Matadors Gear Up for Inaugural Big West Softball Championship

GAME NOTES
FULLERTON, Calif -- CSUN Softball (24-24, 17-10 Big West) is set to play in the Inaugural Big West Softball Championship from Thursday-Saturday at Anderson Family Field in Fullerton. CSUN has earned the No. 2 seed, as it will play the winner of UC Santa Barbara (No. 3 seed) and UC San Diego (No. 6 seed) on Thursday.

Host team Cal State Fullerton earned the No. 1 seed. Other teams in the Championships are No. 4 seed Long Beach State, and No. 5 seed Hawai'i. The championship game is slated for Saturday at 1 p.m.

LAST TIME IN THE BATTER'S BOX
CSUN is coming off its final regular season series this past weekend. The Matadors defeated the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos two out of three games to win their eighth Big West series of the year. The only conference series the Matadors didn't win was against Fullerton from April 11-12. In game one versus UCSB, CSUN won 3-2 as Jerzie Liana hit a walk-off single and Raegan Jackson had a home run in the contest.

In game two, the Matadors were victorious 4-1. Tiara Westbrook had a three-run home run and Gisella Vargas Sandoval tallied an RBI in the victory. Lauryn Carranco and Isabella Alonso each pitched a complete game for CSUN in the doubleheader sweep. CSUN ultimately fell in the last game of the series on Saturday, 4-0.

ALONSO AND CARRANCO - THE TANDEM IN THE CIRCLE
Alonso and Carranco have been a solid one-two punch in the circle for the Matadors. Amassing almost 300 innings between them, both have been workhorses and have been pivotal to the Matadors' success this season. Largely because of Alonso and Carranco, CSUN is third in the Big West in ERA at 2.77. CSUN has also allowed the second fewest runs in the Big West at 91 total. Carranco individually is one of the top pitchers in the Big West, ranking fourth overall in ERA at 2.33. She has won 10 games in Big West play. Alonso is 14th in the Big West with a 3.15 ERA and seven wins.

TIARA WESTBROOK - THE STAR SLUGGER
Westbrook has made a huge impact since transferring from Oregon State this past season. She is leading the Matadors in batting average (.358), OPS (1.063), home runs (10), on base percentage (.443), slugging percentage (.620) and total bases (85). Earlier this season she had a superb performance in the Mary Nutter Classic. Westbrook took Big West Player of the Week honors for her contributions. She batted .588 with a .882 slugging percentage in the tournament. She is also second in the Big West for home runs in conference play with eight. When the sophomore from Arcadia does well, the Matadors do well.

BATTING AVERAGE - WHERE CSUN SHINES BEST
CSUN is second in the Big West in batting average with a .287 clip. The Matadors currently have six players batting over .300. Currently over the .300 mark are Westbrook (.358), Alexis Chavez (.330), Mikayla Carman (.323), Kylie Galindo (.321), Jadyn Nielsen (.306) and Gizella Vargas Sandoval (.301) In 2024, CSUN was in the middle of the pack (6th) in batting average in the Big West at a .276 average.

BIG WEST RECOGNITION
Nine Matadors earned Big West honors for the 2025 softball season as the conference announced its postseason awards on Tuesday, May 6. Carranco and Westbrook led the way as both were named to the All-Big West First Team. Carman and Chavez were named to the All-Big West Second Team, while Kaylee Escutia, Galindo, Raegan Jackson, Alexa Landeros, and Nielsen rounded out the list as they took home Honorable Mention honors. This announcement marks the most CSUN players with All-Big West honors since 1998.

SCOUTING POTENTIAL SECOND ROUND OPPONENTS
UC Santa Barbara
The Gauchos tied the Matadors in Big West play with a 17-10 record in conference. CSUN won the season series, giving the Matadors the two seed. UCSB finished with an overall record of 28-23. UCSB has earned series wins versus Fullerton, Bakersfield, Cal Poly, UC San Diego, Long Beach State and UC Davis. Offensively, UCSB has three players batting over .300. Giselle Mejia leads the team with a .357 average. Following her is Tehya Banks with a .313 clip. Lastly, Delaina Ma'ae is third on the team in batting with a .311 average.

In the circle, UCSB is led by Big West Pitcher of the Year Malaya Johnson who is 17-9 with a 2.70 ERA this season. She has 17 complete games in 163 innings pitched along with a two-hit complete game shutout last Saturday against the Matadors.

In terms of Big West honors, Bella Fuentes and Mejia along with Johnson were selected to the All-Big West First Team.

UC San Diego
UC San Diego enters the championship tournament 15-30 overall and 13-14 in Big West play to earn the sixth seed. In the regular season, the Tritons found success in conference play by earning two sweeps over UC Riverside and Cal Poly, and another series win over UC Davis.

Pitcher India Caldwell earned a spot on the All-Big West First Team after finishing the season with a 2.88 ERA and 106 strikeouts over 158 innings of work.

At the plate, graduate transfer Jaden Hill remains the Tritons most efficient batter with 17 runs scored in 35 games. Her .320 batting average leads the team along with her .407 on base percentage. Hill also has a .360 batting average in Big West games. Morgan Eng is a threat on the base-paths, totaling 31 stolen bases with a team-high 25 runs scored.

When CSUN faced UC San Diego this season in La Jolla, CSUN took two out of three games. The Matadors won the first two games by a score of 5-1 and 5-2 before dropping the last game of the series 3-2 in eight innings.
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Matadors Gear Up for Inaugural Big West Softball Championship

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Players Mentioned

Isabella Alonso

Mikayla Carman

Lauryn Carranco

Alexis Chavez

Kaylee Escutia

Kylie Galindo

Raegan Jackson

Alexa Landeros

Jerzie Liana

Jadyn Nielsen

Gizella Vargas Sandoval

Tiara Westbrook