Everyone was at Great Park in Irvine this past weekend for the opening of the 2026 softball season, and four PacWest teams came out of the marathon of games with winning records. Concordia, the host, is the Team of the Week after winning four of five, while Dominican’s Kate Tobolas and Vanguard’s Vanessa Robles helped their teams get off to a winning start.

2026 Results/Schedule
2026 Standings
2026 Statistics

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Dominican's Kate Tobola, SS, Sr., 5-9, Suisun City, Calif.                            
Dominican's Kate Tobola swung a hot bat in Irvine to help the Penguins go 3-2. The senior shortstop went 8-for-13 (.615) with five runs scored, five RBI, a double, two triples and a home run over five games. In a win over Nebraska-Kearney, Tobola had three of those hits and the home run, driving in three. She also walked four times and struck just once in her 17 trips to the plate.

PITCHER OF THE WEEK: Vanguard’s Vanessa Robles, RHP, Sr., 5-3, Fresno, Calif.                          
Vanguard’s Vanessa Robles pitched in three games during the Lions’ 3-2 run at the Concordia Kickoff Classic with two starts. She went 2-0 in 12.2 innings of work without allowing a run, scattering eight hits, walking just three and striking out eight. The senior had a complete game performance without allowing an earned run in a 4-1 conquest of Northwest Nazarene, and pitched 5.1 innings of shutout softball in a win over Western Oregon.

TEAM OF THE WEEK: The PacWest Team of the Week is the Concordia Golden Eagles. CUI opened 2026 with wins over Fort Lewis, San Francisco State, Western Washington and Colorado State-Pueblo, with their lone loss coming against Nebraska-Kearney. In topping WWU 5-4, the Golden Eagles beat the two-time reigning west region champs and current No. 3 team in the country. In the pitching circle, Kacie Gossett picked up two of the wins, totaling nine innings pitched with only one earned run, one walk and she fanned nine. Kailani Tatra was very efficient in her at-bats, going 2-for-2 with a home run and four RBI, and she also picked up a win in relief against CSU-Pueblo. Her very first at-bat for CUI resulted in a mammoth home run and she had a 2-run double late in the game in the win over Western Washington.

THIS WEEK IN THE PACWEST: Lake Elsinore will be the neutral site tournament host this week, featuring PacWest teams Concordia, Biola and Vanguard. Additionally, Chaminade wraps up their southern California trip at CSU Dominguez Hills today, and Azusa Pacific will host Colorado Mesa on Wednesday. The Cougars will also take on CSU San Marcos and Cal Poly Humboldt at San Marcos. For the complete 2026 PacWest schedule, click here. 

PACWEST NEWS AND NOTES: Azusa Pacific went 3-1 last weekend in Irvine, with wins over CSU-Pueblo, Fort Lewis and Cal Poly Humboldt. Their only loss came to Chico State. Hannah Tipton went 6-for-13 (.462) with a double and three RBI, and Sydney Juarez drove in six while hitting .357…Biola went 2-2 with victories over San Francisco State and Western Oregon. Ariana Banos drove in six runs in the four games…In Dominican’s 3-2 weekend, pitcher Nayellys Torres-Gonzalez pitched eight innings and recorded a pair of saves. Hannah Escalante also tossed eight innings and picked up a win, allowing just four hits and one earned run…2025 PacWest Player of the Year Maddy Ybarra of Jessup picked up where she left off with a .438 weekend, scoring five times, driving in four runs, with a triple, home run and two stolen bases. The Warriors went 2-3 at the CUI tournament…Hawaii Pacific’s Alexis Oshiro hit .462 and drove in three runs…Tobola, Tipton, Ybarra, Tatro and Gossett earned all-tournament honors, along with Hawaii Hilo’s Rayna White. White hit .389 and drove in five runs.