Cal Softball Splits Final Tournament Before 2026 Conference Play
The Bears go 3-3 in the Judi Garman Classic Tournament, Marking the End of Non-Conference Tourney Games for Cal
FULLERTON – The California Golden Bears (8-14) returned to the southern half of the state for the fourth and final non-conference tournament of the season: The Judi Garman Classic. Taking on a slate of six teams including the BYU Cougars, #4 Florida Gators, Seattle Redhawks, Oregon State Beavers, CSU Fullerton Titans, and East Texas A&M Lions, Cal softball looked to improve after a disappointing 1-5 performance in the Mary Nutter Tournament a week prior.
Despite a rough beginning with Cal dropping their first two games on Thursday against BYU and Florida, the Bears rallied, picking up three wins through the weekend against Seattle, Oregon State, and ETAMU while only dropping one against CSU Fullerton.
*Note: Like last week, due to the number of games played, I’ll be condensing game recaps to a slightly less detailed format. We’ll be back to normal next week.*
Game 1 – Thursday, 2/26/26 – Cal 6 - 7 BYU L
The Bears began the Judi Garman Classic with a heartbreakingly close loss to BYU that saw them almost overcome a 4 run deficit to push the game towards extras. Aggressive steals at second and home by Carly Raven and Kayli Counts got Cal on the board first with a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. But before the Bears could increase their advantage, Raven was caught stealing home, ending the frame.
Tamya Waiters (1-4) was named starting pitcher against the Cougars after two promising starts against Oklahoma and Nebraska the week prior. On the third at bat, Waiters gave up the lead along with a 2-run homer to the Cougars. A lead they would hold onto until the end of the game. Waiters was relieved after the end of the first inning, ending her first game with 1.0 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, and 2 Ks.
On the opposite side of the plate, Cal’s offense went cold, being limited to just one hit through the second and third innings. BYU meanwhile expanded their lead, scoring four runs against relief pitcher Taylor Peacock (1-2) in the bottom of the second thanks to two RBI singles, an unearned run picked up off an error, and an RBI groundout. The Bears cut the gap to three in the fourth inning after an Anya German 2-RBI single to right center, putting the score at 6-3. Kiki Mashoud (1-2) was called in to relieve Peacock before the fourth, finishing Peacock’s outing with 2.0 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 ER, and 2 Ks. Mashoud herself only lasted one inning, allowing BYU to pick up a run by going 1.0 IP, 1 H, and 1 R.
In the top of the seventh, the Bears started off a final one-out rally. Maddie Ray started things off with a quick single, and Mya McGowan walked to put runners at first and second. Gator Robinson slapped a single into right field that brought Rey home while a fielding error brought McGowan home and advanced Robinson to third. Later in the frame and the bases loaded, Emma Jackson reached on a fielder’s choice, scoring Robinson from third. Unfortunately, the rally ended after that, just one run shy of tying the game. McGowan (3-5) finished her first outing of the tournament with 2.0 IP, 1 H, 3 BB, 2 K’s, while Tamya Waiters was assigned the loss.
LP: Tamya Waiters 1.0 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 Ks.
Game 2 – Thursday, 2/26/26 – Cal 0 - 8 #4 Florida (5)
In Cal’s seventh game of the season against a top-25 team, the Golden Bears were completely routed by an overwhelming Florida Gators offense and pitching combo. Mya McGowan got the starting nod from Coach Singleton in Cal’s second game of the day. She kept the #4 team to just a one run lead through the first inning from an RBI single, but that lead would grow to five after allowing an RBI double and a 3-run homer by the end of the second. McGowan was relieved by Tamya Waiters in the third, finishing her day with 2.0 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, and 2 Ks. Tamya only lasted one inning further, giving up an RBI double in the third on 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, and 2 BB before getting out of the inning.
Anaya Togia (0-0) was called upon to relieve Waiters in the fourth, stepping into the circle for only the second time in her career. Togia held Florida to their only scoreless inning of the game, and only gave up two in the following inning. With a 8-0 lead marching through the fifth, the Gators reached the minimum number of runs to activate the run rule. Cal’s bats seemed to wake up in the bottom of their final frame, as Harmony Andrade and Natalie Marshall hit back-to-back singles in the first two at bats of the fifth, breaking up Florida’s hopes for a no-hitter. But after that the Bears couldn’t get rolling. Togia ended her day with 2.0 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, and 1 K.
