090415_sp_baseballprev.c
Headline: Baseball preview
Teams: UC Davis vs. California
Records: Aggies, 6-23; Golden Bears, 15-18
Where: Dobbins Stadium
When: Today at 2:30 p.m.
Who to watch: Ty Kelly knocked in the winning run in UC Davis‘ 9-8 win over UC Santa Barbara on Saturday.
The third baseman has been productive so far this season, but hasn’t quite met the expectations placed on him prior to the start of the year. He was selected to the preseason Brooks Wallace Player of the Year watch list.
The junior transfer from Loyola Marymount has a .302 batting average and 16 RBI. He led the Big West Conference last season with a .397 batting average.
Did you know? The Aggies are 1-3 this season against Pacific-10 Conference opponents. UC Davis lost two of three at UCLA to start the season in late February and then fell 5-2 to Stanford at home on Mar. 25.
Preview: Cal comes into today’s game at Dobbins Stadium two days removed from losing to archrival Stanford.
The Golden Bears and Aggies have both had their share pitching struggles this season, entering with staff earned run averages of 5.91 and 6.76, respectively.
Cal comes in with an advantage at the plate, though. It’s hitting .296 while the Aggies are batting .259. The Golden Bears average 6.27 runs per game as opposed to UC Davis‘ 3.93.
The Aggies, though, are the hotter of the two teams, coming off their first Big West win of the year. The Golden Bears, meanwhile, are on an eight-game slide that UC Davis hopes to push to nine this afternoon.
– John S. Heller
