SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The No. 15 Cal State San Marcos softball team (24-7, 10-6 CCAA) will take to the road this weekend, traveling up to Cal Poly Humboldt (19-14, 8-10 CCAA) for a four-game CCAA series. Due to field conditions on campus, the games will be played at Bear River Sports Complex in Loleta. The Cougars will play a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Friday before concluding the series with a 10 a.m. twinbill on Saturday. 

LAST TIME OUT

• CSUSM started the week off with a doubleheader sweep against Pace, taking game one 7-2 before recording a 3-2 nine-inning walk-off win in the nightcap. 
• The Cougars split their conference series with Cal State Monterey Bay last weekend at home. 
• CSUSM opened with a 5-3 victory on Friday before falling 7-1 in the nightcap. After dropping a 5-4 decision in Saturday's first game, the Cougars bounced back with a walk-off 6-5 win against the Otters in the series finale. 
• Jillian Albayati, who collected the walk-off single in the Pace victory, led the Cougars in offense last week. She hit .474 with nine hits, five RBIs and one double.          

COUGARS BY THE NUMBERS

• The Cougars remain No. 15 in the latest NFCA Division II Coaches Poll with with four others from the West Region appearing in the top 25 – No. 12 Western Washington, No. 14 Cal State East Bay, No. 19 San Francisco State and No. 21 Concordia University Irvine. 
• CSUSM (10-6) is third in the CCAA standings, two games back from leader Cal State East Bay (12-4) and one game back from San Francisco State (12-6)
• CSUSM remains second in the CCAA with a .316 batting average. 
• The Cougars are also No. 2 in the conference in on-base percentage (.382) and slugging percentage (.420). 
• CSUSM has recorded a conference-best 12 sacrifice flies this season. 
• CSUSM ranks ninth in NCAA Division II with 16 double plays. 
• The Cougars have the second-best fielding percentage in the CCAA at .965. 
• CSUSM is second in scoring runs in the CCAA, averaging 4.90 per game. 
• The Cougars have tallied 14 home runs and are averaging 0.45 per game, ranking third in the CCAA. 
• CSUSM has registered 262 hits this season, ranking fifth in the CCAA. 
• Two Cougars are ranked in the top 10 in the CCAA in batting average – Jillian Albayati is in third (.439), followed by Paige Donnelly in sixth (.394).
• Albayati ranks fifth in the nation with 2.92 assists per game. 
• Coyle is ranked fourth in Division II with fourth saves while Jayline Sloss has two and is ranked 35th. 
• Donnelly's 23 RBIs rank fifth in the CCAA. 
• Jayline Sloss has the sixth-best ERA in the CCAA at 2.01. 
• Madison Waymire ranks sixth in the conference with 24 runs. 
• With four home runs apiece, Waymire and Albayati are tied with seven other players for third in the CCAA. 

OFF-CAMPUS SHOWDOWN

• With last year's series rained out in Arcata, the Cougars have not faced the Lumberjacks since 2023 when CSUSM recorded a series sweep by scores of 10-4, 2-0, 6-0 and 3-2 in San Marcos. 
• In 2022, the first two games of the series were played at Humboldt Softball Field with CSUSM being victorious at 9-1 (5 inn.) and 3-2 (9 inn.). Saturday's doubleheader was moved to Bear River Sports Complex with the Cougars taking game one 7-1 before falling 10-2 in the series finale. 
• The Lumberjacks are coming off a 1-3 series loss to No. 14 Cal State East Bay that included a Pioneer no-hitter by Ashlee Toy. 
• Humboldt also picked up just one win in its four-game series at Chico the previous weekend. 
• The Lumberjacks did win their series over Cal State Monterey Bay with a twinbill split on Friday by scores of 3-2 and 1-13 (5 inn.) before sweeping Saturday's doubleheader, 12-1 and 11-8. 
• The Jacks are leading the CCAA with a .322 batting average, 59 doubles, .398 on-base percentage, 4.52 RBIs per game, 149 RBIs and a .445 slugging percentage. 
• Alyssa Smokey is the NCAA Division II leader with a .610 on-base percentage. 
• Smokey is also leading the CCAA and ranks ninth in the nation with a .512 batting average. 
• The Jacks are sixth in the CCAA standings, one game back from fifth-place Cal State San Bernardino and 1.5 games ahead of seventh-place Cal State Dominguez Hills. 
• CSUSM is 10-17 in the all-time series against Humboldt but has won nine of the last 12 games. 
• The Lumberjacks were picked to finish seventh in the 2025 CCAA Softball Preseason Coaches Poll. 

2025 OUTLOOK

• CSUSM was picked to finish first in the 2025 CCAA Preseason Softball Coaches Poll. 
• The Cougars' roster of 26 consists of 17 returners, one transfer and eight freshman. 
• Athletically, the Cougars are made up of four redshirt seniors, six seniors, three juniors, five sophomores and eight freshman. 
• The Cougars' 53-game schedule includes 28 home contests and 25 road games.

THE ROBINSON FILE

• Head Coach A.J. Robinson was promoted to the top spot on July 31, 2024. 
• As the program's assistant coach from 2022-24, Robinson helped guide CSUSM to three NCAA Division II West Regional appearances, an NCAA National Championship appearance, a West Regional Championship, a CCAA Regular-Season Championship and a CCAA Tournament Championship.
• For the 2021 season, Robinson was a volunteer assistant coach at San Diego State and helped the Aztecs to an overall record of 28-16.
• Robinson's first stint at CSUSM was as a volunteer assistant coach from 2018-20 where he was named CSUSM Athletics' Volunteer Assistant Coach of the Year in 2020.
• Robinson was the founder and president of The Factory Softball Club in San Diego until 2024. In 2018 and 2019, he and his coaching staff earned West Region Travel Ball Coaching Staff of the Year honors from the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA).