SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The No. 4 Cal State San Marcos softball team (9-2, 3-1 CCAA) will face Sonoma State (3-4, 0-0 CCAA) in its CCAA home-opening weekend beginning with a doubleheader on Friday at 12 p.m. before closing out with a 10:30 a.m. twinbill on Saturday. 

LAST TIME OUT

• The Cougars went 3-1 in their opening weekend of conference play at Stanislaus State. 
• In the series opener, Jayline Sloss threw a one-hit 2-1 victory with Savannah Coyle coming in for the save. 
• The Cougars followed it with an 8-0 shutout in the nightcap, scoring in all but one inning to complete the CCAA opener sweep. 
• On Saturday, the Cougars dropped a 6-5 decision after the Warriors scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh. 
• CSUSM closed out the series with an 8-0 mercy-ruled victory in five innings. 

CCAA PITCHER OF THE WEEK 

• Jayline Sloss earned her first career CCAA Pitcher of the Week honor on Monday. 
• Sloss went 11 innings, allowing three hits and just one unearned run to earn a pair of wins as the Cougars opened CCAA play with a 3-1 record on the road.
• She walked only two and struck out five to hold Stan State hitters to a .088 batting average. 
• In the late game on Thursday, Sloss went six innings, allowing the only run to score on a sac fly in the bottom of the six. After hitting the first batter of the game, the Bakersfield native retired 15 consecutive batters until a bunt single broke the streak in the sixth. It would be the only hit she allowed. 
• In the series finale, the junior right-hander was dominant in an 8-0 win. Sloss pitched all five innings to earn the shutout while surrendering only two hits. She walked two and struck out four to improve to 6-0 on the season. 

BY THE NUMBERS

• The Cougars moved up to No. 4 ranking in the second NFCA Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll of 2024. 
• CSUSM is one of four teams from the West Region featured in the Top 25 joining No. 16 Western Washington, No. 23 Concordia University Irvine and No. 24 Northwest Nazarene. 
• In their first 11 games of the season, the Cougars have already tallied seven double plays, ranking them first in the CCAA and sixth in Division II. 
• CSUSM's four shutouts this season is a CCAA best and ranks third behind Tampa and Washburn who each have five this season. 
• The CSUSM pitching staff has a conference-best 1.60 ERA, the sixth lowest in Division II among teams who have played more than 10 games. 
• The Cougars are boasting a 4.09 strikeout-to-walk ratio, the highest in the CCAA and fourth highest in the nation among teams who have played more than 10 games. 
• Madison Waymire is averaging a CCAA-leading 1.36 runs per game while tallying a conference-high 16 hits 
• Paige Donnelly's four doubles rank No. 1 in the CCAA. 
• Jayline Sloss has accumulated a conference-high six victories this season.
• Savannah Coyle's CCAA-high three saves rank second in Division II behind St. Cloud State's Justyce Porter's five. 
• Sloss and Coyle rank 1-2 in the CCAA in ERA at 0.52 and 1.04, respectively. 

 

GAMES 12-15 | SONOMA STATE
Dates	Friday, Feb. 23 - Saturday, Feb. 24
Times	Feb. 23 - 12 p.m. (DH) Feb. 24 - 10:30 a.m. (DH)
Location	San Marcos, Calif.
Venue	CSUSM Softball Field
Records	CSUSM (9-2, 3-1 CCAA) SSU (3-4, 0-0 CCAA)
Live Stats	SideArm Stats
Live Video ($)	CCAA Network
Tickets	HomeTown Ticketing

   

CCAA HOME OPENER AGAINST SEAWOLVES

• The reigning CCAA regular-season champions were picked to repeat in the 2024 CCAA Preseason Coaches' Poll. 
• Last weekend, the Sonoma State-Cal State East Bay series that was scheduled in Rohnert Park was postponed due to weather and field conditions. The series will be played at a later date. 
• After falling to then-No. 21 Colorado Christian 2-1 in their season-opener, the Seawolves bounced back with a 5-2 win over Chaminade and a 9-1 mercy-rule victory against Western Oregon in the Concordia Kickoff Classic. 
• Sonoma registered a 10-2 win over NAIA's Menlo College after falling to Western Washington (6-4) and two games to Saint Martin's (5-1, 2-1) at the North Bay Challenge the following weekend. 
• The Seawolves are posting a CCAA-best 2.29 stolen base per game average. 
• Three different Seawolves have notched triples to lead the conference. 
• Sonoma State is recording a .269 batting average while its pitching staff is producing a 2.56 ERA in the first seven games. 
• Anna Zoia-Buescher has tallied eight stolen bases to lead the CCAA with a 1.14 average per game. 
• The Seawolves lead the all-time series at 16-9 but CSUSM has won six of the last eight contests between the two teams. 
• In 2023, the regular-season series between CSUSM-SSU was washed out due to rain.
• The only meeting between the two teams last season came in the NCAA West Regional. The Cougars recorded a 13-1 mercy-rule victory against SSU after scoring 10 runs in the opening frame. 

COUGAR OUTLOOK

• CSUSM has 14 returners for the 2024 season, including 2023 All-CCAA second-team honorees Savannah Coyle, Madison Waymire, Jillian Albayati, Paige Donnelly and Gianna Lombardi.
• The Cougars have nine newcomers this season with six freshmen and three transfers.
• Athletically, the Cougars are made up of six redshirt juniors, six true juniors, one redshirt sophomore, four sophomores and six true freshmen.
• CSUSM was picked to finish second in the 2023 CCAA Preseason Coaches Poll.
• The Cougars' 51-game schedule includes 26 home contests, 23 road games and two neutral games

THE EWING FILE

• 2022 CCAA Coach of the Year Stef Ewing enters her sixth season in charge of the Cougar softball season and has a 108-80 (.574) overall record as a head coach.
• Ewing and Assistant Coach A.J. Robinson were named the 2023 NFCA West Region Coaching Staff of the Year. 
• In 2023, the Cougars won the school's first West Regional team title and punched their ticket to the NCAA Division II National Championship in Chattanooga, Tennessee. 
• In her five seasons, she has coached two NFCA All-American third-team selections, 13 All-CCAA honorees (four 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.
• The 2024 squad's first win of the season was Ewing's 100th as a coach, a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over Chaminade at the CUI Kickoff Classic on Feb. 2. 
• 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.