2023 Big West Softball Schedule | Standings | Stats | Week 12 Notes (.pdf)
What 2 Watch 4
With three weeks remaining in the regular season, preseason favorites Cal State Fullerton (27-16, 1144 BW) has taken over the top spot of the table after an eight-game win streak.
The Big West will feature five series this week, with all games played on Friday and Saturday.
UC Santa Barbara (23-16, 10-8 BW) will host UC Davis (25-15, 11-7 BW) in a matchup of two teams separated by one game. The Gauchos hit a conference-leading .291 as a team. Madelyn McNally (.409 BA, 36 R and 16 RBI) and Ashley Donaldson (.387 BA, 23 R, 31 RBI) rank first and fifth, respectively, in the league based on batting average. UC Davis comes in with the 18th best pitching staff ERA in the nation at 2.01 led by ace Kenedi Brown (13-7, 1.58 ERA, 119.2 IP, 120 K). At the plate, Anna Dethlefson hits .400 with 18 RBI and 32 runs for the Aggies.
CSU Bakersfield (7-34, 2-16 BW) travels down the I-5 to battle CSUN (19-22, 10-8). Three Matador starters are hitting north of .300 in Kaylee Escutia (.333), Mikayla Carman (.328) and Shaylan Whatman (.309).
Cal Poly (15-18, 8-10 BW) hosts first-place Cal State Fullerton. The Titans currently have a staff ERA of 1.67, 11th best in the nation, anchored by the duo of Myka Sutherlin (1.46 ERA, 149.0 IP, 185 K) and Haley Rainey (1.11 ERA, 82.1 IP, 71 K). On the offensive end, they are led by Daisy Munoz sporting a .325 batting average. Hannah Becerra leads the team with 25 RBI. Cal Poly has Jessica Clements hitting .367 with 17 RBI and 23 runs.
UC Riverside (18-26, 4-14 BW) heads to UC San Diego (17-26, 7-11 BW) for three games. Nadia Witt leads the Highlanders with a .365 batting average. The Tritons’ pitching staff is paced by Jada Cecil, sporting a 1.95 ERA with 139 strikeouts in 122.0 innings of work.
Long Beach State (23-20, 13-5 BW) will fly across the Pacific Ocean for its series at Hawai’i (28-16, 11-7 BW). The Rainbow Wahine lead the league in home runs with 47 jacks, led by Mya’Liah Bethea and Izabella Martinez who have 11 and nine jacks, respectively. The Beach have two batters above of .300 in Sara Olson (.347) and Carly Robbins (.324). Shannon Haddad leads things in the circle with a 2.04 ERA in 113.1 innings and 95 strikeouts.
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.
Cal State Fullerton has the 11th-best pitching staff ERA in the nation at 1.67, led by the pitching duo of Haley Rainey (1.11 ERA) and Myka Sutherlin (1.46 ERA) who rank 10 and 26 in the nation in that category.
Beach Bash
Long Beach State is currently in second in The Big West with an 11-5 conference record. After going 10-15 in the non-conference portion of the schedule, the Beach have stepped up in league play with five hitters are hitting above .300 and a pitching staff ERA of 1.41 against Big West opponents.
Aggie Aces
UC Davis has the 18th best pitching staff ERA in the NCAA this season at 2.01. Two Aggie pitchers currently have a sub-2.00 ERA in Kenedi Brown (1.58) and Taylor Fitzgerald (1.76). Brown has been the workhorse for the Aggies, taking the majority of time in the circle with 120 strikeouts over 119.1 innings of work.
Gaucho Bats
UC Santa Barbara leads the league in batting average (.291) and on-base percentage (.385). Madelyn McNally (.409) and Ashley Donaldson (.387) rank first and fifth in The Big West in batting average.
Rainbow Over the Wall
Hawai’i has been the top power-hitting team in the conference with a .460 slugging percentage thanks to a league-leading 46 home runs. Mya’Liah Bethea and Izabella Martinez lead the Rainbow Wahine and the conference with 11 and nine, respectively. Two other Rainbow Wahine have six 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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