Cuesta Softball closes the 2022 campaign with a battle for 4th place in the Western State Conference.  The Cougars are out of the playoff hunt but are tied with Santa Barbara for 4th place in the WSC going into the final game of the season.  The Vaqueros needed extra innings to beat Cuesta, 9-8, in their first meeting at Pershing Park in Santa Barbara, so the Cougars look to end their season on a high point.  Cuesta came out of the pandemic with a 25-8 record during their two Covid-shortened seasons but were back to a majority freshman roster this season.  The Cougars' 13-23 record is overshadowed by their brutal non-conference schedule, as they loaded up with 15 games against the State's Top 25.   

Before the game, the Cougars shall recognize five members of their team that are moving on after this season- Madelyn Mata, Megan Ingle, Leea Brown, Katelin Eccles and Jillian Davis.  Mata is in her third season with the Cougars after playing through two pandemic-wrought campaigns.  She came to Cuesta as a pitcher but developed into a slugging Third Baseman.  This season Mata leads the Cougars with five Triples and 36 Runs Batted In, which also rank 3rd and 9th, respectively, all time at Cuesta.  On her career, she currently ranks 7th all time for Slugging Percentage (.575) and 2nd in Triples (8).  Ingle, Eccles and Brown are all in their second campaign with the Cougars and plan to transfer, while Davis in looking to move to the four-year level for her sophomore season.  Eccles and Brown have also found their way into the Cougars' record book.  Eccles's 20 free passes this season earned her 5th all time for Walks, while Brown's eight sacrifice hits rank 9th for a season at Cuesta.  However, if Eccles walks this week and Brown sacrifices her over, they could break some old standing ties and move up to 3rd and 5th all time.