SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Winners of five of their last six, the UC Santa Barbara Softball team (17-14, 6-3 Big West) looks to keep it rolling with a midweek non-conference doubleheader hosting Santa Clara (18-12). Wednesday's games are the first two of five at Campus Diamond this week, as the Gauchos welcome rival Cal Poly (4-22, 0-9 Big West) for a three-game series beginning Saturday.

LAST TIME OUT
After sweeping Cal State Fullerton on the road, the Gauchos traveled to Cal State Bakersfield last weekend. Splitting a Saturday doubleheader with an 8-1 win and 12-6 loss, Santa Barbara blew out the hosts 12-1 on Sunday to win the series. Overall, it was a solid 5-1 road trip.
 
LOOKING AT THE GAUCHOS
Over the past five games, Bella Fuentes (13) and Giselle Mejia (11) account for 24 of the team's 47 RBIs. Fuentes unsurprisingly recorded a hit in all of those games, homering in three of them. Mejia's plate discipline has been excellent of late, walking eight times in the past six games.
 
On the year, freshman Delaina Ma'ae leads all Gaucho hitters in average (.382), OPS (1.082), and walks (15). Ainsley Waddell is close behind (1.080 OPS); her seven homers are tied with Fuentes for the team lead.
 
As mentioned, the Gauchos have won five of their last six games—Malaya Johnson has gotten the win in all of them with a 2.12 ERA and four complete games. On the season, she has a 10-4 record and 3.09 ERA.
 
SCOUTING THE BRONCOS
Santa Clara has played a handful of other Big West teams already, earning a 6-2 record in such games. As the Gauchos won their series against Bakersfield this past weekend, the Broncos swept their home doubleheader against the Roadrunners at the end of February.
 
Sophomore Cairah Curran is hitting a red-hot .477 this year, reaching base more times than not (.537 OBP). She has also walked more than she has struck out with a 14:7 K:BB ratio and has stolen 16 bases on 21 attempts. Senior Abigail Charpentier has the Broncos' most extra base hits with six doubles, three triples, and four homers.
 
In the circle, Hannah Edwards has logged the most innings for the Broncos, accumulating a 6-2 record and a 2.64 ERA. Lefty Hazyl Gray has a 4.08 ERA but her 7-1 record is the staff's best.

SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS
Before playing three at Campus Diamond this weekend, Cal Poly is spending some of their spring break in Seattle. They face Washington (RV) today and Seattle University for a doubleheader on Wednesday. Currently on a nine-game losing streak, and winless on the road, the Mustangs look to knock two birds with one stone sometime this week.
 
The Mustangs have beaten two quality opponents, though—Oregon State and LMU. Before the Gauchos beat the Beavers 3-2, Cal Poly beat them 7-6 a week and a half prior. The Gauchos split two games against LMU in mid-February, while the Mustangs won 4-3. 
 
Senior Julia Barnett is the team's top hitter, hitting .329 with a homer and 14 RBIs. The Gauchos will likely see Paige Maier (4.60 ERA) and Kate Judy (4.26) in the circle; the pair have pitched more than half of the Mustangs' innings and gotten 17 of their 26 starts.

FOLLOW ALONG
First pitch for game one against Santa Clara is set for Wednesday at 12 p.m. Game one against Cal Poly on Saturday similarly starts at 12 p.m., with Sunday's game at 1 p.m. Fans not attending can stream all five games on ESPN+ and follow along via live stats at ucsbgauchos.com.