Teams: UC Davis vs. Cal State Fullerton
Records: Aggies 18-19 (3-6); Titans 18-17 (7-2)
Where: La Rue Field
When: Friday at 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.; Saturday at noon
Who to watch: Sophomore Elizabeth Guzman could provide the spark the Aggies need to get back to their winning ways.
Guzman leads UC Davis in both runs and RBI’s with 16 and 13, respectively. She is also tied for the team lead in batting average with .339.
Did you know? Last weekend marked a negative landmark for UC Davis.
Saturday’s 10-0 five-inning loss to Long Beach State was the first time in nearly two years that the Aggies succumbed to the mercy rule in Big West Conference play.
The last occurrence was on May 3, 2009 when UC Davis lost 12-0 to UC Santa Barbara in five innings.
Preview: The Aggies face another daunting task as they try to turn things around.
After squaring off against the Big West’s best pitching staff last week in Long Beach State, UC Davis will go up against Titan senior Ari Cervantes in this weekend’s series.
Cervantes is second in the Big West with a 2.47 ERA and is tied for fifth in the conference with 85 strikeouts.
Although the Aggies struggled to get hits off of 49er freshman Erin Jones-Wesley last weekend, they believe their experience going against Cervantes could be the difference this week.
“We’ve seen her a lot in the past, and our veterans know what she can do,” said coach Karen Yoder. “We have really good documentation on her, so we’ll be able to prepare by watching a lot of film.”
The Aggies are also encouraged to be at home. This factor could be key as the Aggies enter a distracting portion of the season.
“It’s big for us to be at home this week,” Yoder said, “not just because it means we get to play in front of our home crowd, but also because a lot of our players have midterms this week. It makes things a lot easier on them.”
Regardless of all other factors, however, Yoder believes this contest will come down to her team’s ability to get ready in advance.
“It’s all about preparation,” she said. “We need to be ready for a tough matchup this week, and I think we will be.”
– Trevor Cramer
