The Aggies looked to begin anew with conference play beginning on Friday.
With a record of 11-20 in 31 non-conference contests, UC Davis opened up their Big West Conference with a three-game series against Cal State Northridge.
The two squads split a doubleheader on the first day of play and the Aggies won the rubber match to take the series.
UC Davis outhit Cal State Northridge 25-14 over the course of the weekend
Friday – Game 1: UC Davis 1, Cal State Northridge 4
UC Davis looked to get Big West action off to a good start as it scored first when JJ Wagoner reached on a bunt-single to drive in Heather Zimmerman[cq].
The Matadors quickly responded, scoring twice in the top of the next frame. The first run came home on a one-out fielder’s choice while the second came by way of a fielding error.
Cal State Northridge extended the lead to 3-1 in the fourth when Tracy Allen led off with a homerun.
The Matadors scored one more in the seventh to account for the final tally.
UC Davis outhit Northridge 8-5 in the first game of the series.
Friday – Game 2: UC Davis 2, Cal State Northridge 1
Until the Aggies went to bat in the sixth inning, the second game of the doubleheader was scoreless.
Then Marissa Araujo [cq] stepped up to the plate and launched her first homerun of the year to right center. The two-run shot put the Aggies up 2-0.
Cal State Northridge scored a run in the bottom of the sixth, but that would be all the Matadors could manage.
Alex Holmes took a no-hitter into the fifth and ended up allowing the one run on four hits with three strikeouts. The win improved her record to 8-8 on the year.
Holmes and Kylie Fan each went 3-for-6 from the dish in the doubleheader.
Saturday – UC Davis 7, Cal State Northridge 3 (8)
It didn’t take long for the Aggies to strike first in the final game of the series.
With two outs and runners on first and second in the top of the first, Holmes knocked her first homerun of the season over the right field fence to make the score 3-0.
The Matadors responded with a run in the bottom of the inning to pull within 3-1, a score that would remain until the fifth when Cal State Northridge tied the game at 3-3.
As neither team was able to put a run on the board in the next two innings, the game moved into extra frames.
That was when UC Davis exploded for four runs in the top of the eighth inning.
Rachel Miller, Megan Guzman and Jessica Gonzalez delivered consecutive RBI-singles to break the game open and give UC Davis a 7-3 lead.
With the win, UC Davis remains a perfect 5-0 in extra inning games this season.
The loss dropped the Matadors to 1-2 in the Big West while it improved the Aggies to 2-1 in league play.
UC Davis returns to action Tuesday evening when it plays at No. 9 Stanford.
GRACE SPRAGUE can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.
