SAN MARCOS, Calif. – Redshirt freshman Paige Donnelly and freshman Savannah Coyle have been named the Cal State San Marcos softball team’s first NCAA Division II National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) third team.
Donnelly was also a D2CCA All-American honorable mention.
A Schutt Sports/NFCA Player & Pitcher of the Year Top 25 finalist, Donnelly was selected as the 2022 NFCA West Region Player of the Year and is the West Region finalist for the NFCA Freshman of the Year. She was also named to both the NFCA and D2CAA All-West Region first team. Prior to that, Donnelly was named CCAA Newcomer of the Year in addition to the All-CCAA first team.
The first baseman from Poway batted .405 with 16 doubles, two triples, seven home runs, 58 RBIs, 23 runs, 15 walks and six steals in 53 games this spring. She tallied a team-best 1.121 OPS, .665 slugging percentage and .456 on-base percentage while leading the Cougars in batting average, walks, RBIs, doubles and home runs.
A Schutt Sports/NFCA Player & Pitcher of the Year Top 50 finalist, Coyle is one of the best dual threats at the NCAA Division II level. The true freshman from Oceanside hit .384 with a .496 slugging percentage, .450 on-base percentage and .946 OPS. Coyle registered 48 hits, six doubles, a triple, two home runs, 15 RBIs, 13 runs, 14 walks, three sacrifice bunts and three steals.
In the circle, Coyle dominated with a 1.44 ERA, which was the lowest in the CCAA and second lowest in the West Region this season. She collected a program-best five saves, which ranked her No. 1 in Division II for a majority of the season. Coyle went 19-4 with five shutouts and 12 complete games. She held opponents to a .203 batting average while fanning 126 batters.
During CSUSM’s NAIA years between 2010-15, the Cougars had 11 All-Americans with pitchers Breanna Sandberg and Courtney Allen along with outfielder Alex Miller collecting the honor twice.
CSUSM’s historic softball season came to a close last week when the Cougars hosted the NCAA Division II West Super Regionals, falling to Cal State Dominguez Hills in a best-of-three series with the winner advancing to the D2 World Series. The previous week, the Cougars hosted the school’s first NCAA Division II West Regional and tallied four consecutive wins in elimination games to keep their season alive.
The Cougars (45-14, 28-8) won the program’s first CCAA Regular-Season Championship in 2022 with seven conference series wins, four of which were sweeps. CSUSM made its NFCA national Top 25 ranking debut and reached as high as No. 4.
