College notebook: SSU softball wins 2nd consecutive CCAA regular-season title; SRJC baseball starts playoffs this week

After going 42 years without winning a regular-season league title, the Sonoma State softball team has now brought home its second consecutive conference trophy.

The Seawolves took three out of four games from San Francisco State last week to close out the regular season atop the California Collegiate Athletic Association at 23-11 and 30-16 overall, successfully defending their 2023 regular-season CCAA title.

SSU will be the top seed for the CCAA Tournament, which was set to start Thursday. The Seawolves were slated to play No. 4 seed Cal State East Bay (25-20) in the first round of the double-elimination tournament.

Aside from claiming the team title, the Seawolves also brought home multiple all-conference honors.

Head coach Jennifer Bridges was named the Conference Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season. Bridges, who has led the program since 2010, also became the program’s all-time wins leader this season and is closing in on 500 career wins.

SSU also had six players make all-conference teams, the eighth straight year of at least five all-conference honorees.

Making the first team were Giana Hays, Anna Zoia-Buescher and Bailee Reed. Second-team selections were Jasmine Moreno and Rylee Nishimoto and the honorable mention selection was Lauren Mirtoni.

Hays, making her third all-conference team and second first team, led SSU in batting average (.365), runs (35), triples (6), home runs (7) and RBIs (36).

Zoia-Buescher, a Montgomery High School and SRJC product, followed up her conference player of the year campaign in 2023 with a standout senior season, batting .357 with team highs in hits (55) and stolen bases (33).

Reed, who was named the CCAA Pitcher of the Week earlier this week, was in the top five in the conference this season in earned run average (1.85), innings pitched (151⅓) and wins (17).

Nishimoto, a senior outfielder, batted .278 on the year with 45 hits and five doubles, while Moreno, a junior catcher who transferred from Cal Baptist, batted .343 with seven doubles in 35 games.

Mirtoni, SSU’s starting third baseman, batted .287 this year with a team-high 12 doubles.

Heading into the postseason, SSU was ranked No. 7 in the NCAA Division II West Region, behind conference opponents Cal State San Marcos (No. 4) and Cal State Dominguez Hills (No. 5).

SRJC baseball

The first round of the postseason was set to begin Thursday for the SRJC baseball team, which finished in a two-way tie for second in the Big 8 Conference with Modesto at 16-8.

SRJC finished the regular season 28-12 overall and won seven of its last nine games heading into the postseason.

The Bear Cubs were awarded the No. 11 seed for the CCAA Regional Playoffs and host No. 14 College of San Mateo in the best-of-three series that runs Thursday and Friday. Game 1 was scheduled for Thursday afternoon, with Game 2 set for Friday at 11 a.m. If necessary, Game 3 would follow immediately after Game 2 on Friday.

SSU men’s golf

Coming off their second-place finish at the CCAA Championships, the SSU men’s golf team is set to tee off in the first round of the NCAA Division II West Regional in Las Cruces, New Mexico next week.

The Seawolves earned the No. 7 seed in the 10-team tournament that runs from May 9-11.

SSU won last year’s West Regional tournament at Foxtail North in Rohnert Park.

SSU also had two all-conference selections this season.

Casa Grande grad Lucas Happy and Colin Huang were both named First-Team All-Conference selections.

Happy, a senior, led the team with a 71.4 stroke average and is the No. 5 ranked player in the West Region. He had seven top-10 finishes this year and one individual victory.

Huang, a junior, posted a 71.9 stroke average and was ranked No. 6 in the West Region. He finished the regular season with five top-10 finishes, three top-3 finishes and one individual victory.

SSU women’s golf

The Seawolves’ season officially came to an end earlier this week as they were not selected for an at-large bid for the NCAA West Regionals, but two golfers were named to receive all-conference honors.

Sophomore Avery Foster was an All-CCAA First-Team selection and was named the CCAA Newcomer of the Year. She led SSU with a 75.4 stroke average and placed in the top 10 in four events. A transfer from Fresno State, she’s the first Newcomer of the Year winner in SSU program history.

Talia Gutman, a sophomore and the reigning CCAA Freshman of the Year, was an Honorable Mention selection this season. She posted a scoring average of 76.1 and placed in the top 10 in four events.

You can reach Staff Writer Gus Morris at 707-304-9372 or gus.morris@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @JustGusPD.