GAME ONE
Score: UC Davis 2, Cal Poly 1
Winning Pitcher: Caroline Grimes (3-9)
Losing Pitcher: Kate Judy (1-6)
Records: UC Davis 8-18 (2-2), Cal Poly 4-17 (0-4)
Location: Davis, Calif. (La Rue Field)
 
GAME TWO
Score: UC Davis 5, Cal Poly 2
Winning Pitcher: Ashley Sawai (6-7)
Losing Pitcher: Paige Maier (1-5)
Save: Caroline Grimes (1)
Records: UC Davis 9-18 (3-2), Cal Poly 4-18 (0-5)
Location: Davis, Calif. (La Rue Field)

The short story: A win and a save from Caroline Grimes along with clutch hitting by UC Davis softball gave the Aggies a sweep in the Big West series opening doubleheader against Cal Poly.
 
LEADING OFF

• Grimes was lights out the entire day, giving up no earned runs in 8.0 innings pitched, striking out seven batters over the two games
• Ashley Sawai threw six tough innings to start the second game, striking out five batters while allowing just two runs
• Marley Panziera was hot all day, going 3-for-6 with one run scored, a triple and a double
• Alyssa Dethlefson and Grace Kilday both went 2-for-5 on the day, with Kilday smacking a double and Dethlefson scoring a run
• Mickey Buscemi led off both games, going 2-for-5 with a double, two drawn walks and a pair of runs scored

HOW IT HAPPENED (GAME ONE)

• The Aggies opened the scoring in the first inning when Rylee Reeves hit a sacrifice fly to center field to plate Buscemi, who had led off the game with a double through the right side
• In the third, with the Aggies leading 1-0, Cal Poly tied the game, but it could have been more had Grimes not dug in
• After a few runners reached on Aggie errors the Mustangs had runners at first and third with no outs but over the next four batters only one would reach, on a walk, as Grimes kept the damage to just one run and the score at 1-1
• The Aggies retook the lead for good in the fourth when Panziera hit a sacrifice fly to right that scored Reeves to make it 2-1
• Over the next two frames, Grimes battled to leave five Cal Poly runners on base as she cultivated the late UC Davis lead
• In the seventh, Grimes sat the Mustangs down in order and with a final strikeout locked up the UC Davis 2-1 game one victory

HOW IT HAPPENED (GAME TWO)

• In the second game, Cal Poly scored first with a run in the second scored on a single up the middle, but that would be all the Mustangs would get until the sixth over that time the Aggies would catch and pass Cal Poly
• Sawai kept the Mustangs off the board by allowing just one hit over the third, fourth and fifth innings
• In the bottom of the fifth, UC Davis opened things up and it got started with a Dethlefson single through the right side
• Buscemi walked and it set up Vanessa Calvillo with a chance to get the Ags on the board late in the game
• It did not take long as Calvillo took the first pitch she saw to left field for a two-run double that scored Buscemi and Dethlefson
• With Calvillo still on second, Kilday took a two-out 3-2 pitch through the right side to replace Calvillo at second as the Aggie freshman scampered home to make it 3-1
• After Cal Poly got one back in the top of the sixth, the Aggies added some insurance with two more in the sixth on a Kayla Macias RBI double to center and Sofia Anderson scurrying home on a Cal Poly error to give UC Davis a 5-2 lead
• Grimes came in to collect the save, and worked a 1-2-3 inning to lock up her first save since 2023 to give the Aggies a 5-2 win and the doubleheader sweep

UP NEXT FOR THE AGGIES: UC Davis goes for the series win over Cal Poly with a Sunday, Mar. 16 Big West match up starting at 12 p.m. and broadcast on ESPN+.
 
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