The road: A life full of suitcases, duffle bags and uncomfortable motel mattresses.
This is life of a collegiate athlete for half of his or her respective season. As soothing as it is to play in front of the home crowd, a team is more often judged by its ability to go on the road and beat teams away from the comfort of its own stadium.
This week the San Diego State softball team travels to California State University, Fullerton for the Judi Garman Classic.
There will be no home crowd cheering on the Aztecs, the field will be unfamiliar and it will be tough to replicate the feeling of waking up in one’s own bed. The Aztecs look to push these speed bumps aside and light up the competition this weekend in Fullerton.
Thus far in the season SDSU has struggled away from home. Its current record stands at 4-5 playing on a neutral site and 0-1 on the road, compared to the Aztecs’ home record of 7-1.
The traveling Aztecs do have the advantage of experience to rely on playing at Fullerton. They opened up their season with two victories and no losses in the same stadium less than a month ago and look to call upon some of that same magic.
SDSU is scheduled to face University of Pacific, No. 3/2 University of Michigan, University of Iowa, California State University, Long Beach, and finally the host team California State Fullerton.
This tournament provides the Aztecs with a flurry of opportunities to prove and improve themselves. They play plenty of teams on a neutral site, they play the host university and they play another ranked team.
Up to this point the Aztecs have been unable to upset ranked opposition (0-6), with some of those games slipping away in the final innings. However, the highly ranked Michigan Wolverines just concluded a long weekend tournament in Tempe, Ariz., so this could be the tournament where SDSU gets that win against a ranked opponent.
The Aztecs have the reigning Mountain West player of the week in freshman catcher Jenavee Peres. They also have en extra day of rest and practice to prepare them for the weekend on the road after their most recent home tournament ended early due to rain.
