SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The No. 13 Cal State San Marcos softball will begin CCAA play this weekend, hosting Cal Poly Humboldt in a four-game series on Friday and Saturday in the Cougars' 2023 home-opening series. The two teams will play a doubleheader on Friday at 12 p.m. before closing out the weekend with a 10 a.m. first pitch on Saturday. 

LAST TIME OUT

• Prior to last weekend's break, the Cougars went 3-2 at the Concordia University Irvine Kickoff Classic Feb. 3-5.
• CSUSM opened the season with a 7-1 victory over Colorado Christian before squeaking out a 3-2 win over Dominican on Friday, Feb. 3. 
• The next day proved to be a tough one for the Cougars as they suffered a 14-4 six-inning loss to Montana State Billings before dropping a 2-1 decision to Western Oregon. 
• The Cougars ended the weekend on a high note, shutting out Hawai'i Pacific, 2-0, in their tournament finale. 

BY THE NUMBERS

• The Cougars are No. 13 in the first official NFCA Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll of 2023 after making their debut at No. 11 in the preseason poll. 
• Bianca Gutierrez was named to the 2023 CUI Kickoff Classic All-Tournament Team after batting .375 with six hits, four RBIs, one run and no strikeouts. 
• Madison Waymire is leading the Cougar offense with a .533 batting average, eight hits, five runs, three RBIs and three walks. 
• Waymire's .533 is the best in the CCAA and eighth highest in Division II with 15 or more at bats under their belt. 

 

GAMES 6-9 | CAL POLY HUMBOLDT
Date	Friday, Feb. 17 - Saturday, Feb. 18
Times	Feb. 17 - 12 p.m. (DH) Feb. 18 - 10 a.m. (DH)
Location	San Marcos, Calif.
Venue	CSUSM Softball Field
Records	CSUSM (3-2, 0-0 CCAA) HUM (2-6, 0-0 CCAA)
Live Stats	SideArm Stats
Live Video ($)	CCAA Network
Tickets	HomeTown Ticketing

   

INSIDE THE JACKS

• CSUSM won the 2022 series in Arcata, taking the first three games by scores of 9-1 (5 inn.), 3-2 (9 inn.) and 7-1 before falling in the series finale 10-2. 
• The Cougars and Jacks have met 23 previous times with Humboldt leading the all-time series at 17-6. 
• Humboldt also did not compete in any games last weekend after returning from their trip to Texas the previous weekend. 
• The Jacks took part in the 2023 DII Spring Invitational hosted by the University of Texas-Tyler in Conroe, Texas, to begin their 2023 campaign that included facing two top-20 teams. 
• Humboldt fell 11-7 in its season opener against then-No. 13 Augustana before recording a 12-3 victory over Texas A&M International on Feb. 2. 
• On Friday, Feb. 3, the Jacks fell 4-3 to St. Mary's (TX) before picking up their second win of the season with a 5-1 decision against Texas Women University. 
• Humboldt dropped its final four games of the tournament – 5-1 to St. Edward's, 9-1 (5 inn.) to then-No. 18 Angelo State, 9-4 to Regis and 6-3 to Oklahoma Christian. 
• In 2022, the Jacks finished in last place in the CCAA standings with a 7-29 conference record, concluding the season with a 14-39 overall record. 
• Humboldt is the only current CCAA member to have won a NCAA Division II softball championship, doing so in 2008. Four former CCAA members, Cal State Northridge (1983, 1984, 1985, 1987), Cal State Bakersfield (1988, 1989, 1990), UC Davis (2003) and UC San Diego (2011), have won the title but have since moved up to NCAA Division I. 
• Three Jacks were featured on the 2023 CCAA Softball Preseason Watchlist - senior catcher Micaela Harris, junior third baseman Izzy Starr and sophomore shortstop Vanessa Saltos. 
• Starr is leading the Jacks' offense with 11 hits, six RBIs and a .667 slugging percentage. 
• Harris is the Division II stolen base leader with 16 steals and averages two stolen bases a game. 
• The Jacks were picked to finish last in the 2023 CCAA Preseason Softball Coaches Poll.

COUGAR OUTLOOK

• CSUSM has 17 returners for the 2023 season, including 2022 All-CCAA honorees Paige Donnelly (first team), Savannah Coyle (first team), Bianca Gutierrez (first team) and Jayline Sloss (second team). 
• The Cougars will have seven newcomers this season with six freshmen and one transfer.
• Athletically, the Cougars are made up of 13 redshirt sophomores, five true sophomores and six true freshmen.
• CSUSM was picked to repeat as conference champions in the 2023 CCAA Preseason Coaches Poll.

 

THE EWING FILE

• 2022 CCAA Coach of the Year Stef Ewing enters her fifth season in charge of the Cougar softball season.
• The Cougars finished the 2022 historic season surpassing all expectations by winning the program's first CCAA Regular-Season Championship with a 28-8 conference record while going 45-14 overall and hosting the NCAA West and Super West Regional as the top seed. 
• In her four seasons, she has coached two NFCA All-American third team selections, seven All-CCAA honorees (three first team selections), a CCAA Newcomer of the Year and CCAA Freshman of the Year. 
• Ewing captured her first win as a collegiate head coach on Feb. 17, 2019 as the Cougars recorded a walk-off 5-4 victory over Concordia Portland at CSUSM Softball Field.
• She previously served as the assistant coach at New Mexico State where she helped the Aggies to three WAC Regular Season Conference Championships and two WAC Conference Tournament Championships.