DAVIS, Calif. — Junior Marisa Given finished 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI to back teammate Katie Kibby's four-hitter, and the UC Davis softball team rallied for a doubleheader split with visiting Cal Poly to open a three-game Big West Conference series on Saturday afternoon at La Rue Field.

The split moves the Aggies to 30-8 overall on the season and 5-3 in conference play, giving UC Davis its first 30-win season since the 2007 squad finished 31-27-1 overall. The Mustangs, meanwhile, moved to 8-30 overall and 2-6 in league.

After suffering a 1-0 defeat in the opener, the Aggies' offense opened the floodgates in the nightcap, scoring three times in the first, four more times in the third, and collecting 10 hits for the game en route to the 7-0 victory.

Sophomore Alyse Rojas came home with the first run of the game after a single, stolen base, and error moved her all the way to third, scoring when a throw down to second nabbed Alex Sotomayor trying to steal. Back-to-back singles by Meghan Bradbury and Megan Bower set the stage for Given, who rapped a two-run double to the gap in right centerfield for a 3-0 advantage.

The Aggies then sent 10 batters to the plate in the third, scoring four times to put the game completely out of reach. Following a groundout, the next eight batters reached with Isabella Leon, Riley Siegel, Marissa Jauregui, and Bradbury, bringing home runs in the inning for the final 7-0 tally.

Meanwhile, Kibby (9-5) was cruising, retiring the first nine batters she faced before Noa Yakir reached on a bloop single. The junior right-hander didn't panic, stranding the bases loaded after another hit and a walk in the inning, and left Mustangs on the bases after singles in the fifth and sixth innings.

Kibby then set down the final six batters she faced to lock down her fourth shutout of the season and the 16th of her career — just one shy of Justine Vela's Division I career mark of 17 set from 2012-15 — facing just five over the minimum on Saturday.

In the opener, both Steffi Best (3-18) and Brooke Yanez (19-3) matched zeroes through five complete before the Mustangs were able to push across the winning run in the sixth on a pinch-hit RBI single by Shelby Jeffries.

Yanez went the distance, but suffered her third loss of the year despite allowing just four hits and striking out 11 — the eighth time this season she has finished in double digits in that category. Her 194 strikeouts this season sets a new single-season high for the sophomore, passing her total from all of last season (190) for fourth on the program's Division I single-season list.

Her 384 career strikeouts are now just 13 shy of Jessica Hancock's total for third on the program's Division I career list.

The series concludes with the rubber game on Sunday (April 14) at 1 p.m. It is Cancer Awareness Day at La Rue Field, with a special pregame first pitch ceremony prior to first pitch.

ABOUT UC DAVIS
Providing a small-town community feel while providing a world-class academic experience, UC Davis is home to more than 37,000 students and centrally located between San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, and the Napa Valley. The No. 5-ranked public university in the nation according to the Wall Street Journal and Times Higher Education, and among the top 10 public universities nationwide according to U.S. News and World Report, UC Davis offers nearly 100 graduate programs and more than 100 academic majors across four colleges and six professional schools, ranking among the world and nation's best in numerous disciplines, including veterinary science, agriculture, and plant and animal programs.

AGGIE EVO
Launched in 2017-18, the Aggie EVO System is UC Davis Athletics' investment in the primary mission of preparing student-athletes for a successful "launch" after graduation. Thanks to a collaboration of alumni, university resources, corporate partners, coaches and Student-Athlete Outcomes staff, all Aggies are guided over four years to acquire the skills, knowledge, opportunities and tools to better know and navigate the "World of Work" after graduating from UC Davis. Follow the Aggie EVO system on Twitter and Instagram at @AggieEVO.