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Aztecs to play 17 games against 2017 NCAA tournament teams
Source: goaztecs.com
Photo courtesy goaztecs.com
October 25, 2017 (San Diego) - San Diego State softball head coach Kathy Van Wyk has announced a 52-game schedule for the 2018 season, highlighted by two home tournaments, including the 28th annual Campbell/Cartier Classic at SDSU Softball Stadium from Feb. 15-18.
The Aztecs are scheduled to play 17 contests against teams that made last year’s NCAA tournament.
SDSU is coming off a 31-18 overall record in 2017 - its 12th consecutive 30-win season - and a 15-9 mark and runner-up finish in MW play. San Diego State, however, did not receive an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament, despite finishing second in the sixth-best conference in the nation (out of 32 leagues).
The Aztecs led the country last year with a .356 average, shattering their previous best of .310. In all, SDSU set seven school records, including batting average, on-base percentage (.418), slugging percentage (.516), hits (497), RBIs (295), sacrifice flies (23) and runs (324, tied).
On the docket for San Diego State in 2018 is a game against a 2017 Women’s College World Series qualifier (UCLA), four against teams that finished among the top 25 in the NCAA RPI (Georgia, Kentucky, Minnesota and UCLA), 11 games against the top 50 and 35 games versus the top 100.
The Aztecs begin their season on the road for the 11th straight year, playing at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Ariz., from Feb. 8-11. SDSU kicks off the 2018 slate on Thursday, Feb. 8 with games against Georgia (NCAA tournament qualifier) and Stanford, followed by another doubleheader on Friday, Feb. 9 with games vs. Western Michigan and Northwestern, and single games against Nebraska (Saturday, Feb. 10) and UC Davis (Sunday, Feb. 11).
Following a mid-week road matchup at UC Riverside on Wednesday, Feb. 14, San Diego State opens the home portion of its schedule with the 28th annual Campbell/Cartier Classic from Feb. 15-18. All four of the Aztec opponents in the Classic made last year’s NCAA tournament, including NCAA regional qualifier Kentucky (Thursday, Feb. 15), North Dakota State and UIC on Friday, Feb. 16, and Cal State Fullerton (Sunday, Feb. 18).
SDSU then takes its talents to the always competitive Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Cathedral City, Calif. (near Palm Springs) from Feb. 22-25. San Diego State is scheduled to play Liberty on Thursday, Feb. 22, Northwestern (again) and Notre Dame (NCAA tournament qualifier) on Friday, Feb. 23, Bethune-Cookman on Saturday, Feb. 24 and UC Davis again on Sunday, Feb. 25.
The Aztecs return to America’s Finest City the following weekend (March 1-4) for the San Diego Classic I, which they co-host with Univ. of San Diego. On the slate for SDSU are UCF on Thursday, March 1, NCAA tourney team and No. 13 in the final RPI Minnesota and CSUN on Friday, March 2, Boston Univ. on Saturday, March 3 and UCLA (No. 2 in the final RPI) on Sunday, March 4.
San Diego State makes the short drive north for the Louisville Slugger Classic from March 9-11, co-hosted by Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State. The Aztecs are scheduled to play Ohio State (NCAA tourney qualifier) and Boston Univ. (second time in six days) on Friday, March 9 in Fullerton, Michigan State and Long Beach State on Saturday, March 10 in Long Beach, and Sunday, March 11 in Fullerton again against Cal State Fullerton for the second time of the season.
SDSU continues its season-long nine-game road trip with a midweek matchup against Fairfield (NCAA tournament qualifier) on Wednesday, March 14 at USD Softball Complex in San Diego.
San Diego State kicks off the 2018 MW schedule with a weekend series at San Josè State from March 16-18, followed by a home non-conference meeting with San Diego on March 27.
The rest of the season are MW matchups for the Aztecs, including weekend series against Boise State (March 29-31), at UNLV (April 6-8), home against Nevada (April 13-15), at Fresno State (April 20-22), home vs. Colorado State (April 27-29), at New Mexico (May 4-6) and home against Utah State (May 10-12).
The NCAA Regional kicks off postseason play from May 17-20 at 16 campus sites.
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