SB Preview: Final Regular Season Road Trip Takes CBU to Abilene

Friday, April 24

Abilene, TX

12:00 PM

California Baptist University

Abilene Christian University

Photo by: Diego Mazun

SB Preview: Final Regular Season Road Trip Takes CBU to Abilene

4/22/2026 4:33:00 PM | Softball

By: Matt Horrocks, Assistant Athletic Director of Communications and Digital Media

ABILENE, TX --- The Lancers will hit the road this weekend for the final time in the regular season, as the penultimate series of the 2026 season takes CBU back to Texas. Nursing a one-game lead in the WAC standings, the Lancers will have a chance to clinch a conference title this weekend during a three-game visit to Abilene Christian.

California Baptist comes into the weekend with a one-game lead over Tarleton State, who will be making a trip to Riverside next week. The Lancers can clinch a share of the WAC regular season title this weekend with a pair of wins and a pair of Tarleton losses. Should CBU sweep Abilene Christian, paired with three losses out of Tarleton, the Lancers will wrap up the outright championship with one week remaining.

The Lancers come into the weekend 10-2 in WAC action and saw their overall record drop to 35-15 after a 2-0 loss to Cal State Fullerton on Tuesday.

It's been a record-breaking season for the Lancers under first-year head coach Brandon Telesco. CBU's 35 wins are the most in the program's Division I era, and they have also pushed across 263 runs, the most in a DI season as well. The CBU pitching staff has done its part as well, striking out a DI era record 260 batters.

Individually, outfielder Makayla Medellin has done her part to rewrite the record books. Medellin's 11 home runs are a DI era record. She also owns the single-season record for RBI (47) and runs scored (45). Freshman Kenzie Farrier-Pilon, the DI era record holder for doubles in a season (17), is chasing down Medellin's scoring record as she enters the weekend with 41 runs.

Senior Ashlee Annett has been providing a spark for the Lancers over the last month. Annett enters the ACU series on a 23-game on-base streak, dating back to March 10. During those 23 games, Annett is hitting .423 with two home runs and 24 RBI. She has recorded a hit in 19 of those 23 games.

Right-hander Miranda De Nava leads the pitching unit with a 14-7 record over 151.0 IP. De Nava has a team-leading 144 strikeouts to pair with a 2.50 ERA. Emily Darwin is second on the team with a 10-4 record, paired with four saves. Madalyn Martin features a 2.89 ERA in 53.1 innings of work.

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De Nava entered the week 25th in the nation in strikeouts and 19th in innings pitched. Matti Severns sits sixth in Division I with 30 stolen bases, and Farrier-Pilon's 17 doubles are tied for the seventh most in the nation.

Abilene Christian enters the weekend with a 3-9 record in WAC action. The Wildcats are hitting .258 as a team with 36 home runs and 139 strikeouts. Ari Maxwell leads the Wildcats with a .331 average. Elizabeth Schaefer (.327) and Audrey Lacina (.320) are also hitting over .300.

CBU features five players batting over .300: Farrier-Pilon (.389), Malachy Russell-Millen (.350), Medellin (.346), Annett (.327), and Severns (.320).

The series begins on Friday with a doubleheader at noon PST, then wraps up with a single game on Saturday at 10 a.m. Only Saturday's game will be streamed, and it will be live on WAC International.