Mustangs Host UC Davis May 3-4 to Close Home Stretch

Friday, May 3

San Luis Obispo, CA

1 p.m.

UC Davis

Tickets

Photo by: Owen Main

Mustangs Host UC Davis May 3-4 to Close Home Stretch

4/30/2024 12:57:00 PM | Softball

SAN LUIS OBISPO – The Cal Poly softball program completes the briefest home slate in 30 Division I seasons – just 12 games in 2024 – when welcoming UC Davis to Bob Janssen Field for a three-game, May 3-4 series. First pitch on ESPN+ each afternoon is 1 p.m. for Cal Poly (22-17, 12-8), which looks to snap its lengthiest slide of the season – five games – with the Mustangs having slipped to fourth place in the Big West standings after being swept at conference leader Cal State Fullerton (April 27-28). Still second among Big West programs with a .291 team batting average, Cal Poly – with just one more victory – can cement the program's first winning record since the 2017 Mustangs finished 38-21. Seventh place UC Davis (18-26, 9-12) enters the series with the Big West's third best ERA at 3.22.

FOLLOW CAL POLY VERSUS UC DAVIS: ESPN+ coverage and live stats for each series game versus UC Davis will be available via GoPoly.com HERE.

CAL POLY VERSUS UC DAVIS: Having won seven of the past eight series against UC Davis, Cal Poly leads the all-time series, 39-35, dating to the first matchups – a Mustang doubleheader sweep – on Feb. 19, 1983. Neither program has managed, however, a series sweep of the other since UC Davis took three home games from Cal Poly to close the 2013 season.

CLEMENTS REMAINS CAL POLY'S CATALYST: Cal Poly's leadoff batter in 110 of 129 career outings, junior center fielder Jessica Clements enters the UC Davis series as the second leading hitter in Division I with a .467 (63-for-135) batting average while ranking 16th nationally with a .526 on-base percentage and 37th with 63 hits. The Big West leader for total bases (91) and slugging percentage (.674) and ranked second for triples (four) and fifth for doubles (eight) and runs (30), Clements enters the UC Davis series having reached base in 24 of her last 25 appearances. Clements has also hit safely in 34 of 39 matchups and recorded 21 multi-hit-efforts (including eight three-hit games). Averaging 1.6 hits per game, Clements ranks as the 52nd toughest player to strike out in Division I, averaging just one per 22.6 at-bats (entering the UC Davis series, she's struck out just three times in her last 96 at-bats). Through 129 career games, Clements remains the top batter in program history with a .415 (186-for-448) career mark that doubles as the second best figure in Big West history. She also ranks ninth in Cal Poly history with 186 hits, remaining 50 shy of All-American Lisa Modglin's program record of 236 set from 2004-07.

RAMUNO ON THE RISE: Matching a career best with 10 strikeouts during Cal Poly's March 17 series finale against CSUN and equalizing it against UC Riverside (March 23), sophomore righthander Sophia Ramuno ranks second among Big West pitchers and 70th among NCAA Division I players with 131 strikeouts. She also ranks third in the Big West with a .239 opposing batting average, fourth with 132.1 innings pitched, sixth with nine complete games and seventh with a 2.70 ERA. The March 18 Big West Pitcher of the Week honoree, Ramuno owns a 2.12 conference ERA. Averaging 0.99 strikeouts per inning and 4.9 per appearance, Ramuno has also struck out eight against UC Riverside (March 24) and at CSUN (March 16) and seven on four additional occasions.

DIAZ'S SUPERB SENIOR SEASON: Batting 88 points higher than her .254 career average entering the season, senior shortstop Xiara Diaz heads into Cal Poly's May 3-4 series with UC Davis ranked ninth among conference players with a .342 (40-for-117) mark. Having reached base in all but five appearances, Diaz also sits eighth among Big West players with 26 runs and 10th with a .423 on-base percentage. She remains one of only two Mustangs with a four-hit game this season after a 4-for-4 performance at CSUN (March 16). A starter in 125 of Cal Poly's last 126 games (she saw a streak of 119 straight starts snapped at Cal State Bakersfield April 13), Diaz remains third in program history with 35 steals.

BLANCHARD'S STELLAR SOPHOMORE EFFORT: One of five Mustangs to start all 39 games this season, sophomore left fielder Kiara Blanchard remains fourth in the lineup with a .304 (38-for-125) batting average after hitting just .176 last spring. Blanchard, one of just two Cal Poly players with a four-RBI outing this season after reaching the mark against Saint Mary's (Feb. 10), ranks fourth among conference players with a team leading 25 RBI.

TAKE YOUR CHANCES: Starting all 39 games behind the plate for Cal Poly, junior catcher Julia Barnett (above) ranks second among Division I players having thrown out 17 would-be base stealers this season. With only Monmouth's Abby Warner (20) having thrown out a higher total, Barnett owns a .992 fielding percentage with just two errors in 244 chances.

GOOD JUJU: Helping to provide Cal Poly four .300 hitters this season is senior right fielder Juju Sargent, who has reached base in 34 of 37 matchups and takes a .318 (41-for-129) batting average into the May 3-4 series with UC Davis. Having hit safely 27 times and with 12 multi-hit efforts, Sargent also sits sixth among Big West players with 27 runs scored and 11th with 42 hits.

PEREZ'S CAREER YEAR: Owner of just 10 career hits entering her senior season, designated player and second baseman Mia Perez has produced 27 this year alone – and a career best .278 (27-for-97) batting average. One of five Mustang starters batting above .275, Perez has hit safely 18 times.

CAL POLY SELECTED SEVENTH IN BIG WEST POLL: Despite returning starters at all 10 positions and welcoming back all three All-Big West selections from 2023, Cal Poly was selected seventh in the conference preseason coaches' poll. The Mustangs received 31 total points in the poll – 15 behind sixth place Hawai'i. Cal State Fullerton – second in the Big West standings a season ago – was selected to capture the 2024 title with 77 points and six first-place votes. Defending champion Long Beach State was second in the poll, right behind the Titans on 75 points and with the remaining four first-place votes.

ETC.: The Cal Poly program is in its 50th varsity season in 2024, 27th season as a Big West member and in its 20th year under head coach Jenny Condon … Cal Poly's 5-0 start to the year was its best since beginning the 2005 season 5-0 … Cal Poly's Big West-opening series sweep of CSUN (March 16-17) was its first to start conference play since 2013 … Cal Poly's scheduled April 6 series final at Hawai'i was cancelled due to rain. A determination as to when and if the game will be rescheduled has not yet been determined … the series at Hawai'i marked Cal Poly's only scheduled games outside of California and the Pacific Time Zone this season.