SAN DIEGO – The UC Santa Barbara Softball team is set to open up the 2024 season against stiff competition this weekend. The Gauchos will compete in the San Diego State Season Kickoff Tournament with games against No. 25 Kentucky, Minnesota, No. 24 San Diego State, and No. 3 Stanford. All four opponents were NCAA Tournament participants last season.
A LOOK BACK AT 2023
UC Santa Barbara looks to build off their 2023 campaign that saw the Gauchos go 26-22 overall and 13-14 in Big West play. The 26 wins was the most for a Gaucho team since 2017 when the Gauchos won 31 games. Despite a sixth-place finish in conference, the Gauchos led The Big West in batting average, hits, triples, walks and on-base percentage.
SERIES HISTORIES
KENTUCKY: The Gauchos and Wildcats have met twice previously with Kentucky winning both matchups. Both games were played in the 2022 season in Tucson, Ariz. During the Hillenbrand Invitational.
MINNESOTA: UC Santa Barbara and Minnesota have met 10 times before and have split the matchups down the middle. The last time the two teams met was nearly 30 years ago in the 1994 season. During that season the Gauchos won both contests to even the all-time series.
SAN DIEGO STATE: The Gauchos and Aztecs have not squared off since the 2021 season when San Diego State swept the Gauchos in a three-game set. UC Santa Barbara is 26-30 all-time against SDSU with their last win coming in March of 2007.
The Aztecs are currently on an eight-game winning streak against the Gauchos, but before the streak started, UC Santa Barbara held a five-game win streak over the Aztecs.
STANFORD: UC Santa Barbara holds an 8-15 record against Stanford, but have not played each other since the 2021 season. The Gauchos and Cardinal split their games in the 2021 season during the DeMarini Invitational. The Cardinal took the first game 9-1 but the Gauchos bounced back and won the second game 3-1.
SENIORS LOOK TO LEAVE THEIR MARK
The Gauchos return a total of 13 players from a season ago, highlighted by seniors
Madelyn McNally,
Ashley Donaldson and
Camryn Snyder. As it stands right now McNally and Donaldson both rank in the top 10 in program history for batting average. Coming into the season McNally has hit .395 over three seasons while Donaldson sits at .316 across her three seasons. McNally also ranks third in program history in career triples.
The duo ranked in the top five of The Big West last season in batting average, OPS, hits, triples, total bases and slugging percentage. After their impressive 2023 season, both athletes went on to be named First Team All-Big West, with McNally ending her season as a First Team All-Pacific Region selection. To start this season, McNally and Donaldson were named to The Big West's Preseason Coaches' Team.
The Gauchos' top starting pitcher,
Camryn Snyder, is back after leading the team in ERA, WHIP, wins, complete games, innings pitched and strikeouts. She also ranked in the top five of The Big West in innings pitched, wins and saves
NEW FACES
The Gauchos welcome nine newcomers to the 2024 squad, seven freshmen and two transfers both coming from a Power Five conference. All seven freshmen hail from California and competed well in the fall giving Santa Barbara great depth and all will battle for starting positions. The Gauchos will also be deeper on the mound and at least three freshmen pitchers will see solid playing time this season.
The two transfers,
Erin Mendoza and
Alana Snow come from Oregon State and Texas A&M respectively. Both will add great experience to a young outfield unit. They also have experience in the NCAA postseason as Mendoza and Oregon State made it to the Women's College World Series in 2022 while Snow was a member of the National Championship team at UCLA in 2019 and World Series appearance in 2021 before transferring to Texas A&M.
FOLLOW ALONG
The Gauchos are set to begin their season Friday morning against Kentucky with the first pitch scheduled for 10 a.m. For those unable to make the trip, the only game that will be available to be viewed this weekend is the Gauchos game against San Diego State. The contest will be streamed through the Mountain West Network, all other games will have live stats available.
UP NEXT
The Gauchos will travel to Las Vegas next weekend to compete in the UNLV Desert Classic. They will have games against Bradley, Iowa State and UNLV.
