The UC Davis softball team capped the Aggie Stampede with a 2-0 victory over Nevada, the lone win in the weekend tournament.
The Aggies squeezed in two and a half games on Sunday, finishing a halted game from the previous day.
UC Davis opens the season 1-4 after the first weekend of action.
Friday — Loyola Marymount University 5, UC Davis 3
The softball team had its home opener spoiled thanks to a five-run third inning for Loyola Marymount, who hung on for the win.
Rachel Miller put the Aggies back in the game with a two-run home run in the fourth, but couldn’t muster up any offense after that. UC Davis scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the second, scoring on an RBI double by Chandler Wagner.
“I think we need to sharpen up a few things defensively but hopefully we got the jitters out of the way,” said head coach Karen Yoder. “We need to do a better job at taking advantage of runners in scoring position and fixing those defensive miscues.”
Jessica Thweatt started for the UC Davis and threw 2 1/3 innings. She escaped some trouble in the top of the second after the Aggies committed two errors. Justine Vela made her UC Davis debut, shutting out the Lions on one hit in 4 1/3 innings of relief.
Saturday — Loyola Marymount 5, UC Davis 1; Nevada 6, UC Davis 3 (finished Sunday)
UC Davis jumped out to an early one-run lead in the bottom of the third inning, but Loyola Marymount used a four-run sixth inning to break free. Danielle Smith was 3 for 3 and Sam Fischer had a three-run homer to help the Lions win for the second time in as many days against the Aggies.
Wagner picked up the lone RBI, knocking in Megan Guzman after she doubled. Vela earned her first collegiate start and was practically flawless through five innings, allowing only two hits.
After reaching a 3-1 advantage Saturday evening over Nevada, the game was halted due to darkness and resumed play early Sunday morning.
The Aggies couldn’t carry over the momentum, as the Wolf Pack battled back for a 6-3 victory. Another big inning was UC Davis’ undoing, as a four-run sixth put Nevada in front.
The Aggies rallied in the bottom half of the inning, loading the bases with just one out, but couldn’t get that clutch hit and Nevada escaped unscathed.
Sunday — Boise State 3, UC Davis 0; UC Davis 2, Nevada 0
UC Davis managed just three hits in its first shutout loss of the season.
The Aggies seemed a bit sluggish after their early morning game. The Broncos posted two runs on three hits in the fourth inning to break open the scoring.
UC Davis struggled to get anything going at the plate, putting just one runner in scoring position and stranding four runners on base for the game. Vela had a tough-luck loss in a complete game for the Aggies.
In the final game of the Aggie Stampede, UC Davis manufactured two early runs that proved to be the difference in the win over Nevada.
After blowing the lead in the early game, Thweatt led the Aggies in their rematch with the Wolf Pack.
“I’m proud of the girls and how they battled,” said Yoder. “We were in every game this weekend and we learned a lot about the strengths and weaknesses of our team.”
Thweatt was solid through five, but Nevada loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth inning. Vela came in and struck out the last batter of the inning and retired the Wolf Pack in order in the seventh. Kelly Shulze posted two hits with an RBI and scored on Kylie Fan’s RBI.
UC Davis will stay home this week, hosting Stanford on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m.
RUSSELL EISENMAN can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.
