2026 Big West Softball Coaches' Preseason Poll & Team | 2026 Schedule
Defending Big West Softball Champion UC Santa Barbara was narrowly selected as the preseason favorite in the 2026 Big West Softball Preseason Coaches Poll, as voted on by the league’s 10 head coaches.

The Gauchos earned 78 points and six first-place votes to claim the top spot after winning the inaugural Big West Softball Championship last season. Cal State Fullerton, the defending regular-season champion, finished second with 75 points and four first-place votes, while Long Beach State placed third with 65 points.

Hawai‘i and UC San Diego tied for fourth with 50 points apiece, followed by UC Davis in sixth with 38 points. CSUN (36), Cal Poly (27), UC Riverside (22), and Cal State Bakersfield (9) rounded out the 2026 preseason poll.

The league’s head coaches also selected an 11-member Preseason All-Big West Team. Cal State Fullerton led all programs with five selections, followed by UC Santa Barbara with three. UC Davis, UC Riverside, and UC San Diego were each represented by one student-athlete.

Ava Arce headlines the Titans’ preseason selections after leading the conference with a .405 batting average in 2025, while also pacing the league in hits (68), home runs (12), and RBI (63). The 2025 Big West Field Player of the Year posted a .690 slugging percentage. Alexia Lopez hit .349 with 52 hits and 29 RBI, while Nataly Lozano, the 2025 Big West Freshman of the Year, batted .389 with 65 hits, including 10 doubles and seven home runs. Colby McClinton returns after posting 50 hits, 37 runs, a .457 on-base percentage, and 14 stolen bases.

In the circle, Trisha McCleskey recorded a 16–9 record with a 3.44 ERA and 119 strikeouts over 166.2 innings pitched. She threw nine complete games and earned three saves while ranking among league leaders in wins and innings pitched. All five Titans named to the preseason team earned First Team All-Big West honors in 2025.

UC Santa Barbara’s preseason selections include Bella Fuentes, Giselle Mejia, and Malaya Johnson, all First Team All-Big West honorees a season ago. Fuentes set a program single-season record with 62 RBI while leading the Gauchos in home runs (11) and slugging percentage (.559). Mejia tied the team lead with 62 hits and paced UCSB with 20 doubles. Johnson earned 2025 Big West Pitcher of the Year honors after striking out 123 batters with a 3.03 ERA, leading the league in wins (24) and innings pitched (221.2). She was also named Big West Softball Championship MVP.

The remainder of the preseason team includes Ashley Sawai of UC Davis, Maalia Cherry of UC San Diego, and UC Riverside’s Rebeca Cabezas. Sawai struck out 96 batters over 148.2 innings in 2025 and has earned back-to-back selections on the preseason team. Cherry totaled 41 hits, 13 home runs, and 37 RBI during a phenomenal freshman campaign that featured D1 Softball National Freshman of the Week recognition on Feb. 18, 2025. Cabezas hit .350 with 50 hits and earned All-Big West Honorable Mention honors.

The top six teams in the regular-season standings will advance to the 2026 Big West Softball Championship, with the tournament champion earning the conference’s automatic berth to the NCAA Division I Softball Championship. The four-day, double-elimination format returns for its second year, with the top two seeds receiving first-round byes.

The Championship will be held May 6–9 at Anderson Family Field in Fullerton, Calif, on the campus of Cal State Fullerton for the second straight season. Our 2026 Big West softball season begins Thursday, Feb. 6.