SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The No. 18 Cal State San Marcos softball team (25-10, 11-9 CCAA) will begin a 10-game homestand this week with a four-game series against Chico State (19-15, 11-13 CCAA). The Cougars will host the Wildcats on Friday with a 1 p.m doubleheader before wrapping the series up with an 11 a.m twinbill on Saturday. 

LAST TIME OUT

• CSUSM dropped three of four games in its series at Cal Poly Humboldt last weekend. 
• The Cougars fell 11-3 (6 inn.) and 7-6 in Friday's doubleheader before splitting Saturday's twinbill with a 7-2 victory and a 4-2 loss.  
• Paige Donnelly drove in six of the Cougars' 16 runs, including a three-run homer   

COUGARS BY THE NUMBERS

• The Cougars moved to No. 18 in the latest NFCA Division II Coaches Poll with four others from the West Region appearing in the top 25 – No. 11 Western Washington, No. 14 Cal State East Bay, No. 22 San Francisco State and No. 24 Concordia University Irvine. 
• CSUSM (11-9) is third in the CCAA standings, four games back from leader Cal State East Bay (15-5) and one game back from San Francisco State (11-9). 
• CSUSM moved into the top spot in the CCAA with a .317 batting average. 
• The Cougars remain at No. 2 in the conference in on-base percentage (.385) and slugging percentage (.419). 
• CSUSM ranks second in the CCAA with 12 sacrifice flies this season. 
• CSUSM ranks ninth in NCAA Division II (third in the CCAA) with 19 double plays. 
• The Cougars have the fourth-best fielding percentage in the CCAA at .964. 
• CSUSM is third in scoring runs in the CCAA, averaging 4.86 per game. 
• The Cougars have tallied 15 home runs, averaging 0.43 per game and ranking third in the CCAA. 
• CSUSM has registered 299 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 (.421), followed by Paige Donnelly in fifth (.382).
• Albayati ranks eighth in the nation with 2.83 assists per game. 
• Coyle is ranked ninth in Division II with fourth saves while Jayline Sloss has two and is ranked 42nd. 
• Donnelly's 29 RBIs rank fifth in the CCAA. 
• Jayline Sloss is in a three-way tie for second in the CCAA with 24 strikeouts looking.
• Madison Waymire ranks seventh in the conference with 26 runs. 
• With four home runs apiece, Waymire, Donnelly and Albayati are tied with nine other players for fifth in the CCAA. 

COUGARS VS. THE WILDCATS

• The Wildcats just dropped a 3-1 series to Cal State San Bernardino last weekend, splitting Friday's doubleheader with a 10-9 loss and a 2-1 win before being swept in Saturday's doubleheader, 2-0 and 11-2 (5 inn.). 
• In their previous CCAA series, the Wildcats split at San Francisco and against Cal State Dominguez Hills while winning their series against Cal State Monterey Bay and Cal Poly Humboldt. Chico was swept by Stanislaus State in its first road conference series of the season. 
• Chico State ranks last in the CCAA in double plays (9) and double plays per game (0.26) while ranking second-to-last in doubles (34), doubles per game (1.00), home runs (9), RBIs (122), RBIs per game (3.59), scoring (3.76), slugging percentage (.356), sacrifice bunts (17) and total runs (128). 
• The Wildcat pitching staff is boasting the second-best ERA (2.36) and WHIP (1.18) in the CCAA.  
• Kylie Loertscher (1.97) and Bella Tavares (2.01) rank fourth and fifth, respectively, in the CCAA in ERA. 
• Aiyana Curry is second in the league with 0.91 runs batted in per game. 
• The Wildcats are seventh in the CCAA standings, one game back from sixth-place Cal State San Bernardino and two games ahead of eighth-place Sonoma State. 
• CSUSM is 16-13 in the all-time series against Chico and is 4-6 when playing in San Marcos. 
• In 2024, the Cougars recorded a series sweep over the Wildcats with scores of 4-3, 8-7 (9 inn.), 5-4 and 6-1 in Chico.  
• The Wildcats were picked to finish eighth 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).