FULLERTON, Calif. (April 20, 2023) - The UC Santa Barbara softball team (23-13, 10-5 Big West) travels to Cal State Fullerton (24-16, 11-4 Big West) this weekend for a three-game set against The Big West leaders.
The Gauchos are currently tied for second in The Big West after dropping two of three games this past weekend against Long Beach State. Cal State Fullerton swept UC San Diego last weekend, not allowing the Tritons to score a single run in the three-game series.
Madelyn McNally, Ashley Donaldson, and Alexa Sams are leading the way for the Gauchos on the offensive side. All three are currently hitting over .300 on the season with McNally above .400. The Gauchos, as a team, have a batting average right at .300. McNally currently leads the team with 52 hits on the season, while Donaldson leads the team in doubles (10) and home runs (4). Sams has totaled eight doubles, three triples, and 21 RBI so far this season.
In the circle for UC Santa Barbara Camryn Snyder holds an 11-5 record with a sub-3.00 earned run average. She has totaled 101.2 innings and struck out 75 batters. Freshman, Malaya Johnson has appeared in 14 games, starting in 11 of them. She has pitched four complete games including one complete-game shutout.
The Titans come into the series riding a five-game winning streak after taking two of three from Cal State Northridge and Sweeping UC San Diego in their prior two series. The sweep of the Tritons helped the Titans jump from second to co-leaders in The Big West standings.
Infielder, Daisy Munoz leads Fullerton with a .328 batting average with 38 hits. Alexa Neil and Jessi Alcala have 33 and 32 hits respectively and have combined for 19 extra-base hits and 37 runs batted in.
Cal State Fullerton has three pitchers that have all pitched over 50 innings on the season thus far. Leading the way is Myka Sutherlin who is 13-7 on the season with a 1.54 ERA over 136 innings, striking out 167. Haley Rainey holds a 1.18 ERA over 77.1 innings while striking out 66.
The Gauchos and Titans will play a single game on Friday, April 21 with first pitch set for 6 p.m. The teams will conclude their series with a doubleheader on Saturday, April 22 with the first game set to begin at 2 p.m.
