DAVIS, Calif. – UC Davis softball has set in place its 2026 schedule, with the season opener set for February 5 at home against Sacramento State and the Big West Conference opener against Hawai'I scheduled at La Rue Field over the weekend of March 6-7.
 
The Aggies will host 28 games in Davis, while hitting the road for their other 25 games. UC Davis will take part in four tournaments, performing hosting duties for two, while playing in five games at neutral sites along the with host schools at two other tournaments.
 
2026 begins with the NorCal Kickoff where UC Davis will open against Sacramento State on Feb. 5 before playing San Diego, Colorado State and Saint Mary's in the yearly tournament that runs from Feb. 5-8.
 
UC Davis then plays its first of seven midweek games, traveling to Pacific on Feb. 11. The Aggies will also make midweek trips to Santa Clara (Feb. 17), Sacramento State (Mar. 24) and Saint Mary's (Apr. 14). Pacific will make the return trip on Mar. 3, joining Utah Valley (Mar. 9) and Stanford (Apr. 7) in making midweek trips to La Rue Field.
 
UNLV hosts the next tournament the Aggies visit, and running from Feb. 13-15 the Aggies will face Seattle, Quinnipiac and hosting UNLV. UC Davis will twice see Seattle and UNLV during the Las Vegas, Nev., tournament. Over Feb. 20-21 the Aggies will also head to St. George, Utah where they will face Weber State and Utah Tech in back-to-back days for a total of four games over the 48 hours spent in the high desert.
 
As the calendar rolls into March, the Ags host their final tournament of the season when over the stretch of Feb. 27-Mar. 1 UC Davis will see Nevada (twice), Santa Clara, Sacred Heart and San Jose State.
 
The Aggies open Big West play by hosting Hawai'I over the weekend of Mar. 6-7. The Ags will go on to host CSU Bakersfield (Mar. 21-22), Cal State Fullerton (Mar. 28-29), CSUN (Apr. 11-12) and UC Santa Barbara (Apr. 25-26). On the road in conference, the Aggies will visit UC San Diego (Mar. 13-14), Long Beach State (Apr. 3-4), UC Riverside (Apr. 18-19) and Cal Poly (May 1-2). The Big West Championships are set to get going at Cal State Fullerton from May 6-9.
 
UC Davis returns All-Big West honorees Ashley Sawai, Alyssa Dethlefson, Caroline Grimes and Sydney Polli. Last season Sawai finished top 10 in the Big West in innings pitched (eighth), batters struck out (ninth), wins (ninth) and saves (second). The Aggie right-hander also tossed a career-high 15 complete games, placing her fourth in the conference and 38th in the nation.
 
Dethlefson also found her name inside the top 10 of a pair of Big West statistical categories. She led the conference in triples (five), and her 19 stolen bases placed her fourth in the league. During the season, Dethlefson was not caught once and along with Grand Canyon's Savannah Groshong-Kirk she is one of two student-athletes in the country to have not been caught stealing this season with at least 19 stolen bases.
 
ABOUT UC DAVIS ATHLETICS:
UC Davis, the No. 2 ranked public university by the Wall Street Journal, is home to 40,000 undergraduate students and 12,000 employees. Ranked #1 in Agriculture and Forestry as well as #1 in Veterinary Medicine, UC Davis is located in a true California college town nestled between world-class destinations such as the San Francisco Bay Area, Napa Valley and Lake Tahoe. Over 650 Aggie student-athletes compete in 25 Division I varsity sports, with 16 sports transitioning to the Mountain West Conference beginning in 2026–27.