2024 Big West Softball Schedule | Standings | Stats | Week 5 Notes (.pdf)
What 2 Watch 4
- The final week of non-conference play is here before Big West action officially begins next week on March 14. A total of 14 games will air live on ESPN +, check our Big West website for updates.
Long Beach State hosts its annual Louisville Slugger Tournament with teams including the likes of GCU, Princeton, (RV) San Diego State, Toldeo, and Utah State. The Beach have already won their first game of the tourney with a 2-1 triumph over Toldeo in eight innings. Infielder Carly Robbins called game in the bottom of the eighth inning with the junior's 12th RBI of the season. Senior pitcher Sophia Fernandez (3-6) tossed a complete game by pitching a career-high eight innings striking out two batters and allowing six hits. The Louisville Slugger Invitational continues with eight games at the LBSU Softball Complex on Friday and Saturday, including three for Long Beach State beginning with San Diego State to cap a busy Friday at the field. The tournament concludes with a Noon start on Sunday as the Beach hosts Utah State on ESPN+.
Cal State Fullerton also hosts in conjunction with LBSU at Anderson Family Field taking on Princeton, (RV) San Diego State, and Toldeo. The Titans will also welcome Fairfield and Yale during their designated host dates as well.
Carrying the best overall record so far in 2024, CSUN (14-4) will host St. Mary's on Thursday before shipping out to Fresno, Calif. to play against Fresno State, Nevada, Rutgers, and San Diego.
Hawai'i is all set to host the Outrigger Rainbow Wahine Classic against squads such as Cleveland State, New Mexico, and UConn.
The Gauchos will get ready to host their second rendition of the UC Santa Barbara Tournament this year by opening the Campus Diamond up to Lehigh and Utah this weekend.
UC San Diego started this week squaring off against San Diego and was defeated, 8-5. The Tritons will now compete in the Lance Up Invite hosted by California Baptist, featuring the teams of Sacramento State, Harvard, and of course California Baptist.
Cal State Bakersfield sees itself on the road in Stockton, Calif. to take on Pacific on Saturday and Sunday.
A total of 14 contests are set to air live on ESPN+; check our Big West website online listings.
Putting the Student in Athlete
- In the middle of a rain delay against North Florida on the campus of Arizona State, UC San Diego sophomore pitcher India Caldwell scattered into the ASU visiting locker room to take an important PSYC 2, Biological Foundations online quiz. Once the Triton's ace completed the quiz, the sophomore stepped right back into the circle and shut the door on North Florida's comeback. Read the full story here at D1Softball.com.
Weekly Highlights
- Junior pitcher Paige Maier was nearly flawless in the two appearances at the Lancer Joust. The right-hander has been Cal Poly's go-to reliever and spot starter. Through a 2-0 weekend, Maier improved to 5-1, which is tied for third in The Big West.
Sophomore outfielder Makayla Medellin hit at a .500 clip with an LBSU team-high tying 5 RBI at the Judi Garman Classic. Medellin went 1-for-1 with a walk and an RBI in two pinch-hit appearances to start the tournament. The sophomore was a triple shy of the cycle in a win over San Jose State with a single, a double, and a home run.
Senior infielder Kat Montuya slashed .313/.813/.421 for UC Riverside last week, going 5-for-16 at the plate with two home runs, a pair of doubles, and three RBIs while reaching base 13 times.
New Head Coach on the Block
- Cal State Bakersfield brings on Letty Olivarez as its new program leader. Olivarez brings over a decade of coaching experience from the Pac-12 (Arizona State) and The Big West (CSUN). Most recently, Olivarez spent five seasons as an assistant coach at San Jose State. Olivarez earned the first win versus Utah State. 3-2 on Feb. 16.
Notable Returners/All-Big West Preseason Team
- Cal State Fullerton has been selected as the top team in the Big West heading into the 2024 season, as voted by the league's 10 head coaches. The Titans earned 77 points accompanied by six first-place votes in the polling to claim the top spot in the preseason poll for consecutive seasons. Big West regular season champion Long Beach State was separated from Cal State Fullerton by just two points, (75 points, four first-place votes) in the preseason poll. Both teams qualified for the 2023 NCAA Softball Championship last year with the Titans earning the right of passage courtesy of an at-large bid. This was the first time since 2018 The Big West had more than one representative in the postseason.
Coaches in the league also voted on an 11-person Preseason All-Big West team. Cal State Fullerton claimed two spots on the preseason team with the pairing of senior outfielder Megan Delgadillo and junior pitcher Haley Rainey earning the honors. The Beach boasts a league-best three representatives on the 11-member Big West preseason coaches' team with junior infielder Jacquelyn Bickar, junior pitcher Shannon Haddad, and senior outfielder Sara Olson. The LBSU trio all garnered First Team All-Big West honors a year ago.
CSUN (28-24, 19-8 BW) comes in third place with 65 points. The Matadors finished third place in The Big West last year after being polled fifth in last year's edition. UC Santa Barbara (26-22, 13-14 BW) was selected as the fourth team with 52 points, UC Davis (29-22, 15-12 BW) came in fifth. Hawai'i (30-23, 13-14 BW), and Cal Poly (19-23, 12-15 BW) finished sixth and seventh in the polling while UC Riverside (26), UC San Diego (22), and Cal State Bakersfield (9) round out the preseason rankings. These three squads will be looking to shake up the league after improving from a year ago.
Last year's Big West Player of the Year, senior outfielder/catcher Anna Dethlefson made the preseason list after leading the league slugging percentage (.627), doubles (15), and stolen bases (40). Teammate senior pitcher Kenedi Brown also made the list after ranking third in the league in ERA (1.73) and strikeouts (16) a year ago. UC Santa Barbara sports the duo of senior catcher/designated player Ashley Donaldson and senior infielder Madelyn McNally on the preseason team. Cal Poly junior outfielder Jessica Clements made the team after setting the team record in career-hitting percentage at .384. Senior infielder Maya Nakamura of Hawai'i also earned preseason honors after batting .390 in 2023.
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