Long Beach State and Cal State Fullerton will renew their storied rivalry in a nationally televised contest on ESPNU from Anderson Family Field in Fullerton, Calif., on Saturday, April 25 at 1 p.m.
Anderson Family Field is also the site of the 2026 Big West Softball Championship, May 6-9, 2026.
The matchup features two of the league’s top programs from a season ago, as Cal State Fullerton comes off a strong 37-17 campaign that saw the Titans claim the Big West regular-season title and earn the No. 1 seed in the inaugural Big West Softball Championship. Cal State Fullerton was selected second in the 2026 Big West Softball Preseason Poll, narrowly behind defending champion UC Santa Barbara, and led the league with five selections to the Preseason All-Big West Team.
The Titans are paced by reigning Big West Field Player of the Year Ava Arce, who posted a conference-leading .409/.435/.701 slash line in 2025 with 68 hits and 62 RBI, ranking in a tie 36th overall nationally in RBI. Arce added 12 doubles and 12 home runs while recording a .985 fielding percentage at first base. In the circle, First Team All-Big West selection Trisha McCleskey logged a team-high 166.2 innings with a 16-9 record, nine complete games, and six shutouts.
Long Beach State enters the nationally televised game following a 27-22 season and a tie for second place in conference standings. The Beach was picked third in the preseason poll behind UCSB and Cal State Fullerton.
Offensively, Long Beach State returns Brooklyn Lee, who finished the 2025 season batting .304 while appearing in 46 games with 43 starts. Lee totaled 41 hits, including six doubles and two home runs, driving in 28 runs and scoring 14 times. The catcher landed a .393 on-base percentage and added 11 walks while serving as a steady presence at the top of the Beach lineup. Kate Barnett anchors LBSU’s pitching staff after posting a 2.87 ERA and a 6-3 record across 61.0 innings, holding opponents to a .281 batting average.
In last season’s meeting, Cal State Fullerton swept the three-game series against Long Beach State at the LBSU Softball Complex. The cross-town rivalry has recently carried championship implications, with the two programs battling down to the final series of the regular season in each of the previous two years. The Titans have secured consecutive regular-season titles (2025 & 2024) while the Beach claimed the crown last in 2023. Overall, CSF has captured seven of the last nine Big West regular-season championships, with LBSU accounting for the remaining two in 2023 and 2021.
ESPN is set for another year of industry-leading coverage of Division I college softball, with nearly 150 matchups across its linear platforms and more than 3,100 more streaming nationwide. ESPN continues as the home of the NCAA Division I Softball postseason, from the Selection Show through every pitch of the NCAA Women’s College World Series at Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Okla. on May 28–June 4/5, 2026.
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