SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The sixth-ranked Cal State San Marcos softball team made its program debut in the NCAA Division II West Regional rankings at No. 1 in the first poll of 2022 announced on Wednesday.
 
If the Cougars (34-6, 23-5 CCAA) stay in the No. 1 or No. 2 spots though the end of the regular season and the completion of the CCAA Conference Tournament, they would be in line to host one of next month's West Region brackets.
 
Concordia University Irvine (42-5), ranked No. 9 in the nation, is the region's No. 2 team. Chico State (30-11) comes in next at No. 3, while Cal State Dominguez Hills (33-15) and Sonoma State (30-14) round out the top five at No. 4 and 5, respectively.
 
The rest of the Top 10 includes Cal State Monterey Bay (29-15) at No. 6, Azusa Pacific (30-14) at No. 7, Northwest Nazarene (23-15) at No. 8, Cal State East Bay (20-20) at No. 9 and Biola (18-17) at No. 10.
 
The CCAA has six teams in the regional rankings while the PacWest has three and the GNAC is only represented by Northwest Nazarene.
 
CSUSM leads Chico State (20-8 CCAA) by three games for the top spot in the CCAA standings. The CUI Eagles (28-0 PacWest), whom CSUSM swept in a doubleheader on April 9 in Irvine, secured their conference regular-season title last weekend.  
 
In the midst of their best season in the NCAA Division II era, the Cougars will return to play Friday when they host Cal State Monterey Bay in their final regular-season home series. Friday's doubleheader starts at 1 p.m.