LP: Mya McGowan 2 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 2 Ks.
Game 3 – Friday, 2/27/26 – Cal 4 - 3 Seattle W
The second day of the tournament saw California face just one opponent: the Seattle University Redhawks. Both sides remained quiet offensively for most of their second ever meeting in program history, with the only runs being scored in the second and fourth innings. Taylor Peacock took to the circle for her second start of the season, and together with the defense put down nine batters without giving up a run.
Cal began scoring in the second inning, thanks to an Anaya Togia double into deep left field with two runners on base, bringing one home. On the following at bat, Anya German popped up a foul ball that was deep enough for Mya McGowan to tag up at third and score a second run. In the top of the fourth, Seattle took a surprise lead 3-2 after scoring on a pair of RBI singles and an unearned run from a fielding error. However, Togia would continue her heroics from the first inning by going yard to left center, putting Cal back in front 4-3 off a 2-run homer.
Peacock was pulled from the circle before the start of the fifth, ending her start with 4 IP, 5 H, 3 R, and 1 ER. Layna Gerhard was put in control for the rest of the game, maintaining the Bears’ slim margin of victory by keeping Seattle’s bats silent. After a nerve wracking seventh inning that saw Seattle threatening with runners on first and second, Gerhard put the game away, securing Cal’s first win of the Judi Garman Classic. Cal moves to 2-0 all time against Seattle.
WP: Taylor Peacock 4.0 IP, 3 R, and 1 ER. Save: Layna Gerhard 3.0 IP, 2 BB, and 1 K (her first save of the season).
Game 4 – Saturday, 2/28/2026 – Cal 6 - 3 Oregon State W
Down 2-1 thus far in the Judi Garman tournament, Cal was hungry for another win, especially against an old foe from the PAC-12. Tamya Waiters took to the circle first against the Oregon State Beavers, ready to make up for her previous start against BYU. After a hitless first inning, Cal finally got on the board first with Anaya Togia’s second home run of the weekend (this time a solo shot) in the second. The Beavers responded with an RBI single in the bottom of the same frame to tie things up at one, however that was the closest they’d ever come to beating Cal.
The Golden Bears opened up a big lead in the third, starting with a pair of singles to get two runners aboard before Gator Robinson ripped a 2-RBI triple into right center field. Togia added another run to her tally shortly thereafter with an RBI single to bring Robinson home and give Cal a 4-1 lead. A few quiet innings later, a single up the middle by Gator Robinson with runners at the corners added one in the fifth, and the second home run of the game from Togia added another in the sixth to give the Bears a 6-1 lead.
Waiters was relieved midway through the fifth, ending her outing with 5.2 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, and 3 BB. Mya McGowan was called on to close out the final inning and change for the Bears. Oregon State attempted to build up a comeback in the bottom of the seventh, cutting the deficit to three after a 2-run homer to center field. However McGowan shut down the inning, earning a save along with Cal’s second win in a row to put the Bears at .500 in the tournament.
WP: Tamya Waiters 5.2 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, and 3 BB. Save: Mya McGowan 1.1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, and 1 BB (her first save of the season).
Game 5 – Saturday, 2/28/2026 – Cal 3 - 9 CSU Fullerton L
Cal faced CSU Fullerton for the 48th time in program history, hoping to pick up another win shortly after sitting down the Oregon State Beavers on the third day of the Judi Garman Classic. Mya McGowan returned to the circle—after earning the save against Oregon State—to start against Fullerton. Although the Bears got off to a hot start in the first inning against the Titans with a pair of runs scored on a fielding error and a walk with the bases loaded, it would be all Fullerton the rest of the way. CSF clawed their first run back in the bottom of the first off a solo shot home run to right center, and then tied the game at 3-3 in the very next frame with an RBI Single and an RBI fielder’s choice.
Taylor Peacock was called in relief for McGowan at the start of the bottom of the third, ending McGowan’s day with 2.0 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 2 ER, and 1 BB. Aside from an RBI single in the third, Peacock shut down Fullerton’s offensive production, keeping the score at 4-3 for two innings until the Titans blew the score wide open in the fifth. A throwing error would spell disaster for the Golden Bears, allowing two runs to score. An RBI single a few batters later brought home a third run, and ended Peacock’s day with 2.1 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 4 ER, and 1 K. Kiki Mashoud was called in relief. The Sophomore gave up two runs off an RBI and a RBI sacrifice fly to put Fullerton up by six 9-3 before the inning ended. From there, Fullerton’s bats silenced. Unfortunately, the Bears’ bats did the same, allowing the Titans to hang on to win, giving Cal their third loss of the tournament.
