2023 Big West Softball Schedule | Standings | Stats | Week 8 Notes (.pdf)
What 2 Watch 4
Week three of Big West play starts on Friday with two single games with unbeaten Long Beach State (16-14, 6-0 BW) at CSUN (12-14, 4-2 BW) and Hawai’i (20-12, 3-3 BW) hosting UC San Diego (13-17, 3-3 BW). Both series will conclude with doubleheaders on Saturday.
Two Matador starters are hitting above .300 in Kaylee Escutia (.364) and Mikayla Carman (.329).Long Beach State has two batters north of .300 in Carly Robbins (.366) and Sara Olson (.333). The Beach have a pitching staff ERA of 0.62 in 45.0 innings during conference play, led by ace Shannon Haddad who is currently 3-0 with a 0.81 ERA in 26.0 innings of work, including three seven-inning complete game shutouts.
The Rainbow Wahine lead the league in home runs with 34 jacks, led by Mya’Liah Bethea and Rachel “Bueller” Sabourin with nine and six, respectively. Brianna Lopez and Key-annah Campbell-Pua share the load in the circle and sport a 2.06 and 2.73 ERAs, respectively. The Tritons’ pitching staff is led by Jada Cecil, sporting a 1.94 ERA with 86 strikeouts in 72.0 innings of work, and the trio of Deena Pederson (.385 BA), Morgan Eng (.342 BA) and Gabby Williams (.322 BA) at the plate. Eng has a stolen a conference-leading 22 bases on 23 attempts.
Saturday’s slate features three other doubleheader matchups including the blue-green rivalry as Cal Poly (10-11, 3-3 BW) visits UC Santa Barbara (16-11, 3-3 BW). The other two matchups are UC Davis (15-11, 2-4 BW) at CSU Bakersfield (6-23, 1-5 BW) and Cal State Fullerton (17-14, 4-2 BW) at UC Riverside (14-17, 1-5 BW), with the finale for both series on Sunday.
The Gaucho duo of Madelyn McNally (.413 BA, 24 R and 10 RBI) and Ashley Donaldson (.407 BA, 13 R, 21 RBI) are the top two hitters in the league based on batting average. Cal Poly is led by Jessica Clements and Julia Barnett who have batting averages of .373 and .328, respectively.
Nadia Witt, Lauryn Garewal and Marissa Burk are the best hitters on UC Riverside with batting averages of .383, .333 and .321, respectively. The Titans currently have a staff ERA of 1.91, 18th best in the nation, anchored by the duo of Myka Sutherlin (1.73 ERA, 97.0 IP, 112 K) and Haley Rainey (1.32 ERA, 63.2 IP, 51K). On the offensive end, the Titans have Daisy Munoz, a .348 hitter with 13 RBI and Jessi Alcala who has five home runs and 20 RBI on the season.
The Aggies are led by the duo of Kenedi Brown (1.83 ERA, 76.1 IP, 69K) and Taylor Fitzgerald (1.83 ERA, 49.2 IP) in the circle and Anna Dethlefson (.377 BA, 16 R, 10 RBI) at the plate.
Tenacious Titans
Cal State Fullerton has two wins against nationally-ranked opponents in then-No. 8 Tennessee (5-4) on Feb. 18 and then-No. 3 Florida (5-4) on Feb. 25. The Titans also have quality victories over programs such as Cal, Ole Miss, Oregon and Oregon State. The Titans are 26th in the latest NCAA RPI ratings.
Cal State Fullerton has the 18th-best pitching staff ERA in the nation at 1.91, led by the pitching duo of Haley Rainey (1.32 ERA) and Myka Sutherlin (1.73 ERA) who rank first and second in the league in that category, respectively.
Aggie Aces
UC Davis currently has a pitching staff ERA in the nation at 2.26. Two Aggie pitchers have a sub-2.00 ERA in Kenedi Brown (1.83) and Taylor Fitzgerald (1.83). Brown has been the workhorse for the Aggies, taking the majority of time in the circle with 69 strikeouts over 76.1 innings of work.
Gaucho Bats
UC Santa Barbara leads the league in batting average, hitting .302 as a team. Four Gauchos are hitting above .300 and two over .400 in Madelyn McNally (.413), Ashley Donaldson (.407), Chloe Stewart (.370), Jazzy Santos (.302). The Gauchos lead The Big West in triples with 20.
Rainbow Over the Wall
Hawai’i has been the top power-hitting team in the conference with a .473 slugging percentage thanks to a league-leading 34 home runs. Mya’Liah Bethea and Rachel “Bueller” Sabourin lead the Rainbow Wahine with nine and six jacks, respectively. Izabella Martinez and Ka’ena Kellinoi have four home runs each.
Haddad's Back!
Long Beach State pitcher Shannon Haddad is back in the circle after being sidelined for the entire 2022 season due to injury. In conference play, Haddad is currently 3-0 with a 0.81 ERA in 26.0 innings of work, including three seven-inning complete game shutouts.
Two New Faces
There are two new head coaches in The Big West in 2023, but one of them is a very familiar face in softball circles, as NFCA Hall of Famer Jo Evans took over the post at UC Santa Barbara in last August after 26 seasons at Texas A&M and 1,300 career wins over 37 years of coaching. Dan Sperl grabs the reins at CSU Bakersfield as a first-time college head coach.
Big West Tilt Set for ESPNU
The Big West announced one softball telecast on ESPNU this spring which will feature Big West defending champion Cal State Fullerton against Long Beach State at 7 p.m. PT. The matchup includes the preseason favorites to win the 2023 crown, and the Nos. 1 and 2 finishing teams in The Big West the previous two years comes on the final weekend of the regular season.
Cal State Fullerton, winner of five of the last six Big West titles, went 37-22 overall a year ago and 20-7 in Big West action, one game better than the Beach. Long Beach State is coming off a runner-up finish in The Big West after going 29-22, and 19-8 in Big West games.
Titans Favored to Win The Big West
Reigning champion Cal State Fullerton is the near-unanimous favorite to repeat in 2023 according to a preseason poll of the league’s head coaches. The Titans garnered 80 points largely from eight of the nine opposing first-place votes to top the poll for the seventh consecutive preseason. Long Beach State, the 2022 runner-up, is second with 68 points and one first-place nod.The Beach are followed closely by Hawai’i (59 points) and UC San Diego (56). CSUN (41), Cal Poly (40), UC Riverside (36) and UC Davis (35) occupy the fifth through eighth spots, with the Mustangs grabbing the final first-place vote. UC Santa Barbara (20) and CSU Bakersfield (15) round out the list.
Cal State Fullerton, winner of five of the last six Big West titles apart from the shortened 2020 campaign, went 37-22 overall a year ago and 20-7 in Big West action, one game better than the Beach. The Titans went 1-2 at the NCAA Championship’s Tempe Regional with a 3-2 victory over LSU in between defeats to the host Sun Devils and San Diego State.
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Delgadillo Recognized
Megan Delgadillo, the reigning Big West Player of the Year and a 2022 National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-West Region Second Team pick, was recently named to D1Softball’s Preseason D100. The fourth-year standout led the league with 80 hits, 57 runs and a .404 average, breaking The Big West and program single-season steals record with 50 and becoming the school’s all-time leader in the category. Becerra was a 2021 third-team NFCA All-American and The Big West Freshman Field Player of the Year before making the NFCA All-West Region Second Team in 2022 with Delgadillo. |
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