Softball Kicks Off Week With Trip To No. 5 UCLA

Tuesday, April 22

Los Angeles, Calif.

6 p.m.

Long Beach State University

UCLA

4/21/2025 3:56:00 PM | Softball

Long Beach State will then face Cal State Bakersfield on the road over the weekend.

By: Roger Kirk, Associate Athletics Director, Communications & Broadcast

LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Long Beach State and UCLA will once again square up, but this time in Westwood, the first regular-season meeting at UCLA since 2010 between the teams. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. from Easton Stadium.

LEADING OFF
• Big West play will then resume for the Beach when Long Beach State takes on Cal State Bakersfield for a three-game series on the road. CSUB is having an improved season, and are 7-14 entering the weekend series against the Beach, which will take place with a doubleheader on Friday before a Saturday afternoon finale.

• After splitting the first two games against UC Riverside, Long Beach State got a boost with a comeback win in the finale. Freshman Brynne Nally was outstanding in relief, not allowing a hit or a run against the Highlanders while the Beach scored in the bottom of the seventh and eighth innings to grab a 4-3 win in extra innings.

• Senior Rebekah Durazo is having a massive season so far. The catcher is Top 5 in the Big West in all three slash categories, batting .410 with a .505 on-base percentage and a .628 slugging percentage, ranking nationally in all three categories before an injury suffered against CSUN. Prior to that setback Durazo was leading Long Beach State with 19 RBI, 3 home runs, 32 hits and 8 doubles this season, and is starting to make her comeback making her first start in the series finale against UC Riverside on April 19, her first in nearly a month.

• In the circle, Long Beach State has shown a ton of depth this season, using six pitchers with at least 20 innings pitched for all of them. Freshman Brynne Nally is 6-6 with a 2.94 ERA in a team high 71.1 innings, and sophomore Kate Barnett leads the team with a 2.91 ERA and a 6-3 record. Senior Shannon Haddad, a returning two-time First Team All-Big West selection, is 6-3 with a 2.94 ERA and a team-high 53 strikeouts, but has not pitched since March 22. Freshman Maddy Martin and senior Lindsey Cowans has also both played major roles with over 10 appearances this season.

• Long Beach State has been led by their pitching. The Beach starts the week leading the Big West with a 3.47 ERA, and Long Beach State's staff comes into the week with three pitchers ranking in the Top 10 of the Big West, led by Kate Barnett.

• In classic Beach style, Long Beach State's defense has also been excellent in support of their pitching. Long Beach State ranks in the Top 100 nationally with a .966 fielding percentage and are 37th in the nation with 19 double plays turned this season.

• Long Beach State got a massive boost to their pitching staff as senior Eryka Gonzales made a return to the circle to start Big West play. Earning a win at Hawai'i with five scoreless innings of relief, the 2023 All-Big West pitcher had not pitched since last March before making her return on March 8. Gonzales then made her first start of the season, throwing a complete game with three strikeouts at CSUN and is now 3-3 with a 4.16 ERA with six starts in the circle.

PLAYER NOTES
• Junior Makayla Medellin returns for Long Beach State after two outstanding seasons. The 2023 Big West Freshman of the Year and a two-time All-Big West selection, Medellin led Long Beach State with a .384 batting average, 10 doubles and three home runs and hit .461 in Big West play last season in 2024. Medellin has once again proven to be a leader, batting a team-best .343 in Big West action with four home runs and eight doubles in league play.

• Brooklyn Lee had a monster week in Cathedral City at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, batting .588 with three doubles and six RBI on the way to earning All-Tournament Team honors. Lee, a transfer from UC San Diego, is now third on the team with a .330 batting average while splitting time behind the plate and at designated player. Lee is second on the team with 26 RBI with a pair of home runs and six doubles.

• Corissa Sweet is a senior who is succeeding both on the diamond and off. Sweet hit over .270 in her first two seasons at Long Beach State, and is now batting .341, second on the team while leading the Beach in stolen bases this season and reaching base at a .431 percentage. A President's Scholar, the Molecular Cell Biology major was one of 25 students in her matriculation class selected for the highest merit-based scholarship awarded academically at Long Beach State to it's over 41,000 students.

