Teams: UC Davis vs. UC Santa Barbara
Records: Aggies 16-30 (8-10), Gauchos 21-24 (6-12)
Where: Dobbins Stadium
When: Friday at 2:30 p.m.; Saturday at 1 p.m.; Sunday at 1 p.m.
Who to watch: Senior lefty Scott Chew received UC Davis’ first Big West Pitcher of the Week award of the 2011 campaign for his stellar outing against Santa Clara last Wednesday.
In his first start of the 2011 season, the Milpitas, Calif. native used just 92 pitches to shut out the Broncos, surrendering only four hits in a complete-game performance.
Chew faced just one batter over the minimum and the only multiple-base hit he allowed was a double in the top of the ninth inning.
Did you know? Members of the UC Davis baseball team are participating in what they call “Mustache May,” where every player grows some under-the-nose facial hair to rally for late-season victories.
Preview: With seven games left on the schedule, the Aggies will look for a series win, beginning Friday afternoon against the Gauchos.
To get into the win column, UC Davis will simply need to play the right lineup, according to coach Rex Peters.
“We’re just trying to find guys that will compete hard,” Peters said after last weekend’s losses to Cal Poly. “It’s something we’ve been struggling with all year. We’re trying to find the right combination of guys who will be willing to compete for it.”
UC Santa Barbara will be coming off three losses to UC Irvine in last weekend’s series.
The last time the Aggies faced the Gauchos was just under one year ago, when UC Davis came alive at the plate for a total of 42 hits on the series sweep. The Aggies outscored the Gauchos 26-19 in the three games.
UC Davis took the final 9-8 win when UC Santa Barbara left-handed pitcher Connor Whalen struggled through the top of the 10th inning.
Whalen first walked Seth Batty, and, with two outs, hit Justin Schafer and walked Scott Heylman to load the bases.
Whalen then hit David Popkins to bring in Seth Batty for what would be the deciding run.
If the Aggies put forth a similar offensive effort to last year’s series against the Gauchos and maintain sound defense, they won’t have to rely on such luck to get around the base paths.
After Tuesday’s game was postponed due to inclement weather, the Aggies hosted the No. 25 California Golden Bears Wednesday afternoon. UC Davis fell to nationally ranked Cal 8-3, getting outhit 13-4.
– Grace Sprague
