Northwestern University Athletics
San Diego Classic Next Up For Northwestern
2/16/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 16, 2011
Northwestern's Complete San Diego Classic Game Notes Package (PDF Format) 
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern begins a swing of four-straight tournaments in the state of California this weekend, Feb. 18-20, when it travels to the San Diego Classic co-hosted by the University of San Diego and San Diego State.
NU opens the event at 11 a.m. CT Friday against UC Davis before playing host San Diego State at 9 p.m. CT. On Saturday, the Wildcats play Sacramento State at 11 a.m. CT and No. 10 Washington immediately after at 1:30 p.m. CT. All four of those games will be played at San Diego State's campus.
On Sunday, NU travels to USD to face UC Santa Barbara at 11 a.m. CT. Gametracker will be available for all games at NUsports.com while fans can follow live Twitter updates from @NU_SportsLIVE.
While San Diego is not one of Northwestern's traditional nonconference tournament stops, this weekend does serve as a homecoming for a pair of Wildcats. Senior Jessica Smith (Encinitas, Calif./La Costa Canyon) hails from Encinitas, Calif., which is up the coast from San Diego, while freshman Mari Majam (Pine Valley, Calif./Mountain Empire) is from Pine Valley, Calif., which is inland of the city.
It will be NU's first trip to the San Diego area since 10th-year head coach Kate Drohan's first season in 2002; the lone tie in her career record came on getaway day at this tourney when the 'Cats and San Diego State had to stop play in a 7-7 deadlock after seven innings of play due to heavy rains.
The Wildcats opened the season last weekend with a 3-2 record at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Ariz. NU's two losses came against ranked foes, including a 10-inning, international tiebreaker loss to then-No. 23 Oklahoma State. Sophomore pitcher Meghan Lamberth (Wildwood, Mo./Lafayette) earned all three of NU's wins, allowing a .208 opponent's batting average in 13.1 innings pitched. Sophomore Emily Allard (Antioch, Calif./Deer Valley) batted .500 while stealing a Big Ten-best five bases in five attempts and scoring four times. Majam and junior Adrienne Monka (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Rancho Cucamonga) combined for 15 RBIs just between the two of them.
Though the Wildcats will fly back to Evanston to attend classes during the week, NU will return to California Feb. 25-27 at the Cathedral City Classic, March 4-6 at the DeMarini Invitational in Fullerton and March 18-20 at the Louisville Slugger Classic in Palo Alto before kicking off the conference season March 26-27 against Michigan at Sharon J. Drysdale Field.
Countdown to the Grand: Northwestern enters this weekend 13 wins away from the 1,000th win in program history.
For Northwestern's complete game notes package for the 2011 San Diego Classic, download the .pdf at the top of this page.
••••••
Be the first to know what's going on with the 'Cats -- Follow @NU_Sports on Twitter, become a fan of Northwestern Athletics on Facebook! and subscribe to the NU Sports Express e-newsletter to receive the latest news, schedule updates and video and to interact with NU. For more information on following specific Northwestern teams online, visit our Social Media page!
