CHICO, Calif. – After winning its first CCAA Regular-Season title in program history, it came as little surprise that the No. 9 Cal State San Marcos softball team dominated the major All-CCAA awards in addition to five Cougars earning All-CCAA honors for the first time, the conference office announced on Tuesday,
 
First baseman Paige Donnelly was named the CCAA Newcomer of the Year, pitcher Savannah Coyle was selected CCAA Freshman of the Year and Stef Ewing collected her first CCAA Coach of the Year award.
 
Joining Donnelly and Coyle on the All-CCAA first team was outfielder Bianca Gutierrez while third baseman Nikki Andelin and pitcher Jayline Sloss earned All-CCAA second-team honors.
 
A finalist for the CCAA's Most Valuable Player, Donnelly led the league in RBIs (43) and doubles (12) while finishing in the top four in batting average (.423), slugging percentage (.721) and on-base percentage (.475) in 34 conference games. The Poway native has recorded a team-leading 16 multi-RBI games and is second on the team with 17 multi-hit games. She, along with Gutierrez, has reached base in 15 consecutive games – a season record. 
 
Coyle has been outstanding in her first collegiate season as she earned two CCAA Pitcher of the Week honors. She finished the regular season with a 13-2 record against CCAA opponents in 97.0 innings, tossing 10 complete games and four shutouts. The left-hander was second in the league in ERA (1.44), opposing batting average (.198) and strikeouts looking (28). Coyle, whose five saves lead the nation, has accumulated a conference-leading four saves this season. The Oceanside native has also been big at the plate this season for CSUSM, ranking third on the team in batting average (.351) and slugging percentage (.473).
 
In her fourth season at CSUSM, this is only Ewing's second complete season leading the Cougars as the 2020 season was cut short and 2021 was canceled completely due to COVID-19. In those four short years, Ewing has transformed a team that had a 10-28 conference record in 2019 to a CCAA title with a 28-8 conference record.
 
Gutierrez was the CCAA batting average leader with a .447 clip and shared the conference hit leader title with 2022 CCAA Most Valuable Player Brylynn Vallejos of San Francisco State with 51 this season against CCAA opponents. The Camarillo native has a 10-game hitting streak entering the CCAA Tournament this week, which matches her previous team-high set on March 6-19.
 
Andelin, the only Cougar from the 2019 squad, ranks fourth in the CCAA with 26 runs scored in her 33 conference games. The Folsom native leads the team in stolen bases (18) while ranking second on the team in doubles (7). She is third in hits (45), RBIs (20) and walks (11) and fourth in batting average (.336).
 
Sloss held CCAA opponents to the third-lowest batting average (.210) in conference this season while ranking sixth in ERA (1.99). The Bakersfield native tallied a 9-2 record against conference opponents this season, tossing four complete games and three shutouts in 77.1 innings.
 
CSUSM (39-9) makes its CCAA Tournament debut as the top seed on Thursday night at 6:30 p.m. on the campus of Cal State Monterey Bay in Seaside.  The Cougars will face the winner of fourth-seeded Cal State Dominguez Hills and fifth-seeded CSUMB who play at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday.
 
The winner of the tournament receives the CCAA's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament beginning on May 12. The Cougars currently hold the No. 1 seed in the West Region and are essentially guaranteed a spot regardless of the outcome of the CCAA Tournament.