This weekend marks the end of non-conference tournament play for Big West schools, but the two tourneys, along with some solid non-tournament matchups, make this an intriguing week for Big West softball.
Pacific is one of the two schools in tournament play as it heads to Stanford over the weekend for the Stanford Tournament hosted by the Cardinal. The Tigers kick off the tournament Friday against Santa Clara, then take on Winthrop and Princeton Saturday morning. The tourney ends Sunday with Pacific slated to take on the Broncos and the host school #4/4 Stanford. Prior to the tournament in Stanford, the Tigers take on Colorado State in a twinbill Tuesday afternoon.
Cal Poly, who is among the top teams receiving votes in both polls, heads north to the city of Sacramento for the Capital City Classic hosted by PCSC power Sacramento State.
The Mustangs, who have won 10 straight games, face off against Brigham Young and UNLV Saturday, then wrap up the tournament Sunday with games against Colorado State and #10/7 California. Cal Poly will also stay up in Northern California for a game Monday afternoon against #4/4 Stanford.
Long Beach State may not be playing in a tournament, but they have arguably the toughest slate ahead with three games scheduled against defending national champion #t-6/11 Arizona State. The 49ers and Sun Devils play a single game Saturday, then play two Saturday afternoon.
Cal State Fullerton, fresh off an attention-grabbing 4-1 mark at the Judi Garman Classic, have a home and home scheduled for the weekend as the Titans take on San Diego State. The first game will be down in San Diego Friday, then the two clubs come back to Orange County for an afternoon matinee Saturday.
Cal State Northridge and UC Davis also have light weeks on the horizon as the Matadors are scheduled for two, while the Aggies have one game on the docket.
CSUN welcomes Cal State Bakersfield to Matador Diamond for a doubleheader Saturday afternoon. A sweep gives the Matadors 20 wins, the fastest they’ve gotten to that number since 1996. Meanwhile, the Aggies are off over the next week but will be back in action next Monday when they travel to Cal State Bakersfield for a single game.