ROHNERT PARK, CALIF. - A historic season continues for the Sonoma State softball team as they were mathematically crowned CCAA regular season champions for the first time in program history this past weekend after a 16-5 win from Cal Poly Humboldt over San Bernardino. The Seawolves had their conference bye this past weekend and will finish the regular season on the road against Cal State Dominguez Hills. Regardless of the series outcome this weekend, head coach
Jennifer Bridges will have secured her third straight 30+ win season dating back to 2019 and the 10th of her career since taking over the program back in 2010.
TEAM SUCCESS:
Despite the outstanding program success over the years, the 2023 SSU squad includes some of the best individual talent in program history and has seen numerous record breaking performances and marks this season. As a team, Sonoma State leads the conference with a .316 batting average, .461 SLG%, 26 home runs, and is second in runs scored with 207. As a result, the Seawolves have earned five CCAA Player/Pitcher of the Week awards to lead all schools, two of which have come from junior star outfielder
Anna Zoia-Buescher.
PITCHING:
On the mound, two returners anchored the Seawolves rotation early in the season but after an opportunity and needing a fresh arm,
Charlie Johnson would storm onto the scene and never look back. The 6-foot freshman from Rancho Bernardo made her first appearance on February 15th against Holy Names and would predominantly come out of the bullpen for SSU. On March 17th in a road contest against Cal State Monterey Bay, junior starter
Nichole Sarra would get forced out of the game after a 4-run first inning and Johnson would come in to throw six scoreless innings, allowing just three hits and earning her first career win as a Seawolf. Johnson would go on to pitch 24 consecutive innings without allowing a single run, earning her CCAA Pitcher of the Week on March 20th.
Adding to some special pitching performances this season was an all-time outing from junior right hander
Nichole Sarra. Sarra recorded the program's first ever perfect game in a 5-inning, 8-0 win over San Francisco State. She would get tremendous defensive support as she struck out just two batters and got the other 13 outs in the field. Sarra currently holds a 1.77 ERA and has 11 wins, both good for top-10 stats in the conference.
The Seawolves rotation holds a collective 1.46 ERA, good for 1st in the conference and 5th in all of Division II.
Charlie Johnson,
Bailee Reed and
Nichole Sarra also rank inside the top-10 individually in the CCAA in ERA, earned runs, and total wins, making them one of the most dangerous and versatile rotations in recent memory. Their 1.46 ERA is the first sub-2.00 team ERA since 2012, when SSU posted a team ERA of 1.79 with two-time All-American Samantha Lipperd leading the way.
HITTING:
Despite a deep roster from top-to-bottom and several key performers on a weekly basis, it is local Santa Rosa product
Anna Zoia-Buescher, who has stolen the show and is currently putting together one of the best single seasons in program history. Zoia-Buescher ranks in the top-5 in the conference in batting average, slugging percentage, on base percentage, OPS, hits, runs scored and stolen bases. Her conference leading .477 average also ranks 12th in all of Division II as the Santa Rosa JC transfer has flexed her dynamic offensive ability in her second year as a Seawolf. She is currently on pace to set the single-season record for batting average as All-American Ancia Purdy currently holds the record with a .458 average during the 2015 season.
Additional offensive performers include sophomore slapper
Rylee Nishimoto who has jumped her batting average nearly 100 points from last season and proves to be one of the toughest outs in the entire conference.
Giana Hays,
Jordyn Martinez, and
Skylar Linnane complete the list of five SSU players with a .300 average or better this season, contributing to their conference leading .316 team average.
The Seawolves have relied on the long ball this season, hitting a conference high 26 home runs, but have also shown their ability to manufacture runs with great speed at the top of the lineup, and capable bats throughout the middle portion of the order, allowing head coach
Jennifer Bridges to manage scoring situations in several different ways. They also have seven different players with at least three home runs this season, showing the tremendous depth and range in power throughout the lineup.
As a result, her complete and dynamic team performance this season has played their way to an NFCA Division II rank of 10th in the nation, the highest national rank in program history. Bridges has recorded four CCAA Tournament championships and now adds the program's first ever league title to her impressive trophy collection. The Seawolves will take on Cal State Dominguez Hills this Friday, April 28th, in their final regular season series. Live stats and stream links can be found at sonomaseawolves.com and you can stream the games LIVE on the CCAA Network.
They will have their sights set on a third straight conference tournament title with postseason action slated to start on Wednesday, May 3rd down in Southern California (host: Dominguez Hills). Complete tournament information can be found at goccaa.org. Congratulations to the Sonoma State softball team on being crowned the 2023 CCAA regular season champions, the first league title in program history.
Be sure to follow your Seawolves on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to get all the latest SSU athletics updates and information. Sonoma State athletics also has launched a new fan app in partnership with From Now On. Download the free app today in both the Apple and Google Play stores by searching Sonoma State Seawolves in the app store. @SonomaSeawolves | #NomaNation
NOTABLE TEAM STATS:
- .316 team BA (1st CCAA)
- 207 R (2nd CCAA)
- 26 HR (1st CCAA)
- .461 SLG% (1st CCAA)
- 33-8 overall record (22-5 CCAA)
- 3 straight 30+ win seasons (negating 2020, 2021, 2022)
- 5 CCAA Player/Pitcher of the Week awards
- NFCA national rank: #10 (highest rank in program history)
- 1.46 team ERA (5th NCAA)
NOTABLE INDIVIDUAL STATS:
