• CSUSM earned its fifth series win of 2023 last weekend after taking three of four against visiting Stanislaus State. 
• The Cougars opened the series with a 4-3 victory after Klarissa Munoz scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the sixth inning. CSUSM concluded the Friday doubleheader sweep with an 8-0 mercy-rule walk-off two-run homer by Paige Donnelly in the bottom of the fifth inning. 
• After falling 3-0 in Saturday's twinbill opener, the Cougars broke up a stalemate in the bottom of the sixth when Donnelly crushed a double to left center that plated Bianca Gutierrez, who had drawn a leadoff walk. 
• Savannah Coyle picked up her third CCAA Pitcher of the Week honor of the season and the fifth of her career (see below).

• CSUSM is ranked No. 5 in the first official NCAA Division II Softball West Region rankings released last Wednesday by the NCAA. This marks CSUSM's second consecutive appearance in the first NCAA West Region Poll as the Cougars made their debut last season at No. 1.
• At 41-9 overall, the PacWest Conference's Concordia University Irvine topped the West Region poll followed by four CCAA schools with Sonoma State (33-8) at No. 2, Cal State San Bernardino (28-17) at No. 3, Cal State Dominguez Hills (27-15) at No. 4 and CSUSM (24-17) rounding out the top five. Northwest Nazarene (29-15) is the only Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) member in the top 10, ranking No. 6. Also representing the CCAA in the poll is San Francisco State (26-20) at No. 7 and Cal State Monterey Bay (26-22) at No. 10. The PacWest's Biola (27-18) and Azusa Pacific (28-21) are No. 8 and No. 9, respectively.
• CSUSM enters the CCAA Tournament with the second-toughest schedule to date in the CCAA and is ranked 42nd in the nation behind CSUDH (36th). 
• Head Coach Stef Ewing is seven wins away from her 100th victory as a head coach, all achieved at CSUSM. 
• The Cougars are third in the CCAA with a .277 batting average, behind leader Sonoma State's .313 and Cal Poly Humboldt's .284.
• CSUSM has the second-highest slugging percentage in the conference at .390.
• The Cougars are third in the CCAA with 0.44 home runs per game and 20 home runs this season. 
• CSUSM also ranks third in the conference with 1.22 doubles per game. 
• With 137 walks this season, the Cougars are third in the CCAA. 
• CSUSM boasts the fourth-lowest ERA in the CCAA at 2.37. 
• Paige Donnelly is second in the CCAA with a .490 on-base percentage and 0.59 walks per game.
• Madison Waymire is right behind Donnelly in walks per game, ranking third in the CCAA at 0.54. 
• Bianca Gutierrez is the third-toughest CCAA Player to strikeout, averaging one strikeout per 23.2 at-bats. 

• 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.

CCAA PREVIEW

• The 2023 tournament's format was slightly modified to mirror the CCAA Baseball Tournament. It now features a single elimination game on day one (Wednesday) between the four lowest seeds. The remaining teams will be reseeded for a double-elimination tournament (Thursday-Saturday). The tournament champion will receive the CCAA's automatic berth for the NCAA tournament.
• The 2023 CCAA Regular-Season Champion Sonoma State will be the No. 1 seed in this year's tournament, followed by No. 2-seed Cal State San Bernardino, No. 3-seed Cal State San Marcos, No. 4-seed Cal State Dominguez Hills, No. 5-seed Cal State Monterey Bay and No. 6-seed Chico State. 
• This marks CSUSM's second consecutive appearance in the CCAA Tournament. 
• In 2022, the Cougars entered the tournament as the top seed, defeating host Cal State Monterey Bay in their tournament opener 10-4 before falling to Sonoma State 12-8 and CSUMB 8-6. 
• Former Cougar Nikki Andelin was named to the 2022 CCAA All-Tournament Team. 
• Sonoma State is the reigning CCAA Tournament Champion after defeating host CSUMB 10-5 last season. 

CHICO STATE BREAKDOWN

• Chico State won three of four last weekend at Cal State East Bay to beat out San Francisco State for the sixth and final CCAA Tournament berth. 
• CSUSM walked away with a 3-1 series victory against Chico State this season in San Marcos, outscoring the Wildcats 20 to 12 while hitting .296 to their .206. Paige Donnelly went 6-for-10 with two doubles and two home runs while recording five runs and RBIs. In the series, Savannah Coyle picked up two wins and a save after going 16.0 innings and allowing only one earned run for a 0.44 ERA. 
• The all-time series is tied at 12-12 with CSUSM winning seven of the last eight meetings. 
• CSUSM is 4-0 when playing Chico at a neutral site as only the first four meetings are labeled as neutral games which were played at Stanislaus State's Best of the West Tournament from 2011-14. 
• In 2022, Chico made a quick exit in the CCAA Tournament after falling in 8-6 in eight innings to Sonoma State before dropping a 6-5 decision to Cal State Dominguez Hills. 
• After winning the CCAA Tournament in 2018 in Stockton, the Wildcats have gone 0-4 in their last two appearances in the CCAA Tournament. 
• Chico State ranks second in the CCAA in sacrifice flies with 12 this season. 
• The Wildcats are last in the conference with 11 double plays and second to last with a .320 slugging percentage. 
• Chico State is a threat on the bases, ranking third in the CCAA with 66 stolen bases. 
• Katelyn Oldwin ranks second in the CCAA in strikeouts per seven innings at 6.2. 
• Tayler Berens is in a three-way tie for the most hit by pitches in CCAA this season with seven. 
• The Wildcats were picked to finish fourth 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.

• 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 93-75 (.549) 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.