University of Northern Colorado Athletics
Friday, February 23
Stockton, CA
2:15 pm
University of Northern Colorado
vs
Seattle
Preview: @bearssoftball Heads West for The Libby Matson Tournament
2/22/2018 1:13:00 PM | Softball
Northern Colorado plays games against Seattle, Pacific, and Nevada
GREELEY, Colo.— Northern Colorado softball will be traveling to the west coast to play five games in the Libby Matson Tournament. The Bears will face off against Seattle, Nevada, and host Pacific over the weekend.
This past weekend, UNC went 2-3 in the Bearkats Softball Tournament, with wins against Seton Hall and Sam Houston State. The Bears fell to current No. 1 Washington and Wichita State while dropping their final game against Sam Houston State.
Valerie Vidal pitched the first seven-inning, no-hitter in program history in the 5-0 victory over Seton Hall. Her performance in the tournament earned her Big Sky Pitcher of the Week honors for the second straight week. Vidal had a 2-1 record with a 2.19 ERA in 16 innings pitched, along with 14 strikeouts and five walks.
On the season, Vidal ranks first in the Big Sky with two shutouts, which is also good for 13th in the nation. She also ranks first in the Big Sky and 21st in the nation with four wins. Her 25 strikeouts are also good for third in the conference and 89th in the nation.
Lauren Paige showed her consistency over the weekend with a .308 batting average and two doubles. She leads the team with a .360 batting average on the year. Paige has also been crucial for the Bears out of the bullpen and has not allowed a run in four appearances while striking out eight and walking two.
Mady Young showed her ability on the bases over the weekend, recording four stolen bases on four attempts. For the season, Young is seven-for-seven on stolen base attempts and that statistic leads the Big Sky.
Along with Young, Kaley Garcia has been a reliable source of extra base hits for UNC so far this season. Her four doubles are tied for first in the Big Sky and she has a .276 batting average and seven RBIs for the Bears.
UNC has a good balance between its offense and defense this season, ranking first in the Big Sky with 4.40 runs per game and a 3.05 ERA.
The defense for UNC did struggle over the weekend, committing seven errors for a .949 fielding average. The seven errors bring UNC's total for the season up to 10 and the have a .961 fielding average. The Bears also struggled to hit with runners on base, going 13-66 (.197) and 0-6 with the bases loaded.
The Bears will need to keep up the consistency in all aspects of their game this weekend, with games against three quality opponents.
Scouting Seattle
Geofff Hirai started his third season with Red Hawks and the team has a 6-4 record after the first two weeks of competition. Seattle went 3-2 in the Kajikawa Classic to start the season, picking up wins over Stanford (13-9) and Cal State Northridge (6-4). The Red Hawks fell to Notre Dame (4-3) and Nebraska (3-2) in that same tournament. In the Marucci Classic, Seattle had another 3-2 performance with wins over Hawaii (4-2) and Utah State (9-5).
First Baseman Madison Cathcart leads the Red Hawks with a .412 batting average, along with six home runs and 12 RBIs. Cathcart's slugging percentage is a staggering 1.059. Outfielder Ally Choate has also been productive for Seattle with a .400 average and five RBIs. Carley Nance has performed well for the Red Hawks in the circle with a 4-2 record and a 2.86 ERA.
Northern Colorado played a series against Seattle at the end of the 2012 season when both teams were a part of the Pacific Coast Softball Conference. UNC won three of the four games the two teams played, with a 10-0 win in the final game.
Scouting Pacific
Pacific has started the season 6-4 in head coach Brian Kolze's 26th season leading the Tigers. The season started for Pacific in the Grand Canyon Kickoff Tournament, where the team went 3-2, including a 7-6 win against host Grand Canyon. The Tigers were shutout by previous No. 1 Oklahoma, 7-0. The following weekend, Pacific went 3-2 in the Bulldog Classic, sweeping CSU Bakersfield in two games. They lost to host Fresno State 10-5.
Infielder Sydney Lahners has been hitting everything in sight for the Tigers, with a .519 average and a 1.148 slugging percentage. She also leads the team with five home runs and 14 RBIs. Along with Lahners, infielder Samantha Owen has an impressive .412 average and is second on the team with 10 RBIs.
Northern Colorado dropped a pair of games to Pacific the last time the two teams met in 2013. During the Miken Classic in Waco, TX, Pacific won 8-0 and 10-4 in the February tournament.
Scouting Nevada
Nevada has started its season with a 3-7 record under second-year head coach Josh Taylor. The Wolfpack played its first games in the Puerto Vallarta College challenge, going 2-3 in the weekend tournament. Nevada defeated Louisiana Tech twice (9-3, 5-1), but lost to No. 23 James Madison (8-7). In the second weekend, the Wolfpack traveled to Las Vegas, Nev. for the Desert Classic. Nevada lost four of five games, with its lone win coming against UTEP (6-2).
Despite their record, Nevada's offense has been productive and boosts multiple hitters with batting averages over .400. Among them are infielder Kenzi Goins with a .417 average and Laurent Gutierrez at .409. The team is batting a collective .307 on the season and has put up 54 runs so far. The pitching staff has been struggling with a 4.41 ERA and surrendering 58 runs this season. Julia Jensen has been the Wolfpack's best pitcher with a 2-3 record and a 3.00 ERA.
UNC and Nevada played in 2015 during the TC Crown Jewel Tournament, with the Bears topping the Wolfpack 2-1.
Following the Bears
Northern Colorado starts the Libby Matson Tournament against Seattle on Friday, Feb. 23rd at 2:15 pm MT and will then play Pacific later that day at 6:45 pm The games resume on Saturday, Feb. 24th with a matchup against Nevada at 1:15 pm, followed by another game against Pacific at 5:45 pm Tournament play for UNC concludes on Sunday, Feb. 25th with game against Seattle at 11 am
Live stats for the games will be provided by PacificTigers.com and you can follow the games live on Twitter with @bearssoftball.
