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This Week in the Big West - April 4-10, 2011
4/4/2011
The conference season is underway for both baseball and softball, with the first televised baseball game of the year set for Sunday at Cal State Fullerton. Meanwhile, the spring championships are quickly approaching, with the 2011 Big West Women's Golf Championship less than two weeks away!
Baseball
The first of two Big West contests will be aired this weekend on ESPNU as part of its 2011 college baseball coverage. The showdown between defending championship No. 10 Cal State Fullerton and 2009 Big West Champion No. 16 UC Irvine is slated to air Sunday, April 10 at 2:00 p.m.
Defending Big West Champion Cal State Fullerton (20-8, 3-0) was stellar in its first conference series of the 2011 season. The Titans shut down the Aggies in the first two contests by scores of 14-0 and 7-0 and a score of 4-2 in game three solidified the series sweep. This week the Titans have a tougher task at hand as they welcome nationally-ranked UC Irvine to Goodwin Field. The Anteaters, who swept UC Davis it is conference opener, tied with UC Riverside for second in the Big West preseason coaches poll.
While eight teams kicked of league play last week, UC Santa Barbara had to wait one more week before opening the Big West Conference portion of its schedule. The wait is finally over as the Gauchos close out a six-game homestand hosting Cal Poly April 8-10.
For the sixth year in a row, select games l be broadcast by the institutions on BigWest.TV, the conference's video streaming initiative in partnership with CBS College Sports.
Baseball Weekly Release #8
Golf
The UC Davis and UC Santa Barbara men take part in the Wyoming Cowboy Classic in Scottsdale Arizona to start the week, while the Cal Poly and UC Riverside women are at the Wyoming Cowgirl Classic. Meanwhile, the Long Beach State and UC Davis women hit the links at the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate.
Golf April News & Notes
Softball
Regional rivalries are the story for the upcoming Big West softball schedule as teams look to gain early separation in the race for the league title.
The marquee matchup is in Northern California as defending co-champion UC Davis hosts early 2011 contender Pacific. The Tigers are coming off a series win against Long Beach State, while the Aggies topped fellow 2010 co-champ Cal State Northridge.
In other regional showdowns, Cal State Fullerton hits the road to the Inland Empire to take on UC Riverside, Cal State Northridge leaves the comforts of the Valley for showdown against Long Beach State and the Central Coast rivalry will stage its 2011 edition as UC Santa Barbara visits Cal Poly.
For the sixth year in a row, select games l be broadcast by the institutions on BigWest.TV, the conference's video streaming initiative in partnership with CBS College Sports.
Softball Weekly Release #9
Tennis
Big West Tournament seeding and title implications are in play when league-leading Cal Poly visits Long Beach State on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. in a women's tennis showdown. The Mustangs would clinch the No. 1 tournament seed and at least a share of the regular season conference championship with a win. The obstacle is formidable as the 49ers are owners of three straight Big West regular season titles. LBSU has captured four of the five previous crowns since the Big West went to a round-robin format in 2006.
Cal Poly (12-3, 3-0) and UC Irvine (10-5, 2-0) are the two remaining undefeated teams in Big West play going into the season's stretch run. The Mustangs and Anteaters are scheduled to play each other on Saturday, April 23 in the regular season finale that may very well determine the champion and tournament No. 1 seed. In the meantime, this week's schedule is entirely comprised of non-conference matchups. UCI is the busiest of the bunch with four home matches against Loyola Marymount, Sacramento State, Saint Mary's and Portland. UC Santa Barbara takes a roadtrip to the Lone Star State to face Texas-Arlington and No. 61 SMU, while Pacific remains home to face Gonzaga and No. 50 Santa Clara.
The 2011 Big West Men's and Women's Tennis Championships are a scant three months away a Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, April 28 through May 2.
Tennis Weekly Release #10
Women's Water Polo
Cal State Northridge and UC Santa Barbara began Big West women's water polo play 2-0 last week, and one of them will improve to 3-0 after they face each other in Northridge on Saturday.
UC Santa Barbara isthe host institution for the 2011 Big West Women's Water Polo Championships this spring, April 29 through May 2.
Women's Water Polo Weekly Release #10
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This Week in the Big West is the one-stop listing of the top matches taking place across the Big West Conference! Each week, This Week in the Big West will highlight the games that fans won’t want to miss and critical match-ups home or away in one location. Keep in touch with the happenings around the conference!
+ - Time change.
** - Softball rankings from USA Today/NFCA & ESPN.com/USA Softball.
[1] - Wyoming Cowboy Classic (Scottsdale, AZ) - UCD, UCSB participating.
[2] - Wyoming Cowgirl Classic (Phoenix, AZ) - CP, UCR participating.
[3] - Pacific Coast Intercollegiate (Half Moon Bay, CA) - LBSU, UCD participating.
[4] - at Northridge, CA.
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