CSUN Will Host Softball Regional Again

The Cal State Northridge softball team prepared for the worst Sunday as they awaited the announcement of Division I regional playoff pairings and sites.

But the nervous silence quickly erupted into shrieks of disbelief and joy when the announcement made via satellite filled the ears of the Matadors and their fans who were watching the presentation on a big-screen television at the Flashback Sports Cafe across the street from the university.

For the third consecutive year, Northridge will play host to one of eight regionals. The winner of each regional will advance to the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City, May 25-29.

With top-ranked Arizona and No. 2 UCLA both in the Pacific Region along with Northridge, Matadors Coach Janet Sherman assumed her team would have to travel.

But it is the Bruins who will have to fly to South Carolina for the second year in the row.

“I’m very surprised,” Sherman said. “We’ve been put in a good position, but it won’t be easy. It’s a very difficult bracket.”

First-round games for the double-elimination, three-day tournament at Northridge begin Friday with Cal State Fullerton (42-15) playing Illinois State (45-12) at 12:30 p.m. The seventh-ranked Matadors (41-15) will face Missouri (47-17) at 3 p.m.

For the Matadors, they could not have dreamed up anything better.

“We prepared to go to (Arizona),” Sherman said, “because we figured that was the worst thing that could happen to us.”

Senior right-hander Kathy Blake-Small, who thought the Matadors had “zero chance” of hosting, echoed Sherman’s sentiment.

“This is a great surprise for us,” Blake-Small said. “It’s awesome. . . . Three years in a row.”

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Simpson College scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth on a fielding error Sunday to beat Cal Lutheran, 5-4, and eliminate the Regals from the Division III softball West Regional in Storm Lake, Iowa.

Cal Lutheran right fielder Heather Vance dropped a line drive by Julie Langbein with two out and the bases loaded, allowing the Storm (27-14) to take a 5-4 lead. The Regals finish 28-12.