Teams:UC Davisvs.Cal Poly
Records:Aggies22-32 (7-8); Mustangs20-20 (8-7)
Where:Bob Janssen Field– San Luis Obispo
When:Saturdayat4and6:30p.m.; Sunday at noon
Who to watch:When you look up pitching ace in the dictionary,there’s a picture of Jessica Hancock.
In the junior’s last contest on Wednesday,Hancock pushed a no-hitter through five innings against No.22Californiabefore surrendering the lone run of the game in the bottom of the seventh.
Didyou know?Cal Poly has outscored UC Davis51-19through nine contestsin the past three years.During that stretch,the Aggies are2-7against the Mustangs,withboththeir wins coming in2007.
Preview:The race is on.
UC Davis is only two games behindsecond-placeUC Santa Barbara in the Big West Conference standings.With just two conference series remaining on the regular season,every game counts for playoff seeding,beginning with Saturday’s doubleheader.
The Aggies,winners of their last three conference series,will travel toSan Luis Obispo to face the Mustangs,who have beentheleague’s most prolific team at home this season.They boast a13-2record at Janssen Field,having won10of their last11at the park.
To turn that trend around,UC Davis will hope to manufacture some offense.Over the last nine games,the team has scored an average of2.8runs per contest while batting.233 (50-for-215).
The Aggies‘ most recent outing helped skew those numbers.
On Wednesday they were held to one hit for the gamebyCal sophomore Marissa Drewrey in a1-0road loss.
In the opposing circle,Hancock was just as dominant.Shepitched her27th complete game of the season,allowing onlyone run and a walk while striking out five inthe losing effort.
The gem improved her season ERA to2.35– good forfifth in the conference – andimproved her strikeout total on the year to a Big West-best207.
This weekend’s series against Cal Poly can be tracked ontheUC Davis athletic website,ucdavisaggies.com.Itis also viewable at bigwest.org/tv.
–Matt Miller
