Cal Softball Unable to Overcome Home Field Disadvantage in Palo Alto
Bears blanked twice as Stanford sweeps Cal in final home series of the 2026 season
PALO ALTO, CA – The California Golden Bears (13-36, 3-18 ACC) took on the #18 Stanford Cardinal (34-12, 18-6) this past weekend to continue the schools’ long standing rivalry in athletics and academics. Due to Cal’s stadium renovations preventing the series from being played in Berkeley, the Cardinal’s newly opened Stanford Softball Stadium was the agreed upon venue for the series, providing Cal with the unique experience of playing home games in a rival’s stadium. The two adversaries–now in their second year with the ACC–entered the series with contrasting seasons, with Cal sitting at the bottom of the ACC standings while Stanford has clinched a spot in the ACC tournament.
Friday, Game 1: Cal 1 - 17 #18 Stanford (5)
Mya McGowan was given the starting nod from skipper Steve Singleton for the first rivalry game of his tenure, giving the freshman her twentieth start of the season. Stanford struck first in what would ultimately be a resounding shellacking of the Bears in game one of the series. The Cardinal wasted no time loading the bases by reaching on a fielding error and a pair of walks. Two RBI singles, and two RBI sacrifice flies gave Stanford a 4-0 lead before McGowan tossed a strikeout to get the Bears out of the first inning. Cal tried to manufacture a hot start of their own with a single up the middle from Gator Robinson followed by Kayla Lee working her way into a walk to put Robinson in scoring position. However Cal could not take advantage, stranding both runners at first and second. McGowan started the top of the second with her second strikeout before the Cardinal added three more runs to their score off two triples, giving Stanford a 7-0 lead going into the third.
The Cardinal broke game one wide open in the top of the third. Stanford put runners at first and second with no outs before a home run to deep left field gave them a 10-run advantage, and spelled the end of McGowan’s day in the circle. McGowan finished her day with 2.0 IP, 7 H, 11 R, 9 ER, 4 BB, and 2 Ks, and was relieved by Layna Gerhard. Stanford added an additional seven runs off two singles, an RBI fielder’s choice, and a 3-RBI home run, putting the game well out of reach for the Bears. Layna Gerhard did not return to the circle after finishing out the third inning, and ended her day with 1.0 IP, 4 H, 6 ER, and 2 BB.
In the top of the top of the fourth, Taylor Peacock was called upon to carry the Bears the rest of the way through game one. The sophomore closer sat down the first three Cardinal batters she faced in order, and ultimately held Stanford completely silent down the stretch; allowing just one hit through the rest of the game. In the bottom of the fourth, Carly Raven slapped a triple into empty space in left field, sending Maddie Rey flying all the way home from first to put Cal on the board with their only run of the weekend. The offense cooled off entirely after that, giving Stanford the 17-1 win by run rule after a silent fifth inning.
Cal’s offense finished the day with 3 hits on 17 at-bats. Gator Robinson, Sophia Everett, and Carly Raven each went 1-2, with Raven recording her first triple of the season. Maddie Rey was credited with a fielding error. WP: Alyssa Houston (4-2) 3.0 IP, 1 H, 2 BB, 2 K. LP: Mya McGowan (4-13) 2.0 IP, 7 H, 11 R, 9 ER, 4 BB, 2 K.
Saturday, Game 2: Cal 0 - 9 #18 Stanford (6)
While a significantly lower scoring affair than the day prior, the second game of the rivalry series saw Cal struggle to produce at the dish as Stanford’s pitching limited the Golden Bears to just one hit the entire game. The Cardinal bats jumped out to a 2-0 in the top of the first against Cal’s starting pitcher Taylor Peacock by hitting a trio of doubles, and then added another three in the second against Peacock and relief pitcher Tamya Waiters before Cal could close out the inning.
