No. 1 Northridge Seeks 6th Softball Tournament Title

The sixth annual Cal State Northridge Tournament of Champions will bring together a field that could be called the ranked and file of Division II softball. Six of the 12 teams in the tournament, which runs today through Sunday at CSUN, are ranked in the NCAA Division II top 20.

Northridge, 21-9 overall, has won the tournament every year and is favored to do so again. The Lady Matadors have jumped from 10th to first in the rankings since sweeping doubleheaders from Division I teams Oregon State and Loyola Marymount and splitting another with the University of Hawaii.

Other ranked teams participating are No. 9 Mankato State (0-8), No. 12 Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (15-9), No. 17 Chapman College (21-12), No. 18 Augustana (4-4) and No. 19 Cal State Dominguez Hills (11-12).

Unranked teams competing in the tournament include Cal Lutheran, UC Riverside, Cal State Hayward, Cal State Chico, Southern Utah State and a Brigham Young club team.

The tournament begins with pool play today and Saturday and goes to a single-elimination format Sunday. Northridge opens against Chico State at noon today. CSUN then plays Dominguez Hills at 1:30 and Southern Utah State at 3.

Lisa Martin (5-1) will start in the Northridge opener.