MORAGA, Calif. — While the results were not what they had hoped for, Saint Mary's Softball (1-4) had many positives to build on coming off of their opening weekend appearance at the NorCal Kickoff. They will now take those lessons learned south to Long Beach, as they get set to play in their second of six non-conference tournaments, the Wilson Tournament, hosted by Long Beach State. Weather could play a factor in this series, with rain in the forecast through Thursday in the Los Angeles Metro Area, as the Gaels opening matchup of the event with Kansas has already been canceled, but as it stands, Saint Mary's will take on four opponents over the three day event, with team's representing the Big West, ACC, WAC and Big12 conferences.
THE DETAILS
Saint Mary's Gaels at Long Beach State
Thursday, February 13 at 5:30 PM
LBSU Softball Complex – Long Beach, Calif.
LIVE STATS
Saint Mary's Gaels vs. Cal Golden Bears
Friday, February 14 at 7 PM
LBSU Softball Complex – Long Beach, Calif.
LIVE STATS
Saint Mary's Gaels vs. Southern Utah Thunderbirds
Saturday, February 15 at 11:30 AM
LBSU Softball Complex – Long Beach, Calif.
LIVE STATS
Saint Mary's Gaels vs. Iowa State Cyclones
Saturday, February 15 at 2 PM
LBSU Softball Complex – Long Beach, Calif.
LIVE STATS
THREE OF A KIND
Through the first five games of the year, Saint Mary's has clearly established a big three in their batting lineup, with Taylor Lane, Alex Cutonilli and Camille Lara all appearing in every game of opening weekend, and all batting better than 0.350 in the early going. Lane led the way with going 5-for-12, with a pair of multi-hit games, including the go-ahead RBI knock in the Gaels win over Idaho State. Lara went 5-for-14, notching hits in four of five games including a double, and scoring the go-ahead run on Lane's RBI hit vs Idaho State. Last, but certainly not least, Cutonilli also went 5-for-14, and enters this week on a four game hit streak, and was responsible for six of the Gaels 10 runs this weekend between her home run, three runs score and four RBI. Sam Buckley also boasts an impressive early average at 0.571, but was only able to make eight plate appearances after suffering an ankle injury.
ABOUT THE BEACH
Long Beach State opened their season at the Stanford Invitational, going 3-0 at the event over Pacific, Seattle and Fresno State, before returning home to drop their last two to Oklahoma and Winthrop. Kim Sowder is in her 19th season at the helm, and is looking to guide her squad to their 10th NCAA Regional appearance in that time. Led by true freshmen Priscilla Iniguez (0.375 3 2B and 2 RBI) and Brynne Nally (2-0 0.45 ERA 10 K), the Beach looks to be built for prolonged success. In eight all-time meetings the Gaels have only defeated the Beach once.
ABOUT THE GOLDEN BEARS
Now a member of the ACC, Cal opened their season by going 3-2 at the Kajikawa Classic, hosted by Arizona State, defeating Minnesota, Utah and Maryland, while falling to Maryland and host ASU. Coming off of guiding Cal to their first postseason appearance in her tenure, Head Coach Chelsea Spencer now looks to make it back to back trips for the Golden Bears for the first time since they went to four straight from 2015 to 2018. On the young campaign, the Golden Bear offense has been something to marvel at, averaging nearly eight runs per game and batting at 0.333 as a team. Sophomore Lagi Quiroga has swung the biggest bat thus far, slashing at 0.412/0.500/1.000 with three home runs, five RBI and six runs scored. In two meetings last year, Cal downed the Gaels 7-1 and 2-1, both in Berkeley. Quiroga blasted two home runs against the Gaels in a 7-1 victory, before going 0-3 with two strikeouts in the 2-1 win. Including those two games, Cal is 66-2 all-time vs the Gaels.
ABOUT THE THUNDERBIRDS
Southern Utah opened their season in Las Vegas at the UNLV Classic, going 1-4 with their lone win coming against Buffalo. Now in her sixth season at the helm, Head Coach Don Don Williams is coming off of her best season with the Thunderbirds, and is looking to build off of that for her first winning campaign in charge in Cedar City. While the pitching struggled for the Thunderbirds on opening weekend, the offense clicked into high gear early, led by Arianna Ramirez. An everyday starter and 0.266 hitter a year ago, Ramirez has burst onto the scene in her sophomore season to bat aft 0.400 with six runs driven in through the first five contests. The Gaels lead the all-time series with SUU, 9-4, including a win in their last meeting in 2023, 3-0.
ABOUT THE CYCLONES
Like the Gaels and Thunderbirds, Iowa State has opened their season at 1-4, splitting with host Florida International and falling to Stony Brook and Indiana twice at the Felsberg Invitational in Miami. Coming off of his worst season at the helm of the Cyclones, eighth year Head Coach Jamie Pinkerton hopes to right the ship this season. With 20 years of softball head coaching experience at Tulsa, Arkansas, Montana and Iowa State, Coach Pinkerton should have the Cyclones back up to snuff in no time. Two new faces have paced ISU offense this year, Miami transfer Reagan Batholomew (0.294 2 2B 7 RBI) and true freshman Jessie Clemons (0.500 2 2B 3 RBI). The Gaels and Cyclone have split their only two meetings in the programs' histories.
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