UC Davis
Mustangs Host UC Davis May 1-2 to Close 2026 Season
4/28/2026 12:12:00 PM | Softball
SAN LUIS OBISPO – The Cal Poly softball program completes the 2026 season by hosting UC Davis for a Friday, May 1 doubleheader and Saturday, May 2 solo matchup. First pitch each afternoon from Bob Janssen Field is 1 p.m. for Cal Poly, which was eliminated from contention for the May 6-9 Big West Championship after being swept at Hawai’i April 24-25. Prior to Saturday’s season finale, Cal Poly will honor its four graduating seniors in left fielder Kiara Blanchard, third baseman Mylina Garza and righthanders Ally Robbins and Amy Ross. UC Davis, meanwhile, clinched its Big West Championship spot with an April 25 doubleheader sweep of UC Santa Barbara.
CAL POLY VERSUS UC DAVIS: The Mustangs have captured eight of the last 10 series against UC Davis – including sweeping the Aggies at home in 2024. Despite a home sweep from UC Davis last season, the Aggies trail in the all-time series, 42-38, dating to the first matchups – a Mustang doubleheader sweep on Feb. 19, 1983.
HARD TO K: The hardest team to strike out in the Big West with just 121 during the season and 2.8 per game, Cal Poly features three of the nation’s top 35 toughest-to-strikeout players. Junior center fielder A’Niyla Byrd ranks 19th among NCAA Division I players with just one strikeout per 31.0 at-bats while freshman shortstop Leilani is 29th (28.5) and senior third baseman Mylina Garza is 35th (27.3). The trio has accounted for just 11 total strikeouts in 316 combined at-bats.
SUPER COOPER: Placing the final touches on one of the more impressive offensive seasons in program history, freshman first baseman Myleigh Cooper ranks eighth among Big West hitters with a team leading .379 (47-for-124) batting average – the 14th best mark in Cal Poly’s single season record book. Batting .417 (15-for-36) during Cal Poly’s last 13 games, Cooper is also 11th in the Big West with nine doubles and 14th with 47 hits. She continues to lead Cal Poly in total bases (65), slugging percentage (.524), homers (three) and multi-hit games (15) while batting .386 (27-for-70) in conference play and safely in 15 of the last 19 outings. The only Mustang to start all 43 games, Cooper maintains a team best .986 fielding percentage with just three errors in 208 chances.
ALLEN ADDS FRESHMAN PUNCH: Cal Poly’s top two hitters remain freshmen with shortstop Leilani Allen second in the lineup behind Myleigh Cooper with a .325 (37-for-114) batting average. Having hit .364 (20-for-55) since March 21, Allen is also second in the lineup with 37 hits while producing seven multi-hit outings. Ranking as the 29th toughest hitter to strike out in NCAA Division I softball, Allen has fanned just four times this year.
THE BYRD FLIES HIGH: A .188 career hitter entering her junior season, outfielder A’Niyla Byrd ranks third in Cal Poly’s lineup with a .290 (27-for-93) mark. Having produced more than half of her season hit total – and three, three-hit games – since March 22, Byrd is second in the lineup with eight multi-hit outings this spring.
CHOI SWIPES STEALS RECORD: It took Karina Choi just 34 games to break the 21-year-old Cal Poly single season mark for stolen bases with the freshman swiping her record-breaking 19th bag April 12 at UC San Diego. Thrown out just once in 20 steal attempts this spring, Choi – ranked second among Big West basestealers and 63rd among Division I players – broke the Cal Poly mark previously set by NFCA All-America selection Lisa Modglin in 2005.
