The Charlotte 49ers softball team has left for San Diego, Calif. to play their first road games of the season at the 2012 San Diego Classic. The 49ers will face Cal Poly, San Diego State, Long Beach State, Brigham Young and Fresno State over the weekend.

On Friday, Charlotte will face Cal Poly first at 4:30 p.m. EST, followed by San Diego State at 10 p.m. The Niners will see Long Beach State (5 p.m.) and Brigham Young (9:30 p.m.) on Saturday. Action wraps up with a final matchup against Fresno State Sunday at noon.

Charlotte is led by freshman Alex Rogers, who is batting .356 with a team-high 16 hits through 14 starts at center field. Junior Briana Gwaltney leads the team in home runs, with six and RBIs, with 14. Classmate Kalie Lang is also an offensive force, batting .319 with a team-high nine doubles.

The Niners pitching staff features rookie Lexi Betancourt, who leads the squad with a 5-2 record and a 3.35 ERA in 48.0 innings pitched. Sophomore Katie Watkins is 3-4 with a 3.85 ERA in 40.0 innings with a team-high 44 strikeouts. Freshman Chelsea Lisikatos has pitched 8.0 innings of relief with a 2.62 ERA on the year.

The 49ers dropped their final home game of February to South Carolina, 13-7 on Wednesday night. Four Charlotte players hit home runs in that game, the first time it had been done since March 8, 2008 vs. Charleston Southern. Gwaltney went deep twice, becoming the ninth player in school history to do so and the first since Tenaya Tucker homered twice vs. George Washington last year.

For tournament information and a complete schedule, visit the link on this page. Live stats for all games will be available through that page and on www.Charlotte49ers.com.