For the past two weeks,the rally magic that had catapulted the Aggies to the top of the Big West Conference seemed to have disappeared.
On Tuesday,it came back in one inning against the third-ranked team in the nation.
Trailing8-6in the bottom of the eighth,UC Davis (27-15) strung together five singles and a walk to score four runs and defeat No.3Stanford (25-15),at Dobbins Stadium,10-8.The Aggies earned the two-game season sweep after alsodowning the Cardinal on Apr.9in an epic13-inning,9-8thriller at Sunken Diamond.
“Stanford is just one team we’re matching up well with and playing well against,” head coach Rex Peters said. “It wasn’t a pretty win,but any time you beat Stanford,you’re going to take it.“
“We obviously didn’t play our best ball,but to show that we can still compete with these types of teams is huge,” said junior designated hitter Ryan Scoma,who went2-for-5and drew a key walk in the eighth-inning rally.
UC Davis began the game inauspiciously,committing three errors and walking eight Cardinalbatters through the first seven frames.Senior right-hander Jeremy McChesneythen took control on the mound,tossingtwo-and-two-thirdsscoreless inningsofscorelessmiddle relief to set up the Aggies‘ rally.
“McChesney came in and really settled things down for us,” Peters said. “He gave us a chance to battle back,and thatwasthe key to the win.“
UC Davis will look to carry the momentum ofits fifth win against a ranked opponent into a three-game Big West serieswithNo.25Long Beach Statebeginning today.
“I think we’ve got some momentum going into it and we’re going to jump out on some teams,” sophomore outfielder Kyle Mihaylo said. “I think we’ll be ready to come out and show Long Beach how good we are.“
“It’s really big– I think it’s the most important series,” Scoma said. “Every series is important,but this is huge because they’re another ranked opponent and we’re trying to make a playoff run.A series win would be huge for us.“
RAY LIN can be reached at sports@californiaaggie.com.
