2023 Big West Softball Schedule | Standings | Stats | Week 10 Notes (.pdf)
What 2 Watch 4
This week’s Big West softball schedule will feature five three-game conference matchup series. UC Davis (22-12, 8-4 BW) and CSUN (16-17, 7-5 BW) will start with a doubleheader on Friday and conlude with a single game on Saturday.
UC Davis comes in with the 20th best pitching staff ERA in the nation at 2.02, with ace Kenedi Brown (12-5, 1.41 ERA, 99.1 IP, 97 K) and Taylor Fitzgerald (4-3, 1.90 ERA, 62.2, 27 K) in the circle. As a team, the Aggies are hitting .306 in conference games, led by Anna Dethlefson who has a .376 batting average, 26 runs scored and 16 RBI on the season. Three Matador starters are hitting north of .300 in Mikayla Carman (.343), Shaylan Whatman (.342) and Kaylee Escutia (.329).
Also on Friday, UC San Diego (15-22, 5-7 BW) welcomes Cal State Fullerton (21-16, 8-4 BW) and UC Riverside (15-22, 2-10 BW) travels to Hawai’i (24-14, 7-5 BW) for single games and concluding with doubleheaders on Saturday.
The Titans currently have a staff ERA of 1.89, 14th best in the nation, anchored by the duo of Myka Sutherlin (1.72 ERA, 122.0 IP, 152 K) and Haley Rainey (1.24 ERA, 73.1 IP, 63K). On the offensive end, they are led by Daisy Munoz sporting a .345 batting average. The Tritons’ pitching staff is led by Jada Cecil, sporting a 1.88 ERA with 114 strikeouts in 97.0 innings of work. Deena Pederson is the top UCSD hitter with a .398 batting average and 16 runs scored on the season.
The Rainbow Wahine lead the league in home runs with 37 jacks, led by Mya’Liah Bethea, Rachel “Bueller” Sabourin and Izabella Martinez with nine, six and five, respectively. Two Highlanders are hittinga above .300 in Nadia Witt (.382) and Marissa Burk (.309).
The two other doubleheaders on Saturday are CSU Bakersfield (6-29, 1-11 BW) at Cal Poly (11-16, 4-8 BW) and Long Beach State (19-17, 9-3 BW) at UC Santa Barbara (22-11, 9-3 BW) in a battle between first-place teams. Both series will conclude with single games on Sunday.
The Gauchos hit a conference-leading .310 as a team. Madelyn McNally (.426 BA, 35 R and 16 RBI) and Ashley Donaldson (.398 BA, 21 R, 28 RBI) are the top two hitters in the league based on batting average. The Beach have two batters above of .300 in Sara Olson (.340) and Carly Robbins (.327).
On Wednesday, CSUN will host a non-conference doubleheader against San Diego and Long Beach State welcomes UCLA for a single game.
No-Hitters
There have been two no-hitters in The Big West this season. On Saturday, April 8, Cal State Fullerton’s Myka Sutherlin threw a five-inning no-hitter with only one walk and nine strikeouts. On Saturday, April 1, Brianna Lopez of Hawai’i threw a seven-inning no-hitter with only one walk and eight strikeouts.
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 14th-best pitching staff ERA in the nation at 1.89, led by the pitching duo of Haley Rainey (1.24 ERA) and Myka Sutherlin (1.72 ERA) who rank first and third, respectively, in the league in that category
Aggie Aces
UC Davis has the 20th best pitching staff ERA this season. Three Aggie pitchers currently have a sub-2.00 ERA in Kenedi Brown (1.41), Taylor Fitzgerald (1.90) and Sara Reineman (1.97). Brown has been the workhorse for the Aggies, taking the majority of time in the circle with 97 strikeouts over 99.1 innings of work.
Gaucho Bats
UC Santa Barbara leads the league in batting average, hitting .310 as a team, and a .402 on-base percentage which ranks 21st in the nation. Madelyn McNally (.426) and Ashley Donaldson (.398) are the top two hitters for UC Santa Barbara.
Rainbow Over the Wall
Hawai’i has been the top power-hitting team in the conference with a .462 slugging percentage thanks to a league-leading 37 home runs. Mya’Liah Bethea, Rachel “Bueller” Sabourin and Izabella Martinez lead the Rainbow Wahine with nine, six and five jacks, respectively. Three other Rainbow Wahine have four home runs each.
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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