NORTHRIDGE – CSUN opens the 2018 softball season this weekend by playing in the Arizona State Kajikawa Classic. The Matadors face No. 3 Oregon and Missouri on Friday, Stanford and Seattle U on Saturday, and Nebraska on Sunday.

The games against Missouri, Seattle U, and Nebraska will be streamed on FloSoftball for a fee. All links can be found on GoMatadors.com on the softball page.

The Ducks are ranked third in both the USA Today/NFCA Coaches and the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 presesason polls. Oregon, 54-8, a year ago, was picked to win the Pac-12 title in the preseason coaches’ poll. The Ducks advanced to the Women’s College World Series last season, advancing to the semifinals before being eliminated by eventual national champion Oklahoma.

Oregon pitchers Maggie Balint an Megan Kleist as well as infielder DJ Sanders were selected to the 50-player preseason USA Softball National Player of the Year watch list. This is the 22nd time that CSUN and Oregon are facing each other in softball. The Ducks lead the all-time series 13-8.

Missouri received votes in both the USA Today/NFCA Coaches and ESPN.com/USA Softball polls. Missouri (29-28, 2017) is coming off its 11th straight NCAA Tournament appearance. The Tigers were selected 11th in the preseason SEC coaches poll. Regan Nash earned a spot on the preseason All-SEC team. Nash hit .340 with 17 stolen bases a year ago. CSUN is playing Missouri for the first time since the 1999 season. The Matadors lead the all-time series 6-1.

Stanford was chosen ninth in the preseason Pac-12 coaches polls. The Cardinal posted a 19-32 record last season. Sophomore Teaghan Cowles is the top returning Stanford player. She started all 51 games last season, hitting.313 with 26 runs batted in. CSUN and Stanford are playing for the 21st time with the Cardinal leading the all-time series 11-9.

Seattle U will play CSUN twice this season. In addition to this weekend, the Redhawks come to Northridge Mar. 11 as part of the first CSUN tournament of the season. The Redhawks (20-32, 2017) were chosen third in the preseason WAC coaches poll. Andie Larkins, who recorded 12 victories ago in the circle, was named preseason WAC Pitcher of the Year. Kaylee Ree (.327, 3 HR, 27 RBI) was also named to the preseason All-Conference team. The Matadors have won all previous six meetings against the Redhawks.

Nebraska charted a 24-29 record and a fifth-place finish in the Big 10 Conference in 2017. Gina Metzler led Nebraska in hitting last season at a .341 clip. Kaylan Jablonski is the top returning Huskers’ pitcher as she recorded 11 victories a year ago. This is the ninth time that CSUN and the Cornhuskers are playing softball. The all-time series is 4-4.

The Matadors return three starters and seven letterwinners including three-time All-Big West first team honoree, Savannah Horvath. Starting all 53 games at shortstop for the Matadors, Horvath led the conference with 13 home runs and 41 RBI as she batted .338.
In conference play, the Las Vegas native led the league in almost every offensive category: batting average (.407), on-base percentage (.507), slugging percentage (.915), home runs (7), doubles (7), RBI (19), total bases (54) and extra base hits (15).

Jessica Alexander was selected honorable mention All-Conference and was named to the Big West All-Freshman team a year ago. She started 53 times and led the team with 38 runs scored. She hit .272, with eight home runs, and 37 runs batted.

Mackenzie Babbit is the remaining returning starter. She hit .246 with 21 runs scored, nine runs batted in, three doubles, and two triples.

The Matadors return two pitchers in the circle. Taylor Troost was 10-8 a year ago. She recorded a team leading three saves and 56 strikeouts in 2017. Cheyenne Noli was 1-2 in nine appearances last season. At 32-22, CSUN posted its fourth-straight 30-win season for the first time since 1996-99.