Event: Stanford Nike Invitational
Records: Aggies, 4-4
Where: Boyd and Jill Smith Family Stadium – Palo Alto, Calif.
When: Friday through Sunday, all day
Who to watch: Stanford is averaging over seven runs a game and Kentucky’s Brittany Cervantes has knocked in 13 runs, averaging a 1.000 slugging percentage.
To stop the Wildcats and Cardinal, UC Davis will look to its pitching – which has recently been dominant over the last several games. Sophomore Jessica Thweatt already has three wins in the young season, including two complete games where she’s only given up one run each.
The native of Sacramento has improved much of her game since last season. As a freshman, Thweatt appeared in only six games, finishing with a 14.44 earned run average – in 2011 Thweatt, is averaging only a 4.82 ERA. Omitting a six-run outting against Hawaii where Thweatt only recorded one out, her ERA is 2.80.
Did you know? The Cardinal is the only team to have knocked off No. 10 Hawai’i – the same team that handed the Aggies two losses. While UC Davis’ all-time record against Colorado State and North Dakota State is 3-1 and 2-1, respectively, this will be the first time that the Memphis Tigers and Aggies square off.
Preview: It’s a real tale of two different types of teams.
The Colorado State Rams and the North Dakota State Bison are struggling just to remain competitive. Neither team has put together a decent winning streak this season, with Colorado State struggling to put any type of offense together. The Rams are currently on a six game losing streak.
Kentucky and No. 18 Stanford have gotten off to hot starts.
The Wildcats, at 8-2, are experiencing the best start in school history and are also receiving votes in the USA Today coaches poll.
Stanford is on a tear as a result of great offense and pitching. The Cardinal have scored 71 runs but have only surrendered 32 in 10 games. Stanford is coming in hot, having upset No. 3 Tennessee earlier in the week.
If UC Davis wants to show that its ready to be one of the Big West Conference’s top teams, competing at a high level against some quality opponents is the way to start.
– Matt Wang
