NORTHRIDGE – The CSUN softball team returns to Matador Diamond this weekend to complete a six-game home stand against Cal Poly.

The three-game set gets underway on Friday with a doubleheader that begins at 1 p.m. Saturday’s single game will get underway at 1 p.m. All three games will be streamed on ESPN 3. Tim Becwar will handle the play-by-play while Erin Jones-Wesley will serve as the color commentator.

Cal Poly is 8-31, 2-7 in Big West action after losing 2-of-3 at UC Davis last weekend. The Mustangs have already played twice on Matador Diamond defeating California Baptist (3-1) and Dartmouth (5-4) during the CSUN/LMU Tournament Mar. 16.

Makenna Young leads the team in batting (.266), home runs (3), RBI (15), slugging percentage (.385), and hits (29). Krystyna Allman and Steffi Best have both won three games in the circle for Cal Poly this season.

This weekend’s series will mark the 133rd, 134th, and 135th times that CSUN and Cal Poly will be playing softball. CSUN leads the all-time series 80-51-1.

CSUN enters action this week with a 19-23 overall record, 3-6 in Big West play after dropping 2-of-3 to UC Riverside last weekend in Northridge. Led by Jillian James who threw a two-hitter, the Matadors defeated the Highlanders 4-0 in the opener. UC Riverside defeated CSUN 8-1 and 5-1 to complete the series.

Junior Megan Stevens made 10 plate appearances against UC Riverside. She was intentionally walked five consecutive times over games 2 & 3 of the weekend. She was walked seven times, six intentionally. She was 2-of-3 at the plate with a home run and a double. Her slugging percentage during the series ended up being 2.000 while her on-base percentage ended up at .900.

Stevens tied the CSUN school record for most doubles in a season (Shannon Jones, 1994) with her 17th against the Highlanders. Her home run against UCR was the 24th of her career, bringing her total to the ninth most in Matador history.

Stevens leads the Big West Conference in hitting (.474), doubles, RBI (45), total bases (108), hits (54), walks (25), slugging percentage (.947), on-base percentage (.573). She is tied for second in the Big West in home runs (11) with Nicole Lopez of Hawai’i.

Nationally, Stevens is third in doubles, sixth in batting average, sixth in on-base percentage, eighth in slugging percentage (.947), 11th in doubles per game (0.4), 16th in total bases, 20th in RBI, RBI per game (1.07), 33rd in hits, 84th in home runs per game (0.26), and 99th in walks.

James leads the conference in innings pitched with 154.1, 11.1 more than second place Brooke Yanez of UC Davis. She leads the Big West in appearance (31) and games started (25). She is third in the league in opposing batting average (.205) and fifth in ERA (2.27).

Nationally, James is 52nd in strikeouts per seven innings (81.), 73rd in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.63), 80th in hits allowed per seven innings (5.35), and 112nd in ERA.

Senior Mackenzie Babbitt is a perfect 11-for-11 in stolen bases this season. Babbitt’s total has allowed her to tie for second with Alexa Neil of Cal State Fullerton for second in the conference in the category. Babbitt enters this week’s play with 41 career stolen bases (41-45), the sixth most in school history.