The Big West

IRVINE, Calif. – The Cal State Fullerton softball team has been selected to finish second in the 2025 Big West Softball Preseason Poll, selected by the coaches of the conference. The pre-season poll was announced by The Big West on Thursday.

The Titans are coming off a year where they regained the Big West Title and their sixth conference championships in the last eight full seasons (excluding the 2020 canceled COVID shortened season). The Titans went to the Stanford Regional last year where they knocked out No. 20 Mississippi State, Saint Mary's and defeated the No. 8 Stanford Cardinal before ending the season against the Cardinal in the final round.

Out of the eleven players selected to the Big West Preseason Team, last year's two Titan All-Big West Freshmen were named to the team. The other nine players were represented by six different institutions.  

The 2024 NFCA Gold Glove recipient Kate Verhoef led Fullerton's preseason honorees. Last season, Verhoef slashed .296/.327/.296 overall and .346/.382/.346 in Big West play. Verhoef posted a perfect fielding percentage (1.000) from right field with 43 putouts and five assists. Across 57 games, Verhoef collected 29 base hits, 19 runs scored, 5 RBI and 5 walks. She was second on the team in stolen bases (14), which was good for ninth in the conference. She was awarded an All-Big West Freshman Team and All-Big West Honorable Mention last year.  

Sarah Perez was the second Titan to receive the preseason award. In 2024, Perez slashed .275/.323/.319. She ranked second on the team in triples (2), fourth on the team in stolen bases (9), and fifth on the team in runs scored (20) and sacrifice bunts (5). From shortstop, Perez (.955) fielded six double plays, 53 putouts and 96 assists. The shortstop received Big West Player of the Week honors twice last season, as well as All-Big West Freshman Team honors. 

The defending conference champions were picked to finish behind last season's runner-up Long Beach State. The Titans received 63 votes (1 first place vote), while the Beach received 81 points (9 first place votes). UC Santa Barbara was picked to finish third with 59 points.  Hawai'i was picked to finish fourth with 52 points. Cal Poly was picked to finish fifth with 45 points. UC San Diego was picked to finish sixth with 43 points.  CSUN was picked to finish seventh with 41 votes. UC Davis was picked to finish eighth with 38 votes. UC Riverside was picked to finish ninth with 17 votes. Cal State Bakersfield was picked to finish last with 11 votes.  

Cal State Fullerton begins their road to retain the conference title on Thursday, February 6 against the No. 6 team in the country, UCLA at Easton Stadium at 6:00 p.m. 

Coaches Poll Results

1. Long Beach State (9) - 81
2. Cal State Fullerton (1) - 63
3. UC Santa Barbara - 59
4. Hawai'i - 52
5. Cal Poly - 45
6. UC San Diego - 43
7. CSUN - 41
8. UC Davis - 38
9. UC Riverside - 17
10. Cal State Bakersfield - 11

The Big West All-Preseason Team is made up of 11 players: Jacquelyn Bickar (Infielder, Long Beach State), India Caldwell (Pitcher, UC San Diego), Mikayla Carman (Outfielder, CSUN), Lauryn Carranco (Pitcher, CSUN), Shannon Haddad (Pitcher, Long Beach State), Izabella Martinez (Catcher/Infielder, Hawai'i), Sarah Perez (Infielder, Cal State Fullerton), Alexa Sams (Outfielder, UC Santa Barbara), Ashley Sawai (Pitcher, UC Davis), Kate Verhoef (Outfielder, Cal State Fullerton), Ainsley Waddell (Pitcher, UC Santa Barbara). 



SUPPORT THE TITANS!
Fans can purchase tickets for various Cal State Fullerton athletic events by visiting FullertonTitansTickets.com. The Athletic Ticket Office can also be contacted by phone at 657-278-2783 or by email at athletictixs@fullerton.edu. The Ticket Office is located at the Titan Baseball ticketing office and is open from 10 am – 4 pm PT, Monday – Friday. 

FOLLOW THE TITANS!
Fans can keep up with the latest in Titan Athletics by following us on Facebook (Facebook/FullertonTitans), Twitter (@FullertonTitans) Instagram (FullertonTitans). In addition, the softball team has established its own Twitter (fullerton_sb) and Instagram accounts (fullerton_sb).

WATCH THE TITANS ON ESPN+
Titans fans can now watch home contests exclusively on ESPN+. Cal State Fullerton has built a top-tier production studio to give the viewers an ESPN quality production for Titans Athletics. Additionally, all schools in the Big West Conference are committed to producing ESPN quality streams which will allow fans to watch the Titans on ESPN+ for all road conference games.