LP: Taylor Peacock 2.1 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 1 K.
Game 6 – Sunday, 3/1/2026 – Cal 16 - 0 ETAMU W (5)
California roared back to life in their final game of the Judi Garman Classic, putting up not only their highest scoring performance of the season so far, but also Cal’s first no-hitter in eight years. Layna Gerhard got the starting nod for the final game–her first start since Oklahoma State at the beginning of the season–and pitched 5.0 IP, 0 H, 3 BB, and 3 Ks. For a more detailed account of this severely lopsided game, check out the article I wrote about it here.
WP: Layna Gerhard 5.0 IP, 3 BB, and 3 Ks.
In Review
With the end of non-conference tournament play, we now have a better idea of the makeup of the team. As Coach Singleton predicted previously, it hasn’t been perfect and pretty. Cal has had some disappointing losses, such as Oklahoma State (2/7), Auburn (2/22), and Florida (2/26). But Cal has had some energetic wins like Santa Clara (2/13), UCSD (2/19), and most recently ETAMU (3/1), along with some excitingly close losses like Oklahoma (2/21) and BYU (2/26).
To reuse a quote from Tamya Waiters, “I’m looking forward to our team having an outing where we’re firing on all cylinders. Where our hitting is on, our pitching is on, and our fielding is on. Because I think when we do that, we’re a hard team to beat.” It appears this may be the crux of how Cal Softball’s season goes. Because when hitting, pitching, and fielding are firing, we see results like ETAMU, or even Oklahoma where we may have lost but we brought a top-5 team down to the wire. When any of those three components are off–or if more than one are off at the same time–we see the team fail. If Cal can fire on all cylinders consistently through conference play, a fourth trip to regionals in as many seasons certainly isn’t outside the realm of possibility. But that is far from easy, and only time will tell if Cal can make it all work in conference play.
It’s easier to tell now who can help get us there. First and foremost would be Cal’s top batter and new home run queen Anaya Togia. The junior transfer from Long Beach City College currently sits at the top of Cal’s leaderboard in batting average (.368), OPS (1.054), hits (25), runs (16), RBIs (18), and home runs (5), making her absolutely invaluable at the plate for the Bears. The same goes for Gator Robinson, who has claimed second place in all the aforementioned categories. Both showed a lot of talent through the Judi Garman Classic this past weekend, recording hits any which way they can to keep Cal in the fight. Robinson and Togia are a frightening duo for opposing pitchers, and only get more terrifying the hotter their bats are.
While consistency in performance has plagued the pitching rotation, we have glimpsed what it looks like when our pitchers are firing inside the circle. Layna Gerhard threw a no-hitter on Sunday to start off with after weeks of relief pitching. Despite recent struggles Mya McGowan and Tamya Waiters have both fought tooth and nail against top ranked opponents, and the pair currently lead the team in strikeouts with 16. Taylor Peacock also showed a very strong performance against Seattle, earning her first win of the season.
There are flashes of greatness on both sides of the plate, all Cal needs in order to go on a run in ACC play is to get the pieces together to light up at the same time. It certainly feels like it’s only matter of time before they do.
What’s Next?
With the Judi Garman Classic over, Cal enters ACC conference play with a game north of the Bay Area. The schedule doesn’t get any easier from here, however. Over the season, the Golden Bears will have to contend with top ranked teams including #10 FSU, #19 Stanford, #25 Duke, North Carolina and Louisville (who received votes but sit just outside the top-25), along with a 14-7 NC State and a 13-6 Pitt, both of whom look poised to reach for a top 25 spot. In addition, Cal has scheduled a non-conference double header against #7 UCLA in mid-April. In total, seven of the eight ACC teams coming up are either ranked or close to it, making March and April a brutal gauntlet for the Bears.
#25 Duke will be in town from Friday, March 6th-Sunday, March 8th. The three games of the Golden Bears’ home opener will take place at Shea Stadium (Sacramento State) in Sacramento, CA. All other home games will be played at WVCC in Saratoga, CA while Cal’s softball facility continues its renovation. Tickets for Cal’s game against Duke are on sale via Sacramento State’s website. Go Bears!