IRVINE, Calif. — The Cal State San Marcos softball team (4-1) was crowned Concordia University Irvine Kickoff Classic Champions after defeating Hawaiʻi Hilo (1-4), 4-0, on Sunday morning at the OC Great Park.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Jillian Albayati - Co-MVP
Lauren Deplitch
Madison Cabrera

CSUSM 4, HAWAIʻI HILO 0

TOP PERFORMERS
Jillian Albayati – 1-for-3 | 1 2B | 2 RBIs | 1 R
Marissa Morales – 1-for-4 | 1 3B | 2 R
Olivia Rivera – 1-for-3 | 1 RBI
Czar Fleischman – 1-for-1 | 1 RBI | 1 SF
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Cal State San Marcos struck first in the bottom of the first inning after Marissa Morales reached on an error and advanced to third. Jillian Albayati followed with an RBI double to center field to open the scoring. After another defensive miscue by Hawaiʻi Hilo put runners on second and third, Olivia Rivera lined an RBI single to center field to plate Albayati. Czar Fleischman then lifted a sacrifice fly to center field, allowing Zariah Karam to score and make it 3-0.
• The Cougars added an insurance run in the bottom of the second inning. Morales tripled to right-center field with one out, and Albayati drove her in when she reached on an error at first base, extending the lead to 4-0.
• CSUSM pitching took over from there. Starter Jaylene Hill worked five scoreless innings, allowing just one hit while striking out five. Dani Cardenas entered in the sixth inning and closed the game, giving up two hits and no runs over the final two innings to preserve the shutout.
• Hawaiʻi Hilo threatened in the sixth and seventh innings with runners reaching scoring position, but the Cougar defense turned key outs to keep the Vulcans off the scoreboard.

QUICK HITS

• Jaylene Hill earned the win for Cal State San Marcos after throwing five scoreless innings, allowing one hit while striking out five batters.
• Makena Rabe was tagged with the loss for Hawaiʻi Hilo after pitching a complete game and giving up four runs on five hits in six innings of work.
• The Cougars recorded their third shutout of the 2026 season by limiting the Vulcans to three hits across seven innings.
• Jillian Albayati drove in two runs for CSUSM, including an RBI double in the first inning to spark the Cougars' early offense.
• Marissa Morales scored two runs and added a triple, accounting for half of Cal State San Marcos' runs scored.
• With the victory, Cal State San Marcos improved to 3-1 in the all-time series against Hawaiʻi Hilo.

 
THOUGHTS FROM HEAD COACH A.J. ROBINSON
"We had a really good start to the season this weekend. Our team has a lot of new players this year including the entire pitching staff. The pitching was dominant and backed by solid defense. Offensively, we showed that we have a lot of depth and can score in a variety of ways (power, speed, offensive execution). Jillian Albayati was really good both on offense and defense and deserved the Co-MVP award. Freshman Maddie Cabrera threw a complete game shutout in her first start and was one out away from a no hitter. There were so many great contributions throughout the weekend and we will work hard this week to prepare for the West Coast Challenge in Lake Elsinore this Friday and Saturday. Hopefully, lots of our Cougar fans will get a chance to come and watch us in action." 

NEXT UP
CSUSM returns to action at the D2 West Coast Challenge in Lake Elsinore, opening with Lubbock Christian on Friday, February 6, at 12 p.m. at Rosetta Canyon Sports Park before facing Regis later that day at 5 p.m.