MORAGA, Calif. — The defending WCC Champs and preseason favorites to repeat, the Saint Mary's Gaels, are primed and ready to get softball action underway. Returning all but one starter from a year ago, and bringing in a star studded recruiting class of seven new Gaels, Saint Mary's will open their season for the second consecutive year at the NorCal Kickoff, co-hosted by Sacramento State and UC Davis. Last year, the Gaels went 3-2 at this event, including their first 3-0 start since 2001. 

THE DETAILS
Saint Mary's Gaels vs. Boise State Broncos
Friday, February 7 at 12 PM
Shea Stadium – Sacramento, Calif. 
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Saint Mary's Gaels at Sacramento State Hornets
Friday, February 7 at 2:30 PM
Shea Stadium – Sacramento, Calif. 
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Saint Mary's Gaels vs. Idaho State Bengals
Saturday, February 8 at 9:30 AM
LaRue Field – Davis, Calif.
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Saint Mary's Gaels vs. Boise State Broncos
Sunday, February 9 at 9:30 AM
LaRue Field – Davis, Calif.
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Saint Mary's Gaels at UC Davis Aggies
Sunday, February 9 at 2:30 PM
LaRue Field – Davis, Calif.
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WELCOME BACK
The Saint Mary's Gaels return 19 players from last year's WCC Title team, including eight of nine from their everyday batting order and all three of their regular starting pitchers. Starting with the Gaels in the circle, Saint Mary's had five different players throw at least one innings, with all five returning. WCC Co-Pitcher of the Year Odhi Vasquez headlines the group after leading her team with a 2.56 ERA and the conference with four complete game shutouts, but Mia Nishikawa and Avrey Wolverton also return after garnering second team All-WCC honors. Bullpen arms Chelsea Bennett and Braxton Brown will also be back locked and loaded, looking to continue to add to this elite pitching staff. Honorable mention All-WCC backstop Jenavee Amador, who drove in the winning run to clinch the conference title, is back, along with sophomore Averie Prescott and redshirt freshman Camryn Smith. While the Gaels infield will be missing starting all-conference second baseman Marissa Montelongo, they return both of their all-conference corner infielders, Taylor Lane at first and freshman of the year Sam Buckley at third. Starting shortstop Tori Cervantes returns, and may see some time in the outfield this season, while seniors Lindsay Cabral and Claudia Kirchner could also compete to see time on the infield dirt. In the outfield, all three Gaels starters are back, including first team all-conference center fielder Hannah Ferguson. She will be flanked by Camille Lara in left and Victoria Castillo in right if things stay consistent from last year. All-conference freshman DP Alex Cutonilli rounds out the group of key returners for the Gaels. 

ALLOW US TO INTRODUCE…
There are seven newcomers to this Gael roster, all of which are true freshmen. Ella Thurman is a pitcher out of Chico who boasted a near 5-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio in her time at Pleasant Valley HS and should look to add another valued piece to the Gaels staff. Behind the dish, Dominique Oliveira comes to Moraga from Hollister HS boasting a career 0.364 batting average. Mia Zabat and Kiah Silva both hail from Fairfield and prepped together at Vanden High School. Zabat should immediately compete for time on the infield, while Silva is more of a utility player who will look to begin her Gael career in the outfield. A bevy of utility players round out the group, including slap hitter Aryanna Gonzales out of Vista Murrieta HS, speedster Julia Medina out of River City HS in West Sacramento, and swiss army knife Kiara Vasquez out of Upland, the younger sister of Gaels ace Odhi Vasquez.

