UC Riverside
Cal Poly Softball Hosts UC Riverside for March 28-29 Series
3/24/2026 10:37:00 AM | Softball
SAN LUIS OBISPO – With the seeding race for the 2026 Big West Championship taking shape, the Cal Poly softball program hosts UC Riverside for a Saturday, March 28 doubleheader and Sunday, March 29 single matchup. First pitch each afternoon is 1 p.m. for Cal Poly (7-21, 1-8), which shares ninth place in the Big West standings alongside UC Riverside (3-21, 1-8). Both programs trail sixth-place CSUN (9-16, 5-4) by four games with the top six programs in the standings qualifying for the May 6-9 Big West Championship. Playing just two of its next five Big West series at home, Cal Poly earned its first Big West win with a 3-2 victory at CSUN (March 21). UC Riverside also picked up its lone Big West win versus CSUN, but has dropped seven straight since that March 7 decision. The Highlanders rank last among Big West programs for team batting average (.229) and ERA (7.78).
CAL POLY VERSUS UC RIVERSIDE: Cal Poly’s 5-1, series-opening win last season at UC Riverside marked the first time in program history that the Mustangs reached 100 victories against any opponent. UC Riverside, however, won the final two games to capture the series. Leading the all-time series, 100-45, Cal Poly seeks its second successive home series win against the Highlanders after taking two of three games in 2024.
VENEGAS LOCKED ON TARGET: Only one player in NCAA Division I softball has thrown out more runners than Cal Poly sophomore catcher Maya Venegas, who has taken out 12 would-be basestealers in 27 appearances. Cal Poly’s leader with six doubles, Venegas threw out a career best three Sacramento State baserunners during the program’s Feb. 19 home opener. Lafayette senior Maggie Klug leads the nation with 13 thrown-out runners. Two seasons ago, Cal Poly catcher Julia Barnett finished second nationally with 19 thrown-out runners.
THIS WEEK | Mustangs back home to host UC Riverside for a three-game, March 28-29 series!#RideHigh
— Cal Poly Softball (@CalPolySoftball) March 23, 2026
3?/2?8? (Doubleheader) @ 1 p.m.
3?/2?9? (Single Game) @ 1 p.m. pic.twitter.com/eR6fWvJY5I
FRESHMEN FUEL THE OFFENSE: Three of Cal Poly’s top four hitters entering the March 28-29 series against UC Riverside are freshmen with first baseman Myleigh Cooper (.366) topping the lineup while third baseman Leilani Allen (.348) is second and shortstop Madi Bohannon (.273) is fourth. Cooper, one of two Mustangs to start all 28 games alongside second baseman Sienna Erskine, also leads Cal Poly with 30 hits, 10 multi-hit games and five doubles. Allen, who hit .700 during Cal Poly’s March 21-22 series at CSUN, ranks second with 24 hits and five multi-hit outings. Junior center fielder A’Niyla Byrd, meanwhile, is third in the lineup with a .294 mark while also producing five multi-hit games.
BRENNAN IN THE CIRCLE: Securing just one victory in 19 appearances last season, sophomore righthander Bree Brennan enters the UC Riverside series having earned four of Cal Poly’s seven victories to rank 10th among conference pitchers. Brennan also sits 11th with 28 strikeouts after registering a career high seven versus Kansas City (Feb. 27) and co-leads Cal Poly with 16 appearances.
CONDON ON THE VERGE OF MORE HISTORY: The first and only female head coach in Big West history to coach 1,000 games at a member program in any sport, 22nd-year Cal Poly head coach Jenny Condon requires just seven more victories to become the sixth coach in conference history to reach 500 career wins. The winningest female head coach in university history, Condon ranks sixth in Big West history with both 493 total victories and 211 conference wins. A four-time Big West Coach of the Year honoree, Condon has accounted for 41 percent of the program’s 1,203 all-time victories.
LOOKING AHEAD (APRIL 3-4): Three of Cal Poly’s four April Big West series occur on the road with the Mustangs first visiting Cal State Bakersfield for a Friday, April 3 doubleheader and Saturday, April 4 single matchup. First pitch both afternoons is 1 p.m. for Cal Poly, which has won 11 of 12 Big West matchups against Cal State Bakersfield since the Roadrunners joined the conference ahead of the 2021 season.