Relief pitcher Kiki Mashhoud was called to the circle in the top of the third, shutting down Stanford’s offensive production for three consecutive innings. Mashhoud reigned in the Cardinal to keep them at a 5-0 lead and giving up only one hit through the fifth inning. A one out 2-run homer in the top of the sixth would spell an end to Mashhoud’s day after 3.1 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 2 ER, and 3 BB, with Anaya Togia entering the circle to close out the game. Stanford added another two runs with a 2-RBI double, giving them a 9-0 advantage that would carry them to victory through the bottom of the sixth.
Cal finished game two with 1 hit on 20 at-bats, with Kayla Lee hitting the lone single in the bottom of the sixth to crush any hope Stanford had for a no-hitter at the last minute. Robinson and Everett each stole a base, and Emma Jackson was credited with an error. WP: Zoe Prystajko (17-5) 5.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 K. LP: Taylor Peacock (1-4) 1.1 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER.
Sunday, Game 3: Cal 0 - 5 #18 Stanford
In Cal’s final “home” game of the 2026 season, the Golden Bears honored two seniors for Senior Day: D’Auna Johnson and Tamya Waiters. Before giving the recap, we’d like to honor our seniors as well. From all of us at Write for California: Congratulations to D’Auna Johnson and Tamya Waiters for this major milestone, and thank you for being Golden Bears!
#6 D’Auna Johnson has been with the program since her freshman season in 2023, joining us from Sheldon High School in Mather, California. As a utility player, Johnson has played in 105 games across four seasons with the Golden Bears, and has tallied 23 hits off 112 at-bats. In the field, Johnson maintained a .934 fielding percentage with 50 put outs and 7 assists on 4 errors. Johnson notably hit a walk-off home run against Villanova in her freshman season, and sent a 3-RBI homer over the fence against UC Santa Barbara during the Silicon Valley Classic in her senior season.
#55 Tamya Waiters joined the program for her senior season, transferring from Houston. Before joining the blue & gold, Waiters played at UT-Arlington and the University of Houston. As a pitcher, Tamya has thrown 46.1 innings in 24 games–8 of which she started in–with the Golden Bears this season. Waiters holds a 7.10 ERA and a 2.63 WHIP on her career with Cal, and was instrumental from the circle in holding multiple top-10 teams to low-scoring games, including #4 Oklahoma and #10 Nebraska.
In the final game against #18 Stanford, Singleton turned to Tamya Waiters to start in the circle. Waiters stepped up to the challenge keeping the Cardinal virtually silent through four innings. Unlike in their two prior games, Stanford struggled to put up runs early, finding themselves limited to just one hit through the first two innings. Waiters allowed just two runs to cross in the third, and kept Stanford off the board in the fourth. In the top of the fifth, Waiters was pulled after putting up a 4.0 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 5 BB, and 2 K performance on senior day, and McGowan took over down the stretch to close out the game.
Despite a stellar outing by Waiters to keep Stanford within striking distance, Cal’s bats struggled to string together a rally, failing to plate a single run. In the top of the seventh, the Cardinal added two more to their lead, giving them a 5-0 victory. McGowan closed out the final home game of the 2026 season throwing 3.0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, and 1 K.
The Golden Bears found some life at the dish in game three, picking up 5 hits in 24 at-bats. Carly Raven went 2-2 with a pair of singles, while D’Auna Johnson and Maddie Rey each hit 1-3 with a single. Kayla Lee stole a base, and Xiomei Geluz was credited with an error. From the field: Cal turned a 4-3-2 double play to end the fifth. WP: Zoe Prystajko (18-5) 4.1 IP, 2 H, 4BB, 5 K. LP: Tamya Waiters (1-7) 4.0 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 5 BB, 2 K.
What’s Next?
With the final home game of the season now in the books, Cal has one more series before the end of the 2026 season. Cal has unfortunately been knocked out of contention for a bid in the ACC softball tournament, marking the first time the Bears have missed the postseason since 2022. California will face the Pitt Panthers in Pittsburgh in their final series this weekend beginning May 1st at 3pm pst. Go Bears!