SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The No. 9 Cal State San Marcos softball team (14-9) will take to the road this week, competing in a 3 p.m doubleheader at No. 22 Concordia University Irvine (21-4) on Tuesday before heading north for Stanislaus State's Tournament of Champions this weekend. The Cougars will face No. 18 Northwest Nazarene (18-4) and Hawaii Hilo (10-10) at 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., respectively, on Thursday before taking Friday off and playing No. 15 Western Washington (17-4) on Saturday at 7 p.m. and Simon Fraser (5-17) on Sunday at 12 p.m. 

LAST TIME OUT

• The Cougars split both of their series against non-conference opponents last weekend at the CSUSM Softball Field. 
• CSUSM came out on fire against Biola in the series opener, taking a 7-1 victory before falling 10-2 in the nightcap on Friday.  
• On Saturday, the Cougars dropped game one against Azusa Pacific, 1-0, before taking a 4-1 win to close out the weekend. 

BY THE NUMBERS

• The Cougars remain at No. 9 with the latest NFCA Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll coming out on Tuesdays. 
• CSUSM is facing the other four teams from the West Region featured in the Top 25 – No. 15 Western Washington, No. 18 Northwest Nazarene and No. 22 Concordia University Irvine. 
• In their first 23 games of the season, the Cougars have already tallied 11 double plays, ranking them first in the CCAA and 19th in Division II. 
• CSUSM is tallying a CCAA-best 5.00 runs per game. 
• The Cougars have recorded a conference-high nine sacrifice flies thus far this season. 
• CSUSM ranks second in the CCAA with 197 hits this season. 
• The Cougars have the highest on-base percentage in the CCAA at .383. 
• The CSUSM pitching staff has the second-best ERA at 2.23. 
• The Cougars are boasting a 2.35 strikeout-to-walk ratio, the highest in the CCAA.
• Madison Waymire is averaging a CCAA-leading 1.09 runs per game. 
• Waymire's .413 batting average and .516 on-base percentage rank third in the CCAA. 
• Jayline Sloss has accumulated a CCAA-best eight victories this season and has the conference's lowest ERA at 1.09. 
• Sloss ranks second in the CCAA with 4.89 hits allowed per seven innings. 
• Savannah Coyle's conference-high three saves rank fifth in Division II. 
• Aneesa Arredondo is averaging a CCAA-high 0.30 sacrifice bunts per game, ranking 21st in the nation. 
• Jillian Albayati's three sacrifice flies lead the CCAA and rank 25th in Division II. 

 

GAMES 24-25 | CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY IRVINE
Dates	Tuesday, March 19
Times	3 p.m. (DH)
Location	Irvine, Calif.
Venue	Golden Eagles Stadium
Records	CSUSM (14-9) CUI (21-4)
Live Stats	SideArm Stats
Live Video	T1 Sports

   

MIDWEEK GAME VS. NO. 22 CUI

• The Golden Eagles are on a 15-game win streak, with their last loss coming in a 3-1 doubleheader opener at Cal State East Bay on Feb. 21. 
• CUI is 3-1 against CCAA schools this season with wins over San Francisco State (5-2), Stanislaus State (4-2) and Cal State East Bay (4-2). 
• The Golden Eagles are boasting the second-lowest ERA in the nation at 1.20 and the 13th-best strikeout-to-walk ratio at 3.67. 
• At the plate, CUI is batting only .250 which ranks fifth in the PacWest and 213th out of 268 Division II schools. 
• CUI's ace Katlin Entrup is posting the second-lowest ERA in the PacWest and 23rd in the nation at 0.97. 
• Entrup has tallied four shutouts this season, ranking 10th in Division II. 
• CSUSM is 13-23 in the all-time series against CUI and has won four of the last six games against the Golden Eagles. 
• The Cougars are 9-11 when playing in Irvine.  

 

GAMES 26-29 | TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS
Game 1	Thursday, March 21 vs. No. 18 Northwest Nazarene (18-4) 4 p.m. (Warrior Field)
Game 2	Thursday, March 21 vs. Hawaii Hilo (10-10) 6:30 p.m. (Warrior Field)
Game 3	Saturday, March 23 vs. No. 15 Western Washington (17-4) 7 p.m. (Warrior Field)
Game 4	Sunday, March 24 vs. Simon Fraser (5-17) 12 p.m. (Pedretti Field #5)
Live Video ($)	CCAA Network (at Warrior Field Only)

   

TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS

• The Cougars will face two nationally-ranked teams at the Tournament of Champions – No. 18 Northwest Nazarene and No. 15 Western Washington. 
• CSUSM added the tournament after the season began due to the cancelation of the CCAA series at Cal Poly Humboldt due to rain and field conditions. 
• NNU is coming off a split GNAC series with No. 15 Western Washington after sweeping a series against Simon Fraser. 
• The Nighthawks are 2-0 against CCAA opponents this season, recording a 3-2 win over Stan State and a 2-1 victory against Cal State Dominguez Hills in the CUI Kickoff. 
• The Cougars are 1-1 in the all-time series against NNU, dropping a 4-0 decision in the 2022 NCAA Regional opener on May 12 before bouncing back with a 4-0 victory on May 13. 
• CSUSM will be the first CCAA opponent that Hawaii Hilo will face this season. 
• UHH is slated to play a four-game series with Biola today and tomorrow. 
• The Vulcans enter the week on a seven-game losing streak after dropping a four-game series at CUI last weekend and three of four at Azusa the previous week. 
• CSUSM has only faced UHH once in program history which resulted in a 2-1 loss on March 29 at the 2019 Tournament of Champions. 
• Western Washington is 7-0 against CCAA opponents this season, taking three from Cal State Monterey Bay (7-3, 6-5, 6-1) and single-game victories over San Francisco State (6-5), Stanislaus State (9-1, 5 inn.), Sonoma State (6-4) and Chico State (4-3, 9 inn.)
• WWU is coming off a split series with No. 18 NNU last weekend and a 2-1 series win over Simon Fraser (one game was snowed out). 
• CSUSM has only faced the Vikings once before in its 2020 season opener the Cougars won 6-1 at the CUI Kickoff. 
• Simon Fraser is in the midst of a 10-game losing streak after suffering four-game series sweeps against Saint Martin's and Northwest Nazarene in addition to two of three games to Western Washington. 
• Stanislaus State is the only CCAA team SFU has faced this season so far with both teams taking a victory. The Red Leafs won game one 9-0 before falling to Stan State 8-2. 
• The Cougars hold an 8-2 lead in the all-time series with SFU dating back to NAIA years of 2009. CSUSM has only faced the Red Leafs three times since moving to Division II with a 2022 series sweep of 10-2 (5 inn.), 6-5 and 24-8 (5 inn.). 

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 113-87 (.565) 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.