SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The No. 19 Cal State San Marcos softball team (18-11, 6-6 CCAA) will return to its conference schedule this week, traveling to Cal State Dominguez Hill (18-10, 11-7 CCAA) for a four-game series. With rain on the horizon this weekend, the Cougars will play a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Thursday and a 12 p.m. doubleheader on Friday. 

LAST TIME OUT

• The Cougars went 4-2 last week against non-conference opponents. 
• CSUSM split its doubleheader at then-No. 20 Concordia University Irvine, taking game one 13-3 before falling 3-0 in the nightcap. 
• The Cougars then headed to Turlock for the Tournament of Champions, opening the tournament with a 4-0 shutout over then-No. 16 Northwest Nazarene before following it with a 7-1 win against Hawaii Hilo on Thursday. 
• After a day off, the Cougars dropped a late-night 1-0 game on Saturday to then-No. 14 Western Washington before bouncing back with an 8-0 six-inning, run-ruled victory over Simon Fraser in their tournament finale. 
• Jayline Sloss and Paige Donnelly were named to the Tournament of Champions All-Tournament team. 

BY THE NUMBERS

• The Cougars stay steady at No. 19 for the second consecutive week in the NFCA Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll.
• CSUSM is one of four teams from the West Region featured in the Top 25 – No. 13 Western Washington, No. 17 Concordia University Irvine, No. 22 Northwest Nazarene and . 
• In their first 29 games of the season, the Cougars have already tallied 17 double plays and are averaging 0.59 per game, ranking them third in Division II in both categories. 
• CSUSM is tallying a CCAA-best 5.07 runs per game. 
• CSUSM ranks second in the CCAA with 239 hits this season. 
• The Cougars have the highest on-base percentage in the CCAA at .369. 
• The CSUSM pitching staff has moved into the top spot in the CCAA with a 1.99 ERA. 
• The Cougars are boasting a 2.31 strikeout-to-walk ratio, the third highest in the CCAA.
• CSUSM ranks second in the CCAA with 28 sacrifice bunts and nine sacrifice flies. 
• Madison Waymire is has a CCAA-best 38 hits this season. 
• Waymire's .90 runs per game rank second in the conference. 
• Jayline Sloss has the conference's lowest ERA at 0.88 while Savannah Coyle ranks fifth with a 2.13 ERA. 
• Sloss ranks third in the CCAA with 4.94 hits allowed per seven innings. 
• Savannah Coyle's conference-high three saves rank sixth in Division II. 
• Aneesa Arredondo is averaging the second-highest in the CCAA with 0.24 sacrifice bunts per game, ranking 45th in the nation. 
• Jillian Albayati's three sacrifice flies lead the CCAA and rank 40th in Division II. 

MIDWEEK GAME VS. NO. 22 CUI

• The Toros went 4-0 last weekend at the Tournament of Champions (TOC) with wins over Central Washington (5-1), Saint Martin's (3-2), Simon Fraser (2-1) and Western Oregon (1-0). 
• CSUDH is third in the CCAA with an 11-7 conference record. 
• The Toros opened conference play with series sweeps over Chico State and Stanislaus State before recording two wins in the shortened series at Sonoma State. 
• CSUDH then lost four straight against Cal State San Bernardino before dropping a 3-1 series at Cal State East Bay the weekend before TOC. 
• The Toros are the CCAA leaders in batting average (.304), slugging percentage (.457), home runs (22) and home runs per game (0.79). 
• CSUDH's defense is the top in the conference with a 0.977 fielding percentage, ranking eighth in the nation.
• The Toros have only drawn 52 walks this season, the third lowest in the CCAA.
• CSUDH is laying down the second-fewest sacrifice bunts with 12 this season. 
• Mariah Ramirez is leading the CCAA with 22 pitching appearances this season (15th in DII) and 10 home runs (19th in DII). 
• CSUDH was picked to finish fourth 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 117-89 (.568) 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.