Dec. 12, 2003
SAN DIEGO - The 2004 softball schedule is the toughest San Diego State has ever faced. It is highlighted by home games with defending NCAA champion UCLA and 2003 Women's College World Series participants Washington and Oklahoma. The Aztecs also host 2003 NCAA Tournament teams Mississippi State, Oklahoma State and Colorado State twice each and Hawai'i and Florida once each.
Away from San Diego, the Aztecs have two more games against UCLA, Washington and Colorado State and one each against Fresno State and Oregon State. Other NCAA Tournament opponents in 2004 for the Aztecs include Long Beach State (two games) and Cal State Northridge (one game).
Overall, San Diego State has seven games against 2003 WCWS teams and 22 against last season's NCAA Tournament squads. The Aztecs have a span in early February in which 10 of 13 games are against 2003 NCAA Tournament teams, including three against Washington and two each against Mississippi State and Oklahoma State and one against UCLA. San Diego State will play six games against tournament teams during a seven-game span in March.
"This challenging schedule is the best preparation for us leading into the Mountain West Conference season and tournament," head coach Kathy Van Wyk said. "We're planning on qualifying for the NCAA Tournament and those are the types of teams we'll play when we get there."
The season starts with a road double-header at 1:30 p.m. on Feb. 3 against NAIA power Point Loma Nazarene. The Sea Lions have gone 106-20 the past two seasons (an 84.1 winning percentage) while finishing second and fifth at the 2002 and 2003 NAIA National Championships, respectively.
The team then starts a span of 14 games in which it plays teams ranked in the top 100 of last year's RPI, starting with a trip to the Long Beach State Invitational and games against Washington (twice), Santa Clara, Long Beach State and UCLA on Feb. 6-8. The Aztecs then host the Aztec Invitational Feb. 13-15 and play Mississippi State and Oklahoma State twice each and UC Santa Barbara once.
The Aztecs host the prestigious Campbell/Cartier Classic Feb. 20-22 at the Sportsplex USA in Poway for the 11th consecutive year. SDSU will face Iowa State, Washington, Hawai'i, Auburn and Loyola (Ill.) over the weekend. Other teams participating include Cal State Northridge, Fresno State, Long Beach State, Ohio, Oregon and Sacramento State.
The Aztecs then hit the road with single games against San Diego on Feb. 25 and Cal State Northridge on Feb. 27 and double-headers against Cal Poly on Feb. 28 and UC Santa Barbara on Feb. 29.
San Diego State hosts the SDSU Tournament March 5-7 with Nevada, UCLA, Syracuse and Cal Poly coming to America's Finest City. A home game against Florida on March 9 precedes a trip to the Clovis Auto Row Softball Classic in Fresno, Calif., and games against Fresno State, Oregon State, North Texas, UCLA and Long Beach State. Fresno State routinely leads the country in attendance, with crowds bigger than 2,000 being the norm. Two seasons ago when SDSU played in the tournament, 2,026 watched. A 1997 regular-season game between the teams drew 3,530, one of the largest regular-season crowds in NCAA softball history.
A home game against Oklahoma on March 16 sets the stage for the final non-conference tournament of the season, the San Diego Classic, co-hosted by San Diego and SDSU. The Aztecs will play Southern Utah, Indiana, Dartmouth, Buffalo and UC Riverside. Also taking part will be Central Connecticut State, Brigham Young and Canisius.
The MWC season begins with a doubleheader at Brigham Young on April 2. The Aztecs face each of its five MWC opponents (BYU, Utah, Colorado State, New Mexico and UNLV) in home-and-away double-headers between then and May 8. Louisiana Tech comes to SDSU for a non-conference game on May 4.
The MWC Tournament will be May 13-15 in Fort Collins, Colo. The NCAA Regionals take place May 20-23 at campus sites and the WCWS will be in Oklahoma City, Okla., from May 27-31.
Schedule Notes:
- 3 games against the 2003 NCAA champion-UCLA
- 7 games against 2003 WCWS teams
- 22 games against 2003 NCAA Tournament teams
- Home games against UCLA and fellow WCWS squads Washington and Oklahoma
- 11 home games against 2003 NCAA Tournament teams
- Feb. 6-21: 10 of 13 games against 2003 NCAA Tournament squads
- March 9-16: 6 of 7 games against 2003 NCAA Tournament squads
- Feb. 6-21: 14 consecutive games against teams ranked in the top 100 of the 2003 RPI