SAN BRUNO, Calif. – The defending West Coast Conference softball champions, Santa Clara, was picked to finish first in the conference preseason poll while the Bronco quartet of Taryn Clements, Cairah Curran, Cari Ferguson and Hazyl Gray were named to the preseason team, as selected by the league's seven head coaches.
 
With the addition of newcomer Seattle U to the conference, the WCC is comprised of seven softball teams for the 2026 season. 

SCU finished with a total of 36 points in the poll including six first-place votes ahead of second place Saint Mary's who had 31 points and one first-place vote.  
 
Last season, under the guidance of head coach Gina Carbonatto and her staff, Santa Clara finished with a program record 32 victories and made the NCAA Tournament for the first time in their 46 year history by capturing the WCC crown.  They won 11 league games by winning each of the five WCC series, which also set a program high.
 
This spring's edition of the Broncos features 16 returning players and seven newcomers.  During the Broncos run last spring, Carbonatto became the winningest coach in the program and was named WCC Coach of the Year. 
 
The four Broncos named to the preseason squad were all first team All-League selections last spring. 
 
Curran is the reigning WCC Player of the Year where she led the conference in five offensive categories during the regular season – batting average (.429), runs (49), hits (78), triples (5) and stolen bases (26).  Her 78 hits set a new WCC single season record.  The speedster started in all 52 games and safely reached base in 48 contests including getting a hit in 46 of them.
 
Clements was named the 2025 WCC Defensive Player of the Year.  The junior catcher did not commit a single error in 166 chances as she had 139 putouts and 27 assists while throwing out 12 of 31 would-be stealers for a 38.7 caught stealing percentage.  The 12 runners thrown out was the second highest mark in the league.
 
At the plate, Clements finished 10th in the conference with a .336 batting average and was eighth in on-base percentage at .419.  She finished in the top 10 in RBIs (tied for seventh, 32), doubles (tied for ninth with nine), walks (ninth, 22), sacrifice bunts (tied for second, eight) and sacrifice flies (tied for second, four).
 
Ferguson dominated league play with a 5-1 record, getting a win in each of the five WCC series to earn WCC Pitcher and Freshman of the Year recognitions last season.  She was the winning pitcher of record in the WCC clinching victory over Oregon State.
 
Her ERA in conference play was a miniscule 0.77, allowing just six runs (five earned) over 45 1/3 innings.  Ferguson appeared in 10 of the 15 conference games and tossed three shutouts against San Diego, Pacific and Saint Mary's in a nine inning effort.  The opponents batted just .182 off the right handed hurler.  On the year, the Long Beach, California native had an 8-9 record with a league-leading 1.92 ERA.
 
Gray, a two-way standout and the 2024 WCC Player of the Year, batted .311 with 36 RBIs, had a 11-2 record and a 3.74 ERA in the regular season.    
 
The two-time first team All-WCC selection was tied for third in the WCC in wins and was in the top 10 in runs, hits, RBIs, doubles, triples, hit by pitch and stolen bases.     
 
Santa Clara begins their defense of the WCC title on Feb. 6 against Southern Utah at the Grand Canyon Kickoff Classic.

Season tickets and single game tickets to the 2026 home games are available now.  Click here to purchase tickets online, call the Broncos ticket office at (408-554-4660), or email broncotickets@scu.edu

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