PALM SPRINGS, Calif. - The UC Santa Barbara Softball team looks to continue their hot start this weekend at the annual Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic at Big League Dreams Sports Park in Palm Springs. Their best 11-game start since 2014, the Gauchos are currently sitting at 8-3 overall and 8-2 over their last 10 games.

LAST TIME OUT
Last weekend at the Fresno State Kickoff Classic, the Gauchos went 3-2 with three gutsy wins. Bookending the Classic with games against Utah, the Gauchos won both in extra innings—6-5 on Friday and 7-5 on Sunday. Earlier on Sunday, Santa Barbara beat LMU 4-3—thanks in part to four perfect relief innings from Sam Stoll—after losing to the Lions the day prior.

THE SCHEDULE
UC Santa Barbara begins the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic on Friday against BYU and Oregon State at 5:30 and 8 p.m., respectively. Saturday, the Gauchos play No. 25 San Diego State at 5 p.m. before a game against Washington at 7:30 p.m. Then, on Sunday, the Gauchos round out the weekend playing San Jose State with first pitch scheduled for 11 a.m.

SCOUTING THE COUGARS
BYU comes into the Marry Nutter Classic with a 6-2 overall record. Last weekend, the Cougars went 3-2 with wins over North Dakota State, Illinois State, and Florida International.
 
Offensively, the Cougars are powered by Lindy Milkowski and Ilove'a Brittingham. The duo has combined to go 17-for-46 (.369) over the team's first eight games. They have also combined for four extra base hits and 11 runs batted in.
 
In the circle, BYU possess multiple arms that can shut down opponents. Leading the way currently is Kaysen Korth, who has pitched 24 innings, struck out 16 batters, and posted a 0.58 ERA.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
Oregon State enters the MNCC with a 3-5 record after two weekends of play. The Beavers traveled to the Central Coast on opening weekend and took part in the Mustang Classic, hosted by Cal Poly, where they went 3-2. The following weekend the Beavers went winless at the Wilson Tournament.
 
Offensively, the Beavers are led by Paige Bambarger. The freshman is currently hitting .450 with a triple and four runs batted in. Just behind her is Nicole Donahue, who is hitting .320 with seven RBIs and three doubles.
 
In the circle, the Beavers sport a 2.71 ERA with Logan Hulon and Ellie Garcia as the only two pitchers to see innings. Hulon posts a 2.46 ERA across 31.1 innings while Garcia holds a 3.10 ERA with 11 strikeouts over 20.1 innings.
 
SCOUTING THE AZTECS
Currently with an 8-2 record, San Diego State climbed into the NFCA Top 25 as the 25th-ranked team. That comes as no surprise, as the Aztecs took current-No. 2 Oklahoma to extra innings before last weekend's wins over No. 14 Alabama and No. 16 Missouri.
 
Hitting in the middle of the order, senior Lala Macario leads the team hitting a red-hot .536 in 28 at-bats to start the year. Shannon Cunningham has the team-lead in homers (2) and is tied for the most RBIs (9) despite only having 13 at-bats.
 
In the circle, Grace Uribe and Cece Cellura each have seven appearances accounting for just about 22 innings apiece. Both of them have solid ERAs, as Uribe's 2.19 and Cellura's 3.55 combine for a formidable 2.86 between the two.
 
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
Ironically, Washington (5-5) was ranked 25th last week—now occupied by San Diego State—but a 3-2 weekend at the Littlewood Classic dropped them out of the rankings. The prior weekend, at the Candrea Classic, the Huskies played then-No. 11 Alabama and No. 16 Arizona, taking one win from Arizona.
 
Charity Sevaaetasi and Alexis DeBoer—a freshman—have provided plenty of power so far, both hitting three homers. Sevaaetasi has a whopping .704 slugging percentage, ahead of DeBoer's .655 and catcher Jadyn Glab's .679.
 
Morgan Reimer and Sophia Ramuno are the Huskies' primary pitchers, logging nearly 50 of the team's 63 innings. They both have been great with 29 strikeouts and just four walks each, contributing to Ramuno's 2.45 ERA and Reimer's 2.86. 
 
SCOUTING THE SPARTANS
San Jose State similarly has a 5-5 record thanks to their current five-game winning streak. The Spartans won all five of their games hosting the Silicon Valley Classic last weekend, including four wins and a shutout apiece over Big West foes UC San Diego and Cal Poly.
 
Of the hitters who have played all 10 games, Reina Zermeno and Shay McDowell lead in average (.345 and .333, respectively) and OPS (1.093 and .982, respectively). Speedster Ahmiya Noriega has tripled in four straight games and has scored a team-leading seven runs.
 
The Spartans' pitching duties mostly are assigned to Mia Reynolds, who has pitched 29.1 innings to the tune of a 2.63 ERA and sub-one WHIP (0.89). Lacie Ham has also logged 19 innings with an even better 2.21 ERA.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
All five games can be streamed via FloCollege. Score updates for each game can be seen on X or the team's Instagram stories. At the time of publication, the games against Oregon State and Washington will broadcast live stats.