After BYU softball’s 12-day road trip to California and Mexico, the Cougars returned to California to participate in the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic.
This year, the Collegiate Classic is held at Big League Dreams Park in Cathedral City.
The Collegiate Classic has been going on for years and the goal of the tournament was to help athletes and coaches connect. This year there are 31 teams competing, including BYU and some other Big 12 rivals. This is the Cougar’s 18th appearance at this tournament out of their 25 seasons.
Mary Nutter has been a softball icon. The first time she ever played softball, she was 18. Nutter went on to be a very successful softball coach at Pittsburg State University and became a softball ambassador and dedicated her life to sport and educating players and coaches.
Multiple athletes on the BYU softball team grew up watching this prestigious tournament in California and now they are playing at this event. This classic is not just a tournament, but it raises money and gives scholarships to help softball athletes in pursuing a college education.
In the beginning of February, the team headed to California for the La Jolla Invitational. In this, the Cougars were undefeated, going 3-0 with two of the games being cancelled for weather reasons.
After that, BYU headed to Mexico for the Puerta Vallarta College Challenge. In Mexico, the team went 3-2.
With it’s 6-2 record, BYU will play five games during the tournament including closing out the tournament against No. 11/14 Duke on Saturday.
The Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic is part of multiple preseason tournaments that the Cougars are participating in before Big 12 play starts the first week of March.