The Cal Poly softball team will end its 2026 season by hosting UC Davis for a doubleheader on Friday, May 1, and a single game on Saturday, May 2. The games will be played at Bob Janssen Field with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. each day, according to an April 28 announcement.
This final series marks the close of Cal Poly’s campaign after the team was eliminated from contention for the Big West Championship following a sweep by Hawai‘i on April 24-25. Before Saturday’s last game, Cal Poly plans to honor four graduating seniors: left fielder Kiara Blanchard, third baseman Mylina Garza, and righthanders Ally Robbins and Amy Ross.
UC Davis enters the series having secured its spot in the Big West Championship with a doubleheader sweep of UC Santa Barbara on April 25. In recent years, Cal Poly has won eight of its last ten series against UC Davis and swept them at home in 2024. The all-time series stands at 42-38 in favor of Cal Poly since their first meeting in February 1983.
Statistically this season, Cal Poly has been one of the hardest teams to strike out in the Big West Conference, averaging just over two strikeouts per game. Junior center fielder A’Niyla Byrd ranks among NCAA Division I’s top hitters least likely to strike out alongside freshman shortstop Leilani Allen and senior third baseman Mylina Garza; together they have struck out only eleven times in more than three hundred combined at-bats.
Freshman first baseman Myleigh Cooper leads Cal Poly offensively with a .379 batting average—eighth best among Big West hitters—and is featured prominently across several statistical categories including total bases and slugging percentage. Cooper is also recognized for her defensive reliability with only three errors throughout forty-three starts this season.
Looking ahead, freshmen continue to play key roles for the Mustangs as Allen holds a .325 batting average while Karina Choi recently broke the program’s single-season stolen base record that had stood since 2005.
