CHICO, Calif. – Coming off its first CCAA Regular-Season Championship season, the Cal State San Marcos softball team earned the nod as the preseason favorite in this highly competitive conference, garnering 96 points and six of the 10 first-place votes in the coaches' poll.
 
Cal State Dominguez Hills, which is coming off an appearance in the NCAA title game, was picked to finish second with 86 points and three first-place votes. Sonoma State edged out Chico State for third place, 76-74, earning the final first-place vote. Cal State Monterey Bay rounded out the top 5 with 67 points.
 
Cal State San Marcos went 45-14 last season and won the program's first conference regular-season title with a 28-8 record. The Cougars were incredibly consistent throughout the year, losing three games in a row only once all season and putting separate winning streaks of 13 and 14 games.

The Cougars return a conference-best four All-CCAA selections, including 2022 NFCA Regional Player of the Year Paige Donnelly (.405, 7 HR, 58 RBI). On the mound, they have two returning all-conference players in CCAA Freshman of the Year Savannah Coyle (19-4, 1.44 ERA/.384, .450 ob%) and Jayline Sloss (16-4, 1.93 ERA). Leadoff hitter Bianca Gutierrez finished fourth in the CCAA in batting average (.397) and was the toughest person in the league to strike out. This is the first time the Cougars have been selected first in the preseason coaches' poll.