DAVIS, Calif. -- After closing out a weekend road trip at UC Santa Barbara with a victory, UC Davis softball returns to La Rue Field for the final home series of the 2021 season, hosting Cal Poly for a three-game set on Saturday and Sunday. The Aggies and Mustangs will square off for a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday, then wrap up the series with a 1 p.m. Senior Day contest on Sunday afternoon.

UC Davis will honor graduates-to-be Marissa Jauregui, Isabella Leon and Katie Steffen-Brune during a ceremony following Sunday's game. Jauregui and Leon are both fifth-year students who chose to return this year after having their 2020 seasons cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic. Steffen-Brune is a sophomore by eligibility but a fourth-year student who will complete her degree in biological sciences this year.

The Aggies allow limited spectators for home softball games. However, due to limited capacity of La Rue Field, only designated guests of UC Davis student-athletes will be granted admission. Such tickets will be arranged by the players prior to the weekend.

AT A GLANCE
Who: Cal Poly
When: Saturday, May 8 (1 p.m. doubleheader) & Sunday, May 9 (1 p.m.)
Where: La Rue Field (Davis, Calif.)
Live Video - Big West TV (https://bigwest.org/watch/default.aspx?path=uc_davis)
Live Stats: Saturday Game 1 | Saturday Game 2 | Sunday

• ABOUT THE SENIORS: Leon enters her final home weekend with a career .305 average (166-for-544) while her .463 slugging average has her on pace for third for the team's Division I-era (2008-present)... She also became just the 11th all-time Aggie to score more than 100 career runs, heading into Saturday with 107... Leon has started all but four of her 178 career games, earning All-Big West honors in 2018 (honorable mention) and 2019 (second team)... A 2017 All-Big West honorable mention, Jauregui has started all 64 games during her final two seasons, with 150 total starts in her career... She enjoyed highs in nearly every offensive category last year, and has matched her 2020 total of six extra-base hits this spring... The international relations major will land her fourth Academic All-Conference honor this spring... Steffen-Brune largely backed up Riley Siegel after redshirting in 2018, but has started 25 games in her final season... Among her season highlights was hitting a combined 3-for-4 in a home doubleheader against Saint Mary's in February, while defensively, she has gunned down nine would-be base stealers this spring.

• Sarah Starks launched her ninth home run of the season in Saturday's nightcap, tying Meghan Bradbury for the most in a season during the program's Division I era... Starks' 28 RBIs ties Kelly Zboralske (2014) for sixth on that list, with former teammate and first base predecessor Maddie Rojas (29 in 2019) next up on the list.

• Speaking of the long ball, Leon's 16 career homers is the most for the team's years in the Big West and has her tied with Lindsay Moore (2000-03) and Jenny Hall (1999-2002) for eighth on the school's all-time leaderboard... Sue Yale and Megan Turman, also on the Aggies' national-champion squad, are sixth on that list with 17... Deanna Menapace, whose career spanned the reclassification and D-I eras, launched 18. 

• Cal Poly's coaching staff will have a familiar face to longtime Aggie softball fans: pitching coach Michele Granger served as a volunteer assistant for Kathy DeYoung in the late 1990s... Of course, Granger is a familiar face to most softball fans: she was a member of the gold medal-winning U.S. team at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.
 

ABOUT UC DAVIS:
Centrally located between San Francisco and Lake Tahoe, over 700 student-athletes across 25 teams enjoy an unrivaled undergraduate experience at the fifth-ranked public school in the country.

Ranked annually in the nation's top 10 in diversity and students' social mobility, UC Davis and its innovative Aggie EVO system helps student-athletes develop passions, connect with a comprehensive network of alums and industry leaders, gain real-world experience and thrive as a young professional following a successful launch to full-time employment or graduate school.