ROHNERT PARK, Calif. – The No. 22 San Francisco State softball team is the 2025 CCAA Softball Tournament Champion presented by FloCollege. The Gators bested RV Cal State San Marcos for a second time in the tournament, 8-6.

By the Numbers

• SF State, which is ranked No. 22 in the NFCA Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll, moves to 37-18 and captures the program's first CCAA Tournament Championship. The Gators hand the Cougars (38-19) their second loss of the tournament.
• With the victory, the Gators have earned an automatic berth into the NCAA Division II West Regional. No. 9 Western Washington (GNAC) and RV Concordia (PacWest) have earned the other two automatic qualifiers after winning their respective conference tournaments. Currently ranked No. 2 in the West Region, the Gators are poised to host.
• Rylee McDaniel was named Tournament MVP. In three games, she went 4-for-7 with three walks, six RBI, and a run.
• Fellow seniors Kai DeLeon, Marley Gonzales, Daniella Guerrera, and Lexi Holihan were all named to the All-Tournament Team.
• Lexi Holihan launched her second homer of the season, a three-run shot to left field that blew the game open early and made it 6-0 in the first inning.
• Gonzales notched her team-leading 31st stolen base. That ties for Lehua DeLeon (2022) for fifth most in a single season. Gonzales has 71 in her career, which is fourth all-time in program history.
• Guerrera drove in her 105th career RBI and 41st of the season, which is tied for second most in a single season by a Gators player with Michelle Castro (2019).
• McDaniel had a two-hit game in the championship game. Makenzie Guiliano had three hits for the Cougars, and Madison Waymire, Jillian Albayati, and Mackenzie Kestler all had two hits.
• Saturday's game marked the end of an era in Rohnert Park and for the CCAA, as it was the final NCAA Division II contest hosted by Sonoma State for the foreseeable future.

 

How They Scored

• A day after giving up a four-run first inning, the Gators flipped the script with a six-run first. DeLeon drew a four-pitch walk. After two outs, Cardwell extended the inning with another walk. McDaniel got the Gators on the board with a single back up the middle and Marissa Jordan doubled home a pair that chased Cougars starter Jayline Sloss. Dahlia Fink walked Kira Nilson, then Holihan launched a three-run homer to blow the game wide open, 6-0.
• The Gators capitalized on an error in the second and McDaniel drove home another run with another single up the middle to make it 7-0.
• CSUSM got on the scoreboard in the third, then added two more in the fourth. The Gators got a run back in the bottom of the fourth. Gonzales singled and stole second, and scored on a Guerrera single to left center.
• However, the Cougars made it interesting with another run in the fifth and two more in the sixth to cut the lead to 8-6. However, the Cougars stranded a pair in both the fifth and sixth, then left them loaded in the seventh.

In The Circle

• Takeda Bajan (18-6) started and reentered later in the game. The senior allowed three runs on nine hits. She walked five with one strikeout but got out of jam after jam.
• SF State's Elise Roy allowed three runs in an inning and a third of relief. She walked two and struck out one.
• Sloss (11-8) recorded just two outs before departing. She was charged with four runs on two hits. She walked two and struck out one.
• Fink surrendered four runs, three earned, in three and a third innings. She issued three free passes.
• Savannah Coyle also made an appearance in the circle for the Cougars and tossed two hitless innings with two walks.

 

Up Next

The No. 22 Gators will tune into the 2025 NCAA Division II Softball Selection Show on Monday, May 5 at 7 a.m. Pacific on NCAA.com. A link to the show will be on the front page of NCAA.com.