SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The Cal State San Marcos softball team (28-19, 16-12 CCAA) will wrap up its regular season this weekend at Chico State (13-25, 12-20 CCAA) with a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Friday followed by an 11 a.m. twinbill on Saturday. 

LAST TIME OUT

• The Cougars split their series with Cal State East Bay last weekend. 
• CSUSM registered 1-0 and 6-5 wins on Friday before falling 2-0 and 6-2 in the Saturday doubleheader. 
• Jayline Sloss matched her career high of eight strikeouts in her Saturday outing. 

BY THE NUMBERS

• CSUSM sits third in the CCAA standings entering the final weekend of the regular season. 
• A Cougar win and a Cal Poly Humboldt loss punches CSUSM's ticket to the CCAA Tournament, which the Cougars are hosting next week in San Marcos. 
• The Cougars are the NCAA Division II leader with 33 double plays and a 0.70 average per game. 
• CSUSM leads the CCAA with 380 hits and 226 total runs. 
• The Cougars rank first in the CCAA with 13 sacrifice flies. 
• With 26 home runs this season, CSUSM ranks second in the CCAA. 
• CSUSM has the third-best batting average in the CCAA with a .294 clip. 
• The Cougars have the second-highest on-base percentage in the CCAA at .361. 
• The CSUSM pitching staff has the second-best ERA at 2.37. 
• The Cougars are boasting a 2.09 strikeout-to-walk ratio, the third highest in the CCAA. 
• With six runs this past weekend, Madison Waymire moved into first in the CCAA with 0.89 runs per game this season.  
• Jayline Sloss has the conference's lowest ERA at 1.34 and now has the most shutouts on the season in the CCAA with four. 
• Sloss ranks third in the CCAA with 5.63 hits allowed per seven innings. 
• Savannah Coyle's conference-high three saves rank 33rd in Division II. 
• Paige Donnelly's 12 doubles ranks second in the CCAA. 

FINAL REGULAR-SEASON SERIES

• The Wildcats split its series against San Francisco State last weekend, dropping the first and last games by scores of 5-0 and 5-1, respectively, with 4-1 and 5-1 wins in the middle games. 
• Sitting in ninth place in the CCAA standings, Chico has 
• Chico has won two series this season, defeating both Cal State Monterrey Bay and Cal State San Bernardino. 
• The Wildcats have been swept by Cal State Dominguez Hills, Stanislaus State and Cal Poly Humboldt. 
• Chico State ranks last in 10 statistical categories in the CCAA –  batting average (.246), doubles (26), hits (238), home runs (8), on-base percentage (.320), runs per game (2.50), slugging percentage (.310), sacrifice flies (2) total runs (95) and walks (86). 
• The Wildcat pitching staff ranks second in strikeouts per seven innings at 5.38. 
• Katelyn Oldwin has the fifth-lowest ERA in the CCAA at 2.30.  
• The all-time series between the Wildcats & Cougars is very tight with Chico having a slight edge at 13-12. 
• CSUSM has won seven of the last nine meetings between the two teams. 
• Two years ago, the Cougars clinched a series sweep over the Wildcats with a dramatic come-from-behind mercy-ruled 17-7 victory after trailing 6-0 after three innings as CSUSM posted 13 runs in the top of the fourth inning. 
• Chico was picked to finish sixth in the 2024 CCAA Softball Preseason Coaches Poll. 

COUGAR OUTLOOK

• CSUSM has 14 returners for the 2024 season, including 2023 All-CCAA second-team honorees Savannah Coyle, Madison Waymire, Jillian Albayati, Paige Donnelly and Gianna Lombardi.
• The Cougars have nine newcomers this season with six freshmen and three transfers.
• Athletically, the Cougars are made up of six redshirt juniors, six true juniors, one redshirt sophomore, four sophomores and six true freshmen.
• CSUSM was picked to finish second in the 2023 CCAA Preseason Coaches Poll.
• The Cougars' 51-game schedule includes 26 home contests, 23 road games and two neutral games. 

THE EWING FILE

• 2022 CCAA Coach of the Year Stef Ewing enters her sixth season in charge of the Cougar softball season and has a 127-97 (.567) overall record as a head coach.
• Ewing and Assistant Coach A.J. Robinson were named the 2023 NFCA West Region Coaching Staff of the Year. 
• In 2023, the Cougars won the school's first West Regional team title and punched their ticket to the NCAA Division II National Championship in Chattanooga, Tennessee. 
• In her five seasons, she has coached two NFCA All-American third-team selections, 13 All-CCAA honorees (four first-team selections), a CCAA Newcomer of the Year and CCAA Freshman of the Year. 
• Ewing captured her first win as a collegiate head coach on Feb. 17, 2019, as the Cougars recorded a walk-off 5-4 victory over Concordia Portland at CSUSM Softball Field.
• The 2024 squad's first win of the season was Ewing's 100th as a coach, a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over Chaminade at the CUI Kickoff Classic on Feb. 2. 
• She previously served as the assistant coach at New Mexico State where she helped the Aggies to three WAC Regular-Season Conference Championships and two WAC Conference Tournament Championships.