IRVINE, Calif. – After throwing 11 innings to power UC Davis softball to a win in the first game of its doubleheader at Cal Poly, Ashley Sawai has been named the Big West Pitcher of the Week, becoming the final recipient of the weekly award for the 2026 season and the first Aggie to earn the honor this season.
 
In her 11-inning start Sawai gave up just one earned run and struck out four batters while holding the Cal Poly hitters to a .132 batting average. She gave up just five hits and did not walk a single batter in the dominating performance that helped the Aggies open an eventual series winning weekend.
 
Sawai joins Gia Felice and Alyssa Dethlefson who both earned Player of the Week honors this season as the third Aggie to earn Big West weekly honors. Sawai also becomes the first Aggie to be named Big West Pitcher of the Week since teammate Caroline Grimes earned the nod during the week of Mar. 17, 2025.
 
ON TO THE CHAMPIONSHIPS: UC Davis enters the Big West Championships as the No. 4 seed and will face Long Beach State (No. 5 seed) on May 6 at 1 p.m. down in Fullerton, Calif. A win in that game advances the Aggies to the next day and a 1 p.m. match up with No. 1 seed and hosting Cal State Fullerton. If the Aggies lose, they will play late that evening against the loser of the second game on the first day in the championship's first elimination game.
 
BIG WEST CHAMPIONSHIP TICKETS: Fans can now buy tickets for the Big West Championships, which get started on May 6 and are hosted by Cal State Fullerton. Tickets can be bought by heading here.
 
ABOUT UC DAVIS ATHLETICS: UC Davis, ranked No. 2 among public universities by the Wall Street Journal in the value of a college degree, is home to 40,000 undergraduate students and 12,000 employees. Ranked top in the United States in agriculture and forestry as well as No. 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.