Softball Continues Big West Play At UC San Diego

Friday, March 27

La Jolla, Calif.

5 p.m.

Long Beach State University

UC San Diego

3/24/2026 1:19:00 PM | Softball

UC San Diego - Game Notes

Long Beach State looks to keep pace with the league leaders in La Jolla.

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

LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Big West play continues for Long Beach State at UC San Diego, as the Beach takes on the Tritons for a three-game series. Game one will be at 5 p.m. on Friday, with a doubleheader scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday. All three games will be broadcast live on ESPN+.

LEADING OFF
• The Beach is coming off of their first series loss of the season, as Hawai'i rallied from behind in the final game to hold off the Beach 3-2 on Saturday, March 21. Nina Sepulveda again led the Beach, hitting .429 with a pair of walks against the Rainbow Wahine.

• Long Beach State has gotten off to a good start in Big West play, locked in a tight competition at the top of the league standings with UC Santa Barbara and Cal State Fullerton.

• Freshman Nina Sepulveda was named Big West Player of the Week following the UCR series, earning her third weekly honor after hitting .615 with a pair of stolen bases and three doubles, driving in 5 RBI to continue to lead the conference in RBI. Senior Isabella Alonso was also named the Big West Pitcher of the Week for the second time this season after improving to 9-3, going 2-0 with an 0.78 ERA and five strikeouts with one walk against the Highlanders.

• Long Beach State grabbed the national spotlight at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, stunning No. 4 Oklahoma behind a three-run homer from Lina Apodaca and strong pitching from Lindsey Cowans and Audrey Lopetegui.

• The Beach went 4-1 at the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge, 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.

• As a team, Long Beach State is hitting .314 with a consistent lineup providing solid offense early for the Beach. Five regulars are hitting over .350, led by freshman Nina Sepulveda with a 385 average this season.

• Long Beach State welcomed the return March 13 of two key juniors, catcher Brooklyn Lee and pitcher Kate Barnett, but also suffered the loss of junior outfielder Malayna Terrones with a torn ACL. Terrones was hitting .353 for the Beach but will miss the rest of the season.

• 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 has brought an aggressive offensive style with her. The Beach rank in the nation's Top 100 in batting average, hits, and RBI and have 40 stolen bases in 31 games as LBSU closes in on a team record for a season in steals.

PLAYER NOTES
• Avery Weisbrook is putting up a claim as one of the top players in the Big West. Weisbrook is now batting .372 on the year, starting every game at shortstop and slugging .564 with 26 runs scored. In addition to being one of the top hitters on the team and in the Big West, Weisbrook has been busy in the field, and currently leads the nation in assists with 102 this season while making just 9 errors.

• 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 reached safely in her first 26 games of the season, has a pair of seven-game hitting streaks and is batting .362 with a team-high four home runs.

• Anchoring the leadoff position, sophomore Lina Apodaca is another returner for Long Beach State. Apodaca is now batting .373 with 24 runs scored and 19 RBI, including a critical 3-run home run to help Long Beach State defeat No. 4 Oklahoma. In conference play, Apodaca is hitting .516 and is leading the league in hits as well as doubles.

• Freshman Nina Sepulveda is making an early case for Big West Freshman Player of the Year. Starting all 31 games for Long Beach State, Sepulveda is batting .385 with three home runs and a team-high 32 RBI, earning MVP honors at the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge and two Big West Freshman of the Week awards as well as a Field Player of the Week selection in her first season.

• Emily Dowden is in her third season at the Beach but is taking advantage of an opportunity in her junior year. Now having started 20 games this season between DP and the outfield, Dowden is hitting .320 with an on-base percentage of .462.

• Catcher Audree Mendoza has seen nearly 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. Making an impact at the Beach, Mendoza has thrown out five runners and is hitting .240 on the year with six doubles.

• Redshirt Freshman Miranda Gonzalez has gotten an early opportunity to shine. Starting 28 games at second base, Gonzalez has an on-base percentage of .444 and leads the team and the Big West with 20 walks.

• Junior Brooklyn Lee earned Honorable Mention All-Big West selection from 2025 but missed the first 24 games of the season with injury. She has hit the ground running though, hitting .368 over her first seven games with three doubles, splitting time between DP and catcher.

• Under Fearn and pitching coach Shelby Miller, the Beach is using all of their pitchers collectively, and as a staff the team has a pair of combined shutouts and four saves, with just one outing of five innings or longer throughout 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 honors with the Matadors. This year with the Beach, Alonso is 9-4 with a 2.97 ERA, leading the team with 68.1 innings pitched with 26 strikeouts. The senior ranks in the Top 5 in the Big West in wins, ERA and opposing batting average this season.

• 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 made 18 appearances this year with a 3-2 record, pitching 40.1 total innings, including a start and a save against No. 4 Oklahoma.

• 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. Banda is among th national leaders with 20 appearances, pitching 34.1 innings with the second-most strikeouts on the season.

• Freshman Audrey Lopetegui is fourth on the team in innings pitched, and is among the national leader in saves with three already this season. Fellow freshman Pricilla Ramirez has 15 strikeouts in 21.1 innings pitched as a relief specialist for the staff with a team-low 2.63 ERA.

• 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 missed the first 24 games of the season but made her first appearance in a start at UC Riverside.