After an up and down season, the UC Davis softball team successfully finished on a high note as they swept Cal Poly this weekend. With two games on Friday and one Saturday, the girls were firing on all cylinders both offensively and defensively.
The Aggies started game one strong, with four quick first inning runs on five hits. Freshman Cat Guidry, freshman Christa Castello and sophomore Kayla Tyler each had singles in the first inning. The addition of walks drawn by senior Kelly Schulze and freshman Christina Guidry also contributed to the big first inning. Sophomore Krista Bava scored in the bottom of the fourth and helped tack on one more insurance run for UC Davis.
Not only were the Ags solid offensively, but sophomore ace Justine Vela came out for game one throwing strong. With five strikeouts in six innings, Vela had a no-hitter going into her last inning. With two outs in the sixth, her no-hitter was foiled with a hit from Cal Poly sophomore Jillian Anderson. However, two batters later, Vela finished the inning and freshman Leah Munden and senior Jessica Thweatt came in to finish the game. Cal Poly surged back in the top of the 7th, scoring two runs, but it was not enough and the Aggies finished their first game on Friday with a 5-2 win.
Carrying that momentum from game one, the girls once again struck early, scoring one run in the second inning and two in the third. Staying hot at the plate, Castello singled, and was quickly scored with a hit from junior Chandler Wagner. A big double from Tyler the next inning brought two runners home, giving the Aggies a 3-0 lead going into the fourth inning.
However, the Mustangs fought back, scoring two runs of their own in the fourth and fifth innings of the game. But it was once again not enough, as the bats stayed hot for the Aggies, who scored three more runs in the next three innings, besting Cal Poly who scored only one more, adding up to a final score of 6-4 in favor of UC Davis. Closing the first game, Thweatt started game two throwing six innings and earning the 6-4 win. Vela then came in and earned her first save of the season, throwing only 14 pitches to end the 7th.
After two big wins on Friday, UCD came into Saturday’s matchup with confidence. After throwing the second game the day before, Thweatt pitched a full game, giving up only 4 hits and one base on balls.
Coming into the fourth the game was even at 0-0. However, Tyler started the bottom of the inning with a single to left and scored on a sacrifice fly from Wagner. UC Davis then put up three more runs in the 5th. That was all the girls needed as there were no runs scored during the rest of the game, giving the Aggies their final win of the season at 4-0.
Finishing the year off with a sweep gave the team an ultimate overall season record of 25-27 and 11-13 in conference.
SLOAN BOETTCHER can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.
