CHICO – There are few things from the 2009 season that this year’s Chico State softball team wants to repeat, with perhaps one notable exception – the success the Wildcats experienced at the Mizuno Tournament of Champions. The three-day, 73-game event, hosted by Cal State Stanislaus and featuring 22 West Region schools, gets underway Friday at Pedretti Park and Warrior Field in Turlock, with the ’Cats scheduled for a minimum of five games and hoping to meet or beat last season’s 5-1 tourney record.

Chico State, 13-11 on the year and coming off a doubleheader sweep of California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) leader Sonoma State last weekend, will begin Tournament of Champions play Friday at 9:00 a.m. against Chaminade University, then at 11:00 a.m. the ’Cats take on the Red Storm of Dixie State. Saturday Chico State will face three different opponents – the Wildcats will take on Grand Canyon University at 9:00 a.m., Western Washington at 11:15, and Hawaii Hilo at 4:15 p.m. How well the ’Cats perform in those five games will determine if Chico State moves on to championship bracket play on Sunday.

The Wildcats take a break from CCAA play still very much in the mix for one of the conference’s four championship tournament berths. Though sitting in seventh place with a 10-10 CCAA record, Chico State is just one game back of fourth place San Francisco State with 16 conference games remaining. All four opponents the ’Cats take on in April – Cal State Stanislaus, Cal State San Bernardino, San Francisco State and Cal State East Bay – currently own sub-.500 records.

Chico State’s Mizuno Tournament of Champions opponents should provide the Wildcats with a competitive tuneup for the final month of conference play. Chaminade enters Friday’s action 13-19 on the season and in fifth place in the Pacific West Conference with a 10-14 record. Dixie State is third in the Pac West with a 10-4 conference mark and a 15-8 overall record. Grand Canyon, ranked No. 18 nationally, is 25-4 this season and in second place in the Pac West with a 12-4 conference record. Western Washington is 9-11 so far this season, but playing .500 ball (8-8) in conference play and sits in fourth place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) standings. Hawaii Hilo is 22-9 coming into the Tournament of Champions, and currently resides in fourth place in the Pac West with a 17-7 conference mark.

The Mizuno Tournament of Champions field includes all 10 CCAA teams, all six schools competing in the GNAC, and six schools from the Pacific West Conference.

CLICK HERE for a complete schedule, start times and Tournament of Champions pool information.