Teams: UC Davis at No. 24 UC Irvine
Records: Aggies, 8-22 (2-4); Anteaters, 23-9, (6-3)
Where: Anteater Ballpark – Irvine, Calif.
When: Today at 6:30 p.m.; Friday at 6:30 p.m.; Saturday at 2 p.m.
Who to watch: For a rookie, Harry Stanwyck ain’t bad.
The Castro Valley, Calif. native has thrown for 15 innings on the young year, striking out nine.
In high school, the starting pitcher was a three-time All-Hayward Area Athletic League honoree, including first-team selection as a senior.
Standing at 6-foot-6, Stanwyck made a smooth transition into college baseball with his Aggie debut at Santa Clara on March 30, when he tossed four innings and recorded the win.
Tuesday at California, Stanwyck took charge on the mound with two pitches – the fastball and curve. He threw six innings, surrendering just three hits and walking none.
Did you know? Scott Lyman stood in for an injured Paul Politi at third base in Tuesday’s contest against Cal.
The status of Politi’s hand injury is unknown at this point.
Preview: With four 1-2-3 innings out of the six he pitched, Stanwyck exhibited control on the mound Tuesday afternoon against the Golden Bears.
“[Stanwyck] was outstanding yesterday,” said coach Rex Peters. “He would get ahead in the count and throw strikes. He had two pitches working well. He did a really good job through six innings.”
But due to his rookie status and his fresh arm, Peters said that after six, Stanwyck would be relieved of pitching duties.
“He didn’t go any further than that because he’s only been starting for a few weeks,” Peters said. “He reached his pitch limit. He’s good for about 50 to 60 pitches. He was very efficient and throwing a lot of strikes, and that’s why he was able to go six innings.”
The game went scoreless until the top of the seventh, when Scott Kalush knocked one to left field for his first career homerun.
With Stanwyck’s pitch count high, it was time to hand over pitching duties to the bullpen in the latter half of the frame. That’s when things took a turn for the worst as the Cal bats came alive for three hits and a 4-1 advantage.
With two outs in the top of the ninth and runners on second and third, UC Davis had a chance to cut the deficit with the tying run at the plate.
Scott Heylman, however, flew out to right field to end the game, and the Golden Bears beat the Aggies for the first time since 2009.
The Aggies were given very little wiggle room on offense. The Cal pitching staff recorded a combined six strikeouts and just one earned run. The Aggies stranded 11 runners on base.
UC Davis will look to shake off the loss when it travels to UC Irvine to take on the Anteaters.
The Aggies are used to facing top-notch opponents, but a Big West Conference matchup carries a different weight.
Nevertheless, Peters said his team will be ready.
“Conference opponents are always a little more important,” Peters said. “We have a three-game series against a team that’s had a pretty good season. But we’ve had success against tough teams before – namely Long Beach [State] a couple weekends ago.”
– Grace Sprague
