Athletics action between Feb. 23 and March 1
Men’s Baseball (8-4-1):
UC Davis vs. Eastern Michigan (W, L)
UC Davis @ Portland (L, W, W)
After an up-and-down series against Gonzaga, the Aggies kept their homestand going with two straight games against Eastern Michigan. The first game, a 5-4 victory, was a nail-biter as the Aggies tied up the game with a well-timed run in the eighth inning before finishing off the game with a walk-off hit by senior Nick Lynch. The second game was similarly close, but Eastern Michigan was the team to rally as they scored two in the final two innings to win 4-2.
After seven straight games at home, the Aggies headed on the road to face Portland. UC Davis lost big in the first game, falling 5-2, but were able to redeem themselves with a dominant 6-1 win in the second game. In that contest, the Aggies scored four runs in a decisive fifth inning and held on to win 6-1. The final game against Portland went to extra innings, with the Aggies wrapping up the win with two runs in the 10th. UC Davis will now face University of Nevada, Reno for a single game before heading to Washington to take on Seattle University.
Men’s Basketball (22-5):
UC Davis @ UC Santa Barbara (L, 60-74)
UC Davis @ Cal Poly (W, 66-56)
With seven straight victories in tow, the Aggies headed down to the Central Coast to take on UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly. UC Davis began the first game, against the Gauchos, with solid play and took their host to halftime with the score tied. In the second half, however, the Aggies defense faltered and UC Santa Barbara was able to put up 44 points en route to a 14 point victory. Senior forward Alan Williams had 15 points and 16 rebounds for UCSB after a multi-game hiatus due to injury. Senior guard Corey Hawkins had 18 points for the Aggies.
After a tough road loss, the Aggies rebounded nicely with a 66-56 victory over Cal Poly, despite Hawkins struggling to finish with just 10 points on 4-13 shooting. Senior forward Josh Ritchart was strong, finishing with 19 points on 12 shots while senior guard Avery Johnson added 13. The Aggies return home for their final two games of the regular season, needing just one win to wrap up a No. 1 seed in the Big West Tournament.
Women’s Basketball (13-13):
UC DAVIS vs. Cal Poly (L, 68-52)
UC Davis vs. UC Santa Barbara (L, 57-52)
After four straight victories to claim second place in Big West, the Aggies have now lost three games in a row. UC Davis played their last two at home, but were unable to capitalize on home court advantage and lost both. The Aggies scored only 22 points in the first half against Cal Poly, but were able to pull within five briefly before the Mustangs took off on a scoring spree. Despite scoring 30 in the second half, UC Davis was held to 26.9 percent shooting and turned the ball over 17 times.
Before the game against UC Santa Barbara, three Aggies were announced for senior night. Senior guards Kelsey Harris and Brianna Salvatore as well as senior forward Sydnee Fipps each played their last games at the Pavilion after excellent careers with the team. Fipps scored a team high 13 points in the game, but poor shooting and turnovers once again plagued UC Davis who scored just 17 in the first half. The Aggies have two more games before the Big West Tournament which begins on March 10.
Women’s Golf:
UC Irvine Invitational (7th out of 13)
After 36 holes of golf in one day, UC Davis women’s golf found themselves in sixth place in a crowded, talented field. Senior Beverly Vatananagulkit and sophomore Paige Lee finished the day tied for 15th place, each ending one over par. Vatananagulkit scored birdies on her first two holes, adding a third on the par-3 11th hole.
Vatananagulkit struggled over the final 18 holes, scoring a 7-over 79 on her way to a 33rd place finish. Lee played a bit stronger, but still dropped to 21st after shooting a 3-over 75. Only junior Betty Chen was able to finish the final day on par after hitting two birdies. The poor play of the final day did not have too much of an impact on the team as they dropped just one spot to a seventh place finish.
Gymnastics:
UC Davis vs. Sacramento State and Central Michigan (W, 194.725)
Before the meet even began, the gymnastics team and Aggies fans were given a reminder of how great the California weather is after the Iowa State Hawkeyes were forced to drop out due to weather-related travel issues.
The Aggies were phenomenal at home, breaking the team vault record for the second week in a row. Senior Tiana Montell tied the school record in the vault with a 9.900. The team finished well in every area, except for the balance beam where they were forced to count a fall. Still, the Aggies finished with a comfortable victory on the backs of freshman Alexis Brown and Montell who finished first and second all-around, respectively.
Softball (6-10):
San Diego Classic I (W, L, L, W)
The Aggies headed to warmer weather to play in the San Diego Classic I and found immediate success, scoring a 1-0 victory over Iowa State. Junior pitcher Leah Munden threw a complete game shutout, the second of her career, and the team was able to hold on to the one run lead it found in the second inning.
The days shutout continued for one inning of the second game against Grand Canyon, but was promptly ended as the Aggies allowed 10 runs in the second. Outside of that inning, UC Davis was able to outscore their opponent 4-2, but they could not overcome the 15 hits allowed in the game. The team will return home to face Stanford on March 4.
Women’s Tennis (4-8):
UC Davis vs. Long Beach State (L, 5-2)
UC Davis vs. UC Riverside (W, 6-1)
After holding just one home match out of the first 12, the Aggies are now embarking on 11 out of 12 at UC Davis. The team did not play well in their first home match, losing 5-2 against No. 46 Long Beach State. Sophomore Frederique Sleiffer and freshman Kristy Jorgensen won their singles matches for the sole Aggies points for the day.
UC Davis found redemption against UC Riverside as they won 6-1, including a sweep of doubles matches. The only point captured by UCR was the No. 1 singles spot. The Aggies will play at home on March 7 and 8 before taking on Santa Clara University away for their last road-match.
Track and Field:
Chico Multi Classic
With decathletes and heptathletes in Chico, the outdoor track and field season has officially commenced. A number of Aggies finished strongly in Chico, despite their not being official team scoring for the event. Junior Tori Edwards finished with 4,621 points in the heptathlon to jump to fourth all-time in the UC Davis records book while senior Murphy Nicholson moved to eighth. Edwards led all Aggies with a third place finish individually.
For the decathletes, freshman Drake Foote led all Aggies with a sixth place finish. Two other UC Davis athletes, sophomores Shane Ryan and Hawk Hammer also finished in the top-10 after winning individual events. The Aggies will visit Cal on March 7 before heading home for the Aggie Open on March 14.
Graphic by CA Aggie Graphic Design Team
