BY THE NUMBERS

• With the series sweep at Chico State, CSUSM slid into the top 10 of the NFCA Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll to No. 8 on Tuesday, March 29 and stayed steady there this week after not playing over the weekend.
• CSUSM is off to its best start since moving to NCAA Division II in 2016.
• With Chico State splitting its series at Cal State Dominguez Hills two weeks ago, the Cougars now have a six-game lead in the CCAA standings.
• Last weekend, Stanislaus State's Tournament of Champions was played after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic. The CCAA went 27-15 against the PacWest Conference and GNAC.
• The Cougars are on a 12-game win streak after posting series sweeps over Cal State East Bay, then-No. 11 Chico State and San Francisco State.
• After beginning the season 1-1, the Cougars went on a 13-game win streak (Feb. 5-25), their longest since moving to NCAA Division II. The program's record is 22 consecutive wins set between Feb. 18 - March 21, 2012 when CSUSM competed at the NAIA level.
• The Cougars are supporting a .332 batting average, the highest in the CCAA and 26th best in the nation. 
• CSUSM's pitching has been outstanding as well with a 1.88 ERA in 234.1 innings, ranking second behind Cal State Monterey Bay (1.53) in the CCAA and 17th in the nation. 
• The Cougars have the third-best win-loss percentage at .912 with teams playing more than 20 games so far this season. NCAA West Region and future opponent Concordia University Irvine leads the category with a 38-3 record (.944). 
• Savannah Coyle remains the only pitcher in all of NCAA Division II to record five saves this season. 
• Coyle leads the CCAA with a 0.80 ERA and has the second lowest in Division II among pitchers with more than 75.0 innings pitched.
• Coyle is also on top of the CCAA statistics in hits allowed per seven innings (4.43) and WHIP (.77).
• Paige Donnelly leads the CCAA with .36 doubles per game (No. 60 in D2),  39 RBIs (No. 21 in D2), 1.18 RBIs per game (32nd in D2) and .723 slugging percentage (88th in D2).
• Bianca Gutierrez is the toughest player to strikeout out in the CCAA with just three strikeouts in her 97 at-bats this season.
• Donnelly and Gutierrez are No. 1-2 in the CCAA in batting average with .436 and .423, respectively. 
• CSUSM has the fifth-longest active win streak in the nation. 
• The Cougars have the toughest schedule overall among the CCAA schools and rank 20th in the nation. 

INSIDE NO. 2 CUI EAGLES

• Prior to last weekend's games, the CUI Eagles were voted by the NFCA the top team in the country among NCAA Division II schools for the second time in program history.
• The Eagles saw their perfect season snapped at the Tournament of Champions by three CCAA schools. Stanislaus State, who entered the game against CUI with just eight wins on the season, registered a 6-1 victory over the Eagles on Friday night. Sonoma State and Cal State Monterey Bay followed with 5-2 and 4-2 victories, respectively.
• CUI is posting the best ERA in the nation at 0.97 over 288 innings with four pitchers featured in the top 15 – No. 2 Cortney Koelmans (0.70, 59.2 IP), No. 4 Katlin Entrup (0.80; 87.0 IP), No. 12 Erika Morris (1.00, 69.2 IP), No. 15 Raeonna Flores (1.09, 57.2 IP).
• At the plate, the Eagles rank second in the PacWest with a .302 batting average with Megan Massa leading the charge with a .442 clip.
• Massa leads the PacWest in hits (57) while ranking seventh in the nation.
• Like the Cougars, CUI has a six-game lead in its conference standings.
• The Eagles were picked to finish second behind the 2021 National Runner-Up Biola in the 2022 PacWest Preseason Softball Coaches Poll.

Two Cougars Named to 2022 NFCA DII National Player & Pitcher of the Year Top 50 List

• Redshirt freshman Paige Donnelly and freshman Savannah Coyle were named to the 2022 Schutt Sports/NFCA DII National Player & Pitcher of the Year Top 50 list.
• Donnelly is leading the CCAA in six categories – batting average (.436), doubles (12), doubles per game (.36), RBIs (39), RBIs per game (1.18) and slugging percentage (.723). The Poway native has recorded multi-RBIs in a team-leading 12 games, including two five-RBI games. 
• Coyle is already a two-time CCAA Pitcher of the Week honoree and leads the conference in ERA (0.80), WHIP (0.77) and hits allowed per seven innings (4.43). The Oceanside native has acquired a NCAA Division II-leading five saves. 
• Coyle has accumulated a 13-1 record in 87.0 innings, limiting opponents to a .172 batting average. She has registered 85 strikeouts while walking only 12 batters. 
• Offensively, Coyle has the team's third-highest batting average at .384 while boasting 28 hits, 11 RBIs, seven runs, three doubles, a triple and a home run.
• The Player of the Year award was created in 2015 to honor the outstanding athletic achievements among softball student-athletes throughout NCAA Division II. In 2019, the Association expanded the award to include a Player and Pitcher of the Year. The list is compiled and the award is voted on by the elected members of the NFCA Division II All-American Committee with one head coach representing each of the eight NCAA regions. To be eligible, a student-athletes' head coach must be a member.
• The Top 25 finalists for the 2022 Schutt Sports / NFCA Division II National Player and Pitcher of the Year awards will be announced on May 5. A student-athlete does not have to be on the Top 50 list to be considered for the Top 25. The winner of each award will be announced on June 2, following the conclusion of the 2022 season.