• Senior Jacquelyn Bickar returns for her fourth year as a starter at Long Beach State. A career .290 hitter, Bickar is a two-time All-Big West selection has started over 190 games for the Beach. She currently is 4th in career stolen bases at Long Beach State with 37 and joined the Top 10 all-time in runs scored with 107 as a staple at the top of the lineup for the Beach.

• Senior Shannon Haddad returns to the pitching staff following a season-ending injury in 2023. A two-time first team All-Big West selection, Haddad helped lead Long Beach State to the Big West title in each of those seasons, and over those two healthy seasons posted a 21-10 overall record with 173 strikeouts. The veteran pitcher has again impressed, striking out a team-high 53 batters and throwing a combined no-hitter and three shutouts already in 2025, posting a 6-3 record with a 2.94 ERA.

• Brynne Nally was very active in the first week of her collegiate career, winning Big West Freshman of the Week in her first opportunity after going 2-0 with a 0.60 ERA and sharing in a no-hitter with Haddad. Nally now leads the team with 71.1 innings pitched and has 47 strikeouts with a 2.94 ERA and a 6-6 record in 19 appearances as a true freshman.

• Sophomore Kate Barnett was a bright spot in the circle for Long Beach State to begin her college career in 2024 and has continued to pitch well for the Beach this year. Barnett has now made 15 appearances and seven starts in 2025. Leading the Beach and third in the Big West with a 2.91 ERA in 55.1 innings pitched, Barnett is now 5-1 with a 3.63 ERA in Big West play, throwing two complete games against UC Davis to earn Big West Pitcher of the Week March 31.

• Also having a spectacular debut was Maddy Martin, who as the game with No. 2 Oklahoma kept getting extended, ultimately threw six innings against the Sooners and allowed just four hits and two runs, striking out two in her collegiate debut coming against the defending national champions. Martin has now made 12 appearances with one start, posting a 4.34 ERA with 16 strikeouts in 30.2 innings.

• Senior Carly Robbins is another regular returning starter for Long Beach State. Having started 133 games in her career, Robbins started the year off hot, hitting .385 with two perfect sacrifice bunts in the opening week and is now hitting .261 on the year. Robbins, a graduate student, was selected this fall to represent the Big West at the NCAA Student-Athlete Leadership Forum in Charlotte, North Carolina specifically for her drive and desire to be an active leader on campus and beyond.

• Also returning is junior Selena Perez after starting at shortstop in each of her first two seasons. An excellent defensive shortstop, Perez has now started 132 games at shortstop for the Beach in her career.

• Freshman Lina Apodaca has taken a grasp on a starting role with 28 starts this season, primarily in right field. The freshman hit a single late in the game against No. 2 Oklahoma, and had a six-game hitting streak to start the season. Apodaca is currently batting .291 in her first season at the Beach.

• Priscilla Iniguez led Long Beach State as a true freshman in hitting through the first weekend. With three hits in each of her first two games, Iniguez began the season batting .462 with three doubles and a pair of RBI. The freshman is now batting .280 with 16 RBI and four home runs.

• Sophomore KaLeena Gonzales has made five straight starts at second base and is now batting .313 on the season in 10 starts on the year. Another sophomore in Malayna Terrones is playing an increased role in her second season, batting .288 in 26 games with 9 RBI in 2025.

• Long Beach State's final senior is catcher Savannah Magadan. Magadan played in a career-high 29 games one season ago while serving as the team's backup catcher.

• Senior Shannon Haddad and freshman Brynne Nally each contributed in the circle against Fresno State to the second combined no-hitter in program history, and the 34th overall. Haddad and Nally collaborated on 7.0 scoreless innings, and then Rebekah Durazo salvaged the contest in a unique way with a two-run double to walk off the no-no against the Bulldogs.

• Weather wasn't an issue at all on a perfect day Sunday for Long Beach State's home opener, as the Beach pushed No. 2 Oklahoma to the limit for 11 innings. The Beach had chances and held the Sooners off the scoreboard for the most consecutive innings since 2018, but the defending champions ultimately prevailed in extra innings.