SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The Cal State San Marcos softball team (21-16, 14-10 CCAA) will hit the road for the final time in regular-season action this weekend, traveling to Cal State Monterey Bay (25-19, 16-12 CCAA) for a Friday doubleheader at 1 p.m. before closing out the weekend with an 11 a.m. twinbill on Saturday. 

LAST TIME OUT

• The Cougars split a rescheduled nonconference doubleheader at Azusa Pacific on April 8, dropping game one 7-2 before bouncing back with a 4-2 win in the nightcap. 
• In game two, Czar Fleischman went 3-for-3 with a double and a run while Zoe Ballen picked up the win and Savannah Coyle collected the save.

BY THE NUMBERS

• The Cougars are "Under Consideration" to qualify for the 2023 NCAA Division II Softball Championship Tournament, according to the first official regional rankings released Wednesday by the NCAA.  New this year for NCAA Division II sports with regional rankings, schools will be listed as under consideration in alphabetical order for the first ranking of the season. Next week's rankings will reflect the actual regional rankings.
• In the West Region for softball, 10 teams are listed this week, including six from the CCAA – Cal State Dominguez Hills, Cal State Monterey Bay, Cal State San Marcos, Cal State San Bernardino, San Francisco State and Sonoma State.  Azusa Pacific, Biola and Concordia University Irvine represent the PacWest while Northwest Nazarene is the lone GNAC school under consideration this week.
• CSUSM is third in the CCAA standings with a .583 win percentage, just ahead of Cal State Monterey Bay (.571). 
• The Cougars are third in the CCAA with a .283 batting average, behind leader Sonoma State's .316 and Cal Poly Humboldt's .289.
• CSUSM has the second-highest slugging percentage in the conference at .396.
• The Cougars rank third in the CCAA with 0.43 double plays per game (13th in DII) and fourth with 16 double plays (30th in DII). 
• CSUSM is second in triples in the conference per game (0.24) and third in triples (9). 
• Paige Donnelly is second in the CCAA in walks per game (0.58) and third with a .473 on-base percentage.
• Bianca Gutierrez is the third-toughest CCAA Player to strikeout, averaging one strikeout per 25.0 at-bats. 

2023 NFCA PLAYER OF THE YEAR WATCHLIST

• For the second consecutive season, Paige Donnelly is getting national recognition after being named to the 2023 Tucci/NFCA DII Player & Pitcher of the Year Watchlist. 
• Donnelly is in the top 10 in the CCAA in nine categories – second in OPS (1.148), second in on-base percentage (.523), third in batting average (.409), fourth in walks (18), fourth in slugging percentage (.625), fifth in RBIs (21), fifth in hit-by-pitches (4), eighth in home runs (4) and eighth in hits (36). 
• Donnelly is the only returning NFCA All-American in the West Region. 
• Voted on by the NFCA's Division II All-American Committee, the 2023 Tucci/NFCA Player and Pitcher of the Year will be announced on June 1. All student-athletes are eligible for the end-of-the-season award and do not have to be on this list to be considered.
• 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.

 

GAMES 38-41 | CAL STATE MONTEREY BAY
Date	Friday, April 21 - Saturday, April 22
Times	Friday - 1 p.m. (DH) Saturday - 11 A.m. (DH)
Location	Seaside, Calif.
Venue	Otter Sports Complex
Records	CSUSM (21-16, 14-10 CCAA) CSUMB (25-19, 16-12 CCAA)
Live Stats	SideArm Stats
Live Video ($)	CCAA Network

 

OTTER INFO

• Fourth in the CCAA standings, CSUMB is coming off a series split at Cal State Dominguez Hills. The Otters dropped the first game of both doubleheaders, 2-1 and 1-0 before bouncing back with 3-2 wins in both nightcaps. 
• The previous weekend, the Otters also split a four-game series at home against San Francisco State. CSUMB collected wins in its opening twinbill games, 2-0 and 11-0 (5 inn.) but dropped the second games, 2-0 and 5-4. 
• CSUMB's pitching staff has hit a NCAA Division II low five batters this season and has the 20th lowest WHIP and 24th lowest strikeout-to-walk ratio in the nation. 
• The Otters have the third-lowest batting average in the CCAA at .260. 
• CSUMB leads the CCAA in doubles (66) and doubles per game (1.50). 
• Cassie Gasper and Kassidy Stetler have each recorded a conference-best 18 complete games this season, ranking them 11th in the nation. 
• Gasper is the CCAA leader in hits allowed per seven innings at 4.66 and with six shutouts while boasting the second-lowest ERA in the conference at 1.13.  
• Alyssa Burt is the Otter offensive leader with a .308 batting average and the second-most doubles in the CCAA (13) this season. 
• The Cougars split the 2022 series against Monterey Bay, winning the series opener, 6-0, and finale, 8-0 (5 inn.) with 10-1 (5 inn.) and 11-4 losses in between. 
• CSUSM went 1-1 at the CCAA Tournament against the Otters on their home field last season, taking game one 10-4 before being booted from the tournament with an 8-6 loss. 
• The Cougars got their revenge the next weekend, claiming a 5-0 victory in the NCAA West Regional in San Marcos to end the Otters' season. 
• CSUSM is 9-17 in the all-time series against Monterey Bay and 1-9 when playing in Seaside. 
• The Otters were picked to finish fifth in the 2023 CCAA Preseason Softball 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.
• Ewing has complied a 84-66 (.560) in her five seasons at CSUSM. 
• 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.