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The following release information was issued by the Big West Conference and information and photos courtesy of the Big West Conference…
Irvine, Calif. – Cal State Fullerton has been selected as the top team in the Big West heading into the 2024 season, as voted by the league’s 10 head coaches.
The Titans (30-21, 20-7 BW) earned 77 points accompanied by six first-place votes in the polling to claim the top spot in the preseason poll for the second consecutive season.
Coaches in the league also voted on an 11-person Preseason All-Big West team. Cal State Fullerton claimed two spots on the preseason team with the pairing of senior outfielder Megan Delgadillo and junior pitcher Haley Rainey earning the honors.
Delgadillo started 20 games for the Titans and produced a .368 hitting percentage while accumulating 24 hits and four RBI in 2023. Rainey recorded nine wins in the circle and notched 87 strikeouts during 105 innings pitched.
2023 Big West regular season champion Long Beach State(31-23, 21-6 BW) was separated from Cal State Fullerton by just two points, (75 points, four first-place votes) in the preseason poll. Both teams qualified for the 2023 NCAA Softball Championship last year with the Titans earning the right of passage courtesy of an at-large bid. This was the first time since 2018 the Big West had more than one representative in the postseason.
The Beach boasts a league-best three representatives on the 11-member Big West preseason coaches’ team with junior infielder Jacquelyn Bickar, junior pitcher Shannon Haddad, and senior outfielder Sara Olson. The LBSU trio all garnered First Team All-Big West honors a year ago.
Bickar and Olson placed first and second on The Beach in slugging percentage (.329, .307), hits (52, 43), homeruns (4,3) and RBI (17, 18), respectively. Haddad was the leading pitcher for LBSU posting 2.71 ERA during 146.1 innings pitched with 107 strikeouts. Even better in league play, Haddad went 9-3 with a 1.51 ERA and a .197 batting average against, both in the Top 5 in the Big West.
CSUN (28-24, 19-8 BW) comes in third place with 65 points. The Matadors finished third place in The Big West last year after being polled fifth in last year’s edition.
UC Santa Barbara (26-22, 13-14 BW) was selected as the fourth team with 52 points and a pair of student-athletes on the preseason team. Senior catcher/designated player Ashley Donaldson dominated for the Gauchos after finishing first in five of the six categories on the team. Senior infielder Madelyn McNally led the conference in runs scored (44) and hits (68) en route to earning a spot on the All-Pacific Region First Team.
The Aggies (29-22, 15-12 BW), land both senior pitcher Kenedi Brown and senior outfielder/catcher Anna Dethlefson on the team while finishing middle of the pack in the poll, fifth overall. UC Davis saw Dethlefson earn Big West Player of the Year honors after leading the conference in slugging percentage (.627), doubles (15), and stolen bases (40). The Fair Oaks, Calif. native finished second in batting average (.407), OPS (1.104), runs (43), and hits (61). Brown brought home Al-Big West First Team accolades after ranking third in the league in ERA (1.73) and strikeouts (16) a year ago.
Hawai’i (30-23, 13-14 BW), andCal Poly (19-23, 12-15 BW) finished sixth and seventh in the polling, and each have a single student-athlete awarded to the coaches’ preseason team, respectively.
Senior infielder Maya Nakamura led the Rainbow Wahine offense with a .390 batting average (48 hits, second on UH) and scored a best 35 runs for Hawai’i in 2023.
Junior outfielder Jessica Clements set the Cal Poly program record for career hitting percentage with a .384 clip. Clements also posted the most multi-hit games (11) for the Mustangs last season, earning a spot in the All-Big West First Team.
UC Riverside(26), UC San Diego (22), and Cal State Bakersfield (9) round out the preseason rankings. These three squads will be looking to shake up the league after improving from a year ago.
The 2024 Big West conference schedule consists of a 27-game slate, with each side facing all nine opponents in three-game sets starting Thursday, March 14. Check listings to see which contests air on ESPN+.
Once conference action commences, 2023 Big West softball champion Long Beach State plays host to CSUN at LBSU Softball Complex on Saturday, March 30 at 7 p.m. PT in a nationally televised contest on ESPNU.
The 2024 Big West regular-season champion will earn the league’s automatic berth again this year into the 64-team NCAA Division I Softball Championship. The 2024 WCWS remains at the USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Okla., May 31-June 9.