Cal State Bakersfield’s softball program will see a rise in their available scholarships thanks to a recently-announced donor gift.
The gift, which is committed across a five-year time span, will see the Roadrunners’ program reach the NCAA’s maximum-allowable number of scholarships for the first time in program history.
Shelly Carlin, a former Motorola executive and UCLA softball alumna, made the $500,000 commitment to Roadrunner athletics. The gift will establish the Athletics Director’s Women’s Excellence Funds at CSUB, in addition to increasing the softball program’s scholarships.
In a statement issued as part of a press release announcing the gift, Carlin said, “College sports provided the means for me to experience the world beyond the San Joaquin Valley. My UCLA experience changed my life – and it’s my hope that this gift can help change the lives of the Roadrunners student-athletes of the future.”
An Academic All-American during her playing career at UCLA, Carlin was part of the Bruins’ 1982 National Championship-winning squad. In 2016, Carlin donated $170,000 to the Cal State Bakersfield program to renovate the softball complex and fund a graduate assistantship on the team’s coaching staff.
Cal State Bakersfield is set to kick off their first softball season as members of the Big West Conference with the start of the 2021 campaign.