This past weekend, UNC went 2-3 in the Bearkats Softball Tournament, with wins against Seton Hall and Sam Houston State. The Bears fell to current No. 1 Washington and Wichita State while dropping their final game against Sam Houston State.
Valerie Vidal pitched the first seven-inning, no-hitter in program history in the 5-0 victory over Seton Hall. Her performance in the tournament earned her Big Sky Pitcher of the Week honors for the second straight week. Vidal had a 2-1 record with a 2.19 ERA in 16 innings pitched, along with 14 strikeouts and five walks.
On the season, Vidal ranks first in the Big Sky with two shutouts, which is also good for 13th in the nation. She also ranks first in the Big Sky and 21st in the nation with four wins. Her 25 strikeouts are also good for third in the conference and 89th in the nation.
Lauren Paige showed her consistency over the weekend with a .308 batting average and two doubles. She leads the team with a .360 batting average on the year. Paige has also been crucial for the Bears out of the bullpen and has not allowed a run in four appearances while striking out eight and walking two.
Mady Young showed her ability on the bases over the weekend, recording four stolen bases on four attempts. For the season, Young is seven-for-seven on stolen base attempts and that statistic leads the Big Sky.
Along with Young, Kaley Garcia has been a reliable source of extra base hits for UNC so far this season. Her four doubles are tied for first in the Big Sky and she has a .276 batting average and seven RBIs for the Bears.
UNC has a good balance between its offense and defense this season, ranking first in the Big Sky with 4.40 runs per game and a 3.05 ERA.
The defense for UNC did struggle over the weekend, committing seven errors for a .949 fielding average. The seven errors bring UNC's total for the season up to 10 and the have a .961 fielding average. The Bears also struggled to hit with runners on base, going 13-66 (.197) and 0-6 with the bases loaded.
The Bears will need to keep up the consistency in all aspects of their game this weekend, with games against three quality opponents.
Scouting Seattle
Geofff Hirai started his third season with Red Hawks and the team has a 6-4 record after the first two weeks of competition. Seattle went 3-2 in the Kajikawa Classic to start the season, picking up wins over Stanford (13-9) and Cal State Northridge (6-4). The Red Hawks fell to Notre Dame (4-3) and Nebraska (3-2) in that same tournament. In the Marucci Classic, Seattle had another 3-2 performance with wins over Hawaii (4-2) and Utah State (9-5).
First Baseman Madison Cathcart leads the Red Hawks with a .412 batting average, along with six home runs and 12 RBIs. Cathcart's slugging percentage is a staggering 1.059. Outfielder Ally Choate has also been productive for Seattle with a .400 average and five RBIs. Carley Nance has performed well for the Red Hawks in the circle with a 4-2 record and a 2.86 ERA.
Northern Colorado played a series against Seattle at the end of the 2012 season when both teams were a part of the Pacific Coast Softball Conference. UNC won three of the four games the two teams played, with a 10-0 win in the final game.
Scouting Pacific
Pacific has started the season 6-4 in head coach Brian Kolze's 26th season leading the Tigers. The season started for Pacific in the Grand Canyon Kickoff Tournament, where the team went 3-2, including a 7-6 win against host Grand Canyon. The Tigers were shutout by previous No. 1 Oklahoma, 7-0. The following weekend, Pacific went 3-2 in the Bulldog Classic, sweeping CSU Bakersfield in two games. They lost to host Fresno State 10-5.
Infielder Sydney Lahners has been hitting everything in sight for the Tigers, with a .519 average and a 1.148 slugging percentage. She also leads the team with five home runs and 14 RBIs. Along with Lahners, infielder Samantha Owen has an impressive .412 average and is second on the team with 10 RBIs.
Northern Colorado dropped a pair of games to Pacific the last time the two teams met in 2013. During the Miken Classic in Waco, TX, Pacific won 8-0 and 10-4 in the February tournament.
Scouting Nevada
Nevada has started its season with a 3-7 record under second-year head coach Josh Taylor. The Wolfpack played its first games in the Puerto Vallarta College challenge, going 2-3 in the weekend tournament. Nevada defeated Louisiana Tech twice (9-3, 5-1), but lost to No. 23 James Madison (8-7). In the second weekend, the Wolfpack traveled to Las Vegas, Nev. for the Desert Classic. Nevada lost four of five games, with its lone win coming against UTEP (6-2).
Despite their record, Nevada's offense has been productive and boosts multiple hitters with batting averages over .400. Among them are infielder Kenzi Goins with a .417 average and Laurent Gutierrez at .409. The team is batting a collective .307 on the season and has put up 54 runs so far. The pitching staff has been struggling with a 4.41 ERA and surrendering 58 runs this season. Julia Jensen has been the Wolfpack's best pitcher with a 2-3 record and a 3.00 ERA.
UNC and Nevada played in 2015 during the TC Crown Jewel Tournament, with the Bears topping the Wolfpack 2-1.
Following the Bears
Northern Colorado starts the Libby Matson Tournament against Seattle on Friday, Feb. 23rd at 2:15 pm MT and will then play Pacific later that day at 6:45 pm The games resume on Saturday, Feb. 24th with a matchup against Nevada at 1:15 pm, followed by another game against Pacific at 5:45 pm Tournament play for UNC concludes on Sunday, Feb. 25th with game against Seattle at 11 am
Live stats for the games will be provided by PacificTigers.com and you can follow the games live on Twitter with @bearssoftball.
Players Mentioned
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INF/P
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INF
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