSU earned the maximum of 64 points in the Mountain West Preseason Poll to take the top spot in the projected order of finish. Cellura and Dee Dee Hernandez were two of the three pitchers named to the squad while catcher Cali Decker was one of 12 position players to make the team.

Series History: CSUN leads the all-time season series 38-22-1. The Matadors last win came on Feb. 18 of 2022 where they won 6-4 at a neutral site.

ABOUT NO. 3 OKLAHOMA
The Sooners are coming off an historical season, becoming the first team to ever four-peat in Division-I softball history. It was Oklahoma's eighth title, as the Sooners also finished 55-7 overall and 22-5 in the Big 12 conference. A good chunk of the roster in 2024 were seniors so if the Sooners would like to add a fifth title in a row, they will have to do it with fresh faces like Isabela Emerling, who transferred from North Carolina. She hit .323 for a strong 1.102 OPS with 53 RBI and 14 homers last season. Some other new characters are Sam Landry, who transferred from Louisiana, Isabella Smith who transferred from Campbell, and then Audrey Lowry is a lefty freshman pitcher and a top-ranked recruit.

Series History:
Oklahoma leads the series history, 10-6 over the Matadors. CSUN's last win came in March of 2010 where the Matadors won a pitcher's duel at home, 1-0.

ABOUT IU INDY
The Jaguars are coming off a 2024 campaign where they finished 13-37 overall and 9-14 in conference play. Both CSUN and IU Indy have never squared off against each other in softball. IU Indy's best hitter in 2024 was Kendal Calvert, who had a .420 batting average.

ABOUT UTAH TECH
The Trailblazers went 19-31 last season and 12-13 in conference play. Utah Tech was also only 4-14 on the road, a stat that plays in the Matadors' favor. The Trailblazers had four players hit over .300 but pitching was their weakness. Utah Tech has a 6.13 ERA as a team. Like IU Indy, both teams have never squared off against each other.

#GoMatadors

Matadors Take On San Diego State, Oklahoma, IU Indy and Utah Tech to Open Season

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Players Mentioned

Mikayla Carman