Teams: UC Davis at St. Mary’s
Records: Aggies, 5-3; Gaels 1-4
Where: Cottrell Field – Moraga, Calif.
When: Saturday at noon, 2 p.m.
Who to watch: With the help of freshman shortstop Kelly Harman’s bat, UC Davis was able to split four games this weekend at the Desert Classic in Las Vegas, Nev.
The Trabuco Canyon, Calif. native went 6-for-12 while hitting three home runs and driving in six to go along with four runs of her own. On the season, Harman boasts a .381/.409/.810 vital line.
Did you know? UC Davis faced St. Mary’s in a doubleheader last year as well, winning both games – including a decisive 11-3 win in five innings in the second game of the twin bill.
Preview: The Aggies‘ offense is off to a great start, but it’s the pitchers who have impressed the most.
The UC Davis pitching staff has a cumulative 1.02 ERA, has fanned 69 batters and has only allowed 32 hits in 55 innings.
The leaders of the pitching staff are starters Alex Holmes and Jessica Hancock. The duo has combined for seven complete games and has accumulated 68 of the pitching staff’s total 69 strikeouts.
The play of Hancock highlighted last weekend’s action. The senior from Long Beach, Calif. threw two complete games, one of them resulting in a shutout.
Over the two games, she struck out 24 batters while surrendering only six hits and one earned run as UC Davis won both games she started – a 5-0 win over BYU and an 8-1 victory against Hawaii.
UC Davis will take a break from tournament-style play for a week, instead traveling to Moraga for the doubleheader.
St. Mary’s has gotten off on a slow start to the season. The Gaels lost four out of five games this weekend at the New Mexico State Tournament in Las Cruces, N.M.
St. Mary’s is led offensively by junior catcher Jenna Smith, who’s hitting .533 with a .867 slugging percentage and six RBI through five games this season.
–Max Rosenblum
