Softball Continues Tournament Play At Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic

Friday, February 20

Cathedral City, Calif.

3 p.m.

Long Beach State University

BYU

Softball Continues Tournament Play At Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic

2/18/2026 9:20:00 AM | Softball

Game Notes - Week 3

Long Beach State will play five games starting Friday.

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

LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Long Beach State will once again participate in one of the nation's premier preseason tournaments, the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic from Cathedral City. Long Beach State will face off with top opposition, including a matchup with No. 4 Oregon State, BYU, Saint Mary's, Bethune Cookman, and a third meeting with Oregon State.

LEADING OFF
• The Beach is coming off of a strong weekend at the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge, where Long Beach State went 4-1, the best record of the four teams in Mexico. The Beach was led by tournament MVP Nina Sepulveda along with All-Tournament Team selections Isabella Alonso and Avery Weisbrook.

• Sepulveda finished the weekend hitting .385 and had 11 RBI over five games, closing the tournament with a grand slam and and 2-run single for 6 RBI in a 9-1(5) win over Eastern Kentucky. Weisbrook hit .375 with a triple and home run, while Isabella Alonso posted a 3-0 record in the circle in Mexico. In addition to MVP honors, Sepulveda was selected as the Big West Freshman of the Week, and Alonso was the Big West Pitcher of the Week.

• The Beach is now off to a 7-3 start, their best record over the first ten games since 2018. That success has raised Long Beach State up to No. 17 in the D1Softball.com Mid-Major Rankings entering the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic.

• Long Beach State opened the season with three straight wins, taking down Oregon State, Utah Tech and Northern Colorado on the way to a 3-2 beginning to the 2026 season.

• As a team, Long Beach State is hitting .315 with a consistent lineup providing solid offense early for the Beach. Five regulars are hitting over .300, led by junior designated player Malayna Terrones who is batting .520 on the season.

• A strong start for Terrones led to the junior being selected as the first Big West Field Player of the Week for the new season. Hitting safely in all five games, Terrones went 4-for-4 in the rematch with Oregon State, and reached base at a .733 rate in the first week with 9 hits, two walks and a sacrifice bunt.

• The 2026 season marks the first under new head coach Kendall Fearn. Fearn becomes just the fifth coach in the program's 45-year history, assuming the leadership role following the retirement of Kim Sowder at the conclusion of the 2025 campaign, her 19th in charge of the program.

• Fearn comes to Long Beach State following a successful stint at San Diego State as the lead assistant for the Aztecs, seeing the team to three straight NCAA tournament appearances that included a run to the 2023 Super Regionals in her three seasons in San Diego. Fearn also had previous stops at Indiana and Marshall following a standout career as an infielder at UNLV under former Long Beach State coach Pete Manarino.

• The Beach enters the season with a mix of old and new under Fearn. The Beach has three returning starters and two returning pitchers as part of 12 returning letterwinners, while bringing back two redshirts. Fearn and her staff also added five Division I transfers and five high school recruits to round out the roster.

PLAYER NOTES
• Malayna Terrones had a tremendous start to the season, opening the year making just four outs over the first five games, hitting 9-for-13 with a .733 on-base percentage to earn Big West Player of the Week. Terrones ramins the team's leader in batting average, hitting .520 while starting all 10 games.

• Sophomore Priscilla Iniguez had a strong first season at the Beach, also earning Honorable Mention All-Big West honors as well as being chosen for the Big West All-Freshman Team after hitting five home runs. Picking up where she left off, Iniguez started the year with an eight-game hitting streak and is batting .394 with a pair of home runs.

• Another returning starter is junior Avery Weisbrook. Returning to Southern California after one season at Florida State, Weisbrook played in 37 games for the Beach last season and has continued to show great improvement. Weisbrook has started every game this season at shortstop for the Beach and is hitting .387 with a team-high five extra-base hits.

• Anchoring the leadoff position, sophomore Lina Apodaca is another returner for Long Beach State. Hitting .292 a year ago while starting 29 games, Apodaca is batting .343 in 2026 with seven runs scored, hitting four doubles and scoring seven runs.

• Redshirt Freshman Miranda Gonzalez has gotten an early opportunity to shine. Starting 9 games at second base, Gonzalez has an on-base percentage of .464 and leads the team with eight walks.

• Erica Estrada spent her first two seasons primarily as a pinch runner, but is getting her chance in the lineup to start the 2026 season. A strong defensive outfielder, Estrada has started every game so far in center field and has five RBI on the year along with a pair of stolen bases.

• Catcher Audree Mendoza has seen every pitch of the season behind the plate for Long Beach State. A transfer from Penn State, Mendoza excelled during the 2024 season before sitting out last year, and the team is counting on her to make an impact this season.

• Kendall Fearn and her staff retained the entirety of the November 2024 recruiting class, with all five playing a role in the early part of the season.

• Nina Sepulveda has started all 10 games at third base for the Beach, batting .308 with a team-high 13 RBI, earning both MVP honors in Puerto Vallarta and a Big West Freshman of the Week award this season. Kali Su'e has started 7 games in the outfield, hitting .263 with three stolen bases.

• Junior Brooklyn Lee returns for Long Beach State as an Honorable Mention All-Big West selection from 2025. In her first season at the Beach, the catcher split time behind the dish and at DP, hitting .304 with 28 RBI, second-most on the team. Lee begins the season injured, but is eying a return later in the year.

• Under Fearn and pitching coach Shelby Miller, the Beach is using all of their pitchers collectively, and rank in the Top 100 nationally in ERA and WHIP to start the season.

• Familiar to fans of the Big West is a veteran pitcher, Isabella Alonso. Alonso pitched for three seasons with conference rival CSUN, and is coming to finish her career at the Beach after earning both Honorable Mention All-Big West and All-Freshman team honors with the Matadors in addition to a spot on the inaugural Big West Championship All-Tournament team last season. This year with the Beach, Alonso has a team-low 2.03 ERA with a 3-0 record in a team-high 20.2 innings pitched.

• Returning to the pitching staff is graduate Lindsey Cowans. Cowans had a successful career at LIU and threw 26.0 innings last season for the Beach. In a bigger role this season, Cowans has started the year with a 2-0 record and leads the Beach with 14.1 innings pitched this season.

• Freshman Audrey Lopetegui is second on the team in innings pitched, and is the national leader in saves with three already this season. Fellow Pricilla Ramirez has five strikeouts in just 4.2 innings pitched as a relief specialist for the staff.

• Jailynn Banda made 12 appearances in the circle for St. John's one season ago as a true freshman with a 3.46 ERA, and returns to Southern California for her sophomore season coming from Norwalk High School. Banda had a standout performance against Southern Illinois, striking out 5 in 4.0 innings of scoreless relief with just two hits.

• Returning as an All-Big West selection, earning Honorable Mention All-Big West honors as a sophomore after All-Freshman team recognition in 2024 is junior Kate Barnett. Over the last two seasons, Barnett has posted a 13-8 overall record with a 3.46 ERA, consistently playing a major role with the Long Beach State pitching staff. Barnett has yet to feature in 2026 due to injury.