SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The No. 23 Cal State San Marcos softball team (23-14, 11-9 CCAA) will host a midweek, non-conference doubleheader against Vanguard on Tuesday before resuming CCAA play on Friday and Saturday at Cal State San Bernardino. 

LAST TIME OUT

• The Cougars won their series against Cal State Monterey Bay this past weekend, dropping the first one 2-1 in eight innings before being victorious in the final three. 
• In Friday's nightcap, CSUSM led wire-to-wire to record a 5-2 win to earn a doubleheader split. 
• On Saturday, the Cougars won both ends of the twinbill after a walk-off grand slam by Paige Donnelly in game one for a 4-3 victory before Madison Waymire recorded her first collegiate grand slam to lead CSUSM to a 4-2 win. 

BY THE NUMBERS

• The Cougars remain at No. 23 in the NFCA Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll due to it not being released until Tuesday.
• CSUSM is one of four teams from the West Region and the only CCAA school featured in the Top 25 – No. 12 Western Washington, No. 16 Concordia University Irvine and No. 19 Northwest Nazarene. 
• CSUSM moved up to fourth in the CCAA standings and is three games back from Cal State Dominguez Hills and Sonoma State who are tied for second. 
• The Cougars are the NCAA Division II leader with 25 double plays and a 0.68 average per game. 
• CSUSM is tallying a CCAA-best 4.92 runs per game. 
• The Cougars rank first in the CCAA with 38 sacrifice bunts (11th in DII) and second with 11 sacrifice flies.
• CSUSM has the second-best batting average in the CCAA with a .297 clip. 
• The Cougars have the highest on-base percentage in the CCAA at .367. 
• The CSUSM pitching staff has the second-best ERA at 2.20. 
• The Cougars are boasting a 2.08 strikeout-to-walk ratio, the fourth highest in the CCAA. 
• Madison Waymire is second in the CCAA with 0.89 runs per game this season.  
• Jayline Sloss has the conference's lowest ERA at 1.15 and ranks second with three shutouts this season. 
• Sloss ranks third in the CCAA with 5.27 hits allowed per seven innings. 
• Savannah Coyle's conference-high three saves rank 21st in Division II. 
• Jillian Albayati's three sacrifice flies is the second highest in the CCAA. 

VANGUARD 

• Vanguard is in its first year of transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II and will play a PacWest Conference schedule next year. 
• This past Saturday, the Lions swept a doubleheader at Menlo College by scores of 12-4 (six innings) and 1-0 to break a four-game losing streak that included being swept by then-No. 11 William Jessup and then-No. 12 Hope International. 
• Vanguard has the second-highest batting average at .320 in the Golden State Athletic Conference yet leads the conference with 354 hits and 195 RBIs. 
• Kamryn Walker has the third-highest batting average at .431 in the GSAC. 
• Brianna Williams' 1.57 ERA ranks second in the GSAC while her 13 wins is tied for second in the conference. 
• In 37 meetings, CSUSM holds a 25-12 lead in the all-time series. 
• The Cougars and Lions last met in 2017 with Vanguard walking away wiith a 5-0 win in Costa Mesa. 

CAL STATE SAN BERNARDINO

• The Coyotes won 3-of-4 at Sonoma State last weekend, dropping the first game 6-5 in eight innings before bouncing back with 3-0, 2-0 and 8-3 wins. 
• CSUSB sits on top of the CCAA standings with a 13-8 conference record and holds a 2.5 game lead over Sonoma State and Cal State Dominguez Hills who are tied for second. 
• CSUSB has swept one CCAA series this season (CSUDH) while winning its series against San Francisco State and Sonoma State. The lone four-game series the Coyotes have lost this season was Chico State. 
• The CSUSB pitching staff has the worst ERA in the CCAA at 3.75. 
• The Coyotes don't lead the CCAA in any statistical categories but rank second in three – on base percentage (.357), runs per game (4.56) and slugging percentage (.401). 
• Tereise Tosi is averaging a CCAA-best 0.69 walks per game while leading the Coyotes with a .394 batting average and six home runs. 
• The Coyotes hold a 26-7 lead in the all-time series and swept the Cougars last year by scores of 6-2, 2-1, 6-1 and 2-1.
• CSUSB was picked to finish third 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 123-93 (.569) 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.