ABOUT THE BRONCOS
The Gaels will get two looks at the Boise State Broncos in this event, seeing them once in Sacramento on Friday and once in Davis on Sunday. The Broncos were picked to finish tied second in the Mountain West after a 36-23 campaign a year ago. Fourth year Head Coach Justin Shults has won more games in his first three seasons in Boise than any other Broncos coach in that time frame at 108-50 overall. He returns six starters, including preseason MWC Player of the Year pick and defending MWC Freshman of the Year Sophia Knight. Knight hit a team-best 0.405 last season with 85 knocks, 51 runs scored and 18-19 stolen base attempts while manning center field for Boise State. Also on the preseason all-conference list for the Broncos are power hitters Sydney Groves (18 HR and 57 RBI in 2024) and Mykenzie Hanna (18 HR and 47 RBI in 2024). With all of that ability in the lineup, pitching might be the only cause for concern for the Broncos, who lost number one and two in their rotation last season, Taylor Caudill and Jenna Bloom. They will likely turn to Abby Dowell, who tossed 66 innings a season ago, starting seven games and making 20 appearances out of the bullpen. Boise State is 5-1 all-time vs the Gaels, but the two teams have not seen one another since the 2023 season. 

ABOUT THE HORNETS
Like the Gaels, the Sacramento State Hornets are coming off of a solid season, going 28-20, finishing tied second in the Big Sky Conference with a record of 7-4. Head Coach Lori Perez enters year 12 at the helm in Sacramento, sitting at 285-245, and looking to record win number 300 in her illustrious career. The Hornets were picked to finish fourth in the preseason Big Sky coaches' poll, and return four starters, headlined by shortstop Gwen Ludwig and pitcher/infielder Caroline Evans. Ludwig boasted a stellar 0.351 average last year, while Evans appeared in 44 of 48 games, split between the lineup and the circle. A year ago, the Gaels split a doubleheader against the Hornets in Sacramento, winning the opener 3-2, and dropping the finale 5-3. In the win, Odhi Vasquez went the distance, surrendering two unearned runs while fanning five, while Hannah Ferguson scored of the Gaels three runs. In the loss Camille Lara drove in two of the Gaels three runs. All-time, the Hornets lead the series 66-22-1.

ABOUT THE BENGALS
Another familiar foe from a season ago, Idaho State was picked to finish second in the Big Sky preseason poll, exactly where they finished a year ago. The Bengals went 25-27 a year ago, with one of those wins and one of those losses attributed to the Gaels. Now entering year four at the helm, Head Coach Andrew Rich is still in search of his first winning season at Idaho State, after tallying at least 20 wins in each of his first three seasons. This Bengals squad returns an incredible amount of talent from last season, including six from everyday starting nine last year, four of which hit over 0.300, and two of their regular three pitchers, including ace Marley Goluskin. In game one of last year's double-header against the Gaels, the Idaho State explosive lineup couldn't do anything against Odhi Vasquez, who tossed a complete game, two hit shutout, while striking out 12. They rebounded in game two, scoring five runs in the fourth inning to break a 2-2 tie. Returner Alyssa Yee went 3-3 in that one with a home run and a couple of RBI. Idaho State is just 3-7 all-time against the Gaels, but have split each of their last four meetings. 

ABOUT THE AGGIES
Rounding out the group of opponents for the Gaels is the second of two co-hosts of the NorCal Kickoff, UC Davis. The Aggies had a tough go of things in 2024, going 21-29, their worst season in seven years. Head Coach Erin Thorpe looks to right the ship in year 10, and get back to her winning ways, as she holds four winning seasons in her first nine years after heading west from Boise State, her previous head coaching stop. Picked to finish eighth in the Big West preseason polls, the Aggies finished in seventh a year ago. They lost both of their meetings with the Gaels last year, both on LaRue Field. The Aggies lost both of their big bats from a year ago, Anna Dethlefson and Leah Polson, as well as their top two pitchers. A team that hung their hat on solid pitching a year ago, their #3 arm in the circle from last year, Ashley Sawai, still earned a preseason All-Big West nod. The Gaels outscored the Aggies 17-2 in their two meetings last year. In the first, Odhi Vasquez pitched a one-hitter in a 6-0 affair. In the second, the Gaels offense exploded to the tune of 11 runs on 13 hits. Multiple Gaels enjoyed multi hit or multi RBI games, with Alex Cutonilli leading the charge with two hits and two runs driven in. Historically, Davis holds a stranglehold on the series 44-18, but the Gaels have won each of the last three meetings. 

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