INDIANAPOLIS – The Cal State San Marcos softball team is ranked No. 5 in the first official NCAA Division II Softball West Region rankings released on Wednesday by the NCAA.
 
This marks CSUSM's second consecutive appearance in the first NCAA West Region Poll as the Cougars made their debut last season at No. 1.
 
At 41-9 overall, PacWest Conference's Concordia University Irvine topped the West Region poll followed by four CCAA schools with Sonoma State (33-8) at No. 2, Cal State San Bernardino (28-17) at No. 3, Cal State Dominguez Hills (27-15) at No. 4 and CSUSM (24-17) rounding out the top five. Northwest Nazarene (29-15) is the only Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) member in the top 10, ranking No. 6. Also representing the CCAA in the poll is San Francisco State (26-20) at No. 7 and Cal State Monterey Bay (26-22) at No. 10. The PacWest's Biola (27-18) and Azusa Pacific (28-21) are No. 8 and No. 9, respectively.
 
The announcement of the 2023 NCAA Division II Softball Championship Tournament will come via a live selection show at NCAA.com on May 8 at 7 a.m. PST (10 a.m. EST). The NCAA will continue to release one more regional ranking at NCAA.com on Wednesday, March 3 leading up to the selection show in two weeks. The winners of the three conference tournaments (CCAA, PacWest, GNAC) will receive an automatic bid into the postseason with the last five spots being at-large selections. 
 
Should the Cougars maintain their ranking as one of the top eight teams in the West Region when the 64-team NCAA tournament field is announced on May 8, CSUSM will have qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the second time in program history.
 
The Cougars will close out the regular season this week, hosting Stanislaus State in a four-game series beginning with a doubleheader on Friday at 1 p.m. Prior to Saturday's doubleheader at 11 a.m., CSUSM will honor Zoe Ballen, Mayca Brown, Bianca Gutierrez and Ryann Steiner.
 
CSUSM has already punched its ticket to the CCAA Tournament taking place May 3-6 at Cal State Dominguez Hills in Carson. For more information on the CCAA Tournament, visit the official tournament page.