Click [HERE] to view the 2018 CSUN Softball Schedule.

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.—Featuring games against 15 teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament a year ago, CSUN head softball coach Tairia Flowers has announced the 2018 Matador schedule.

“Looking at the road ahead I feel confident that this season will make us better,” Flowers said. “That’s how you grow as players and a program, we have to see what we can do early on and rise to the occasion. We play some great teams and I look forward to seeing how our teams responds to the grind of a long challenging pre-season and fighting it out in our strong Big West Conference.”

The season begins Feb. 9-11 at the Arizona State Kajikawa Classic where CSUN faces a pair of 2017 tournament teams on opening day in Oregon (who ended the 2017 campaign No. 4 in the NFCA Top 25) and Missouri. Play at ASU continues with matchups against Stanford, Seattle U, and Nebraska.

Week two sees the Matadors head to the UNLV Desert Classic. From Feb. 16-18, CSUN will face Bradley, South Dakota, FIU (who reached the 2017 NCAA Tournament), Idaho State, and New Mexico. The Matadors’ home opener will occur Feb. 21 against Auburn. The Tigers reached the NCAA Tournament a year ago and ended the season No. 13 in the NFCA Top 25.

The Matadors return to the road for the Mary Nutter Cathedral City Collegiate Classic Feb. 23-25. During CSUN’s stay in the desert, the Matadors will face four teams (Arizona, Brigham Young, California, Fresno State) that appeared in the 2017 NCAA Tournament. Arizona (No. 9) and BYU (No. 21) both were ranked in the final NFCA Top 25 last Spring. CSUN also takes on LIU Brooklyn during the tournament.

The Matadors head south the following weekend when CSUN enters the San Diego Classic for five games at both the University of San Diego and San Diego State. The Matadors face Boston University, San Diego State, Colorado State, Santa Clara, and San Diego. CSUN returns home for an eight-game home stand that gets underway with a doubleheader against Providence College on Mar. 6.

The first of two home tournaments is set for Mar. 9-11. During the CSUN Tourney, the Matadors will take on Texas Tech, Oregon State, and Seattle University. Oregon State made the 2017 NCAA Tournament and received votes in the final NFCA Top 25 of the year. The home stand concludes with a split double header against Ohio State and North Dakota State, two 2017 NCAA Tournament squads.

The first of two games against defending national champion Oklahoma opens CSUN’s stay at the Mar. 16-17 Cal State Fullerton Easton Invitational. The Matadors play Nebraska, DePaul (a 2017 NCAA tournament qualifier), and second contest against Ohio State to conclude the tournament. Oklahoma travels to Northridge for a Mar. 19 matchup before CSUN hosts Matador Classic Mar. 23-25. CSUN, Georgia Tech, Pacific, and Santa Clara comprise the classic field.

The Matadors open Big West play with a three-game set at home against UC Davis Mar. 30-31. CSUN travels to UCLA Apr. 3 for the final non-conference game of the season. The 6 p.m. start sees the Matadors take on a Bruin squad that made the Women’s College World Series last season and finished fifth in the final NFCA Top 25 poll.
The Matadors resume league play at UC Riverside Apr. 14-15 before heading to Cal Poly Apr. 21-22. CSUN comes back home for UC Santa Barbara Apr. 28-29 before traveling to Hawai’i May 4-5. The regular season concludes May 11-12 against Long Beach State.