The Aggies persist after an opening-day loss to start the season strong
By (Theo Kayser) — sports@theaggie.org
On Feb. 14, the UC Davis Aggies’ baseball team began their season, hosting the Gonzaga University Bulldogs for a three-game series over the weekend. The Aggies walked away from the series with a win, capturing two victories across the three-game set.
Gonzaga began the series ahead, securing a convincing 6-1 victory in the first game. This was driven by a dominant pitching performance, including 11 strikeouts, as well as a series of defensive blunders from the Aggies, who had three errors in the game. These defensive mishaps proved costly in the fifth inning when two errors by UC Davis allowed for three runs to be scored by the Bulldogs.
The Aggies retaliated the next day, winning 3-1. UC Davis scored methodically, beginning in the fourth inning. Riley Acosta, a fourth-year computer science major, and Mark Wolbert, a fourth-year managerial economics major, both singled to begin the inning, then advanced into scoring position after a passed ball. From there, Korey Williams, a third-year undeclared major, hit a sacrifice fly ball to score for the Aggies. Wolbert was subsequently batted in, too, after a single from Alex Gouveia, a sixth-year human development major.
The Aggies extended their lead in the following inning, after Joey Wright, a third-year communications major, hit a Runs Batted In (RBI) single to bring the score to 3-0 in the fifth.
All the while, starting pitcher Noel Valdez, a fourth-year human development major, kept the Gonzaga offense at bay, tossing six shutout innings. Carter Delaney, a Master of Management graduate student, then followed suit, notching his first save of the season with two shutout innings of his own.
The rubber match, or final match of the series, saw UC Davis walking away victorious again, this time by a final score of 5-1.
The Aggies again jumped out to an early lead with more small-ball offensive tactics. At the bottom of the third inning, UC Davis drew three consecutive walks to load the bases with just one out. Williams then hit a single to drive in Ryan Lee, a third-year economics major, and Braydon Wooldridge, a third-year human development major, making the score 2-0.
After Gonzaga responded in the top of the fourth inning with a solo home run, UC Davis added a couple of insurance runs at the bottom of the inning. This came from Lee hitting a run-scoring single, knocking in Wolbert and Nick Leehey, a fourth-year communications major, after they had been bunted into scoring position.
Following a similar game script to the day prior, the Aggies coupled their offensive approach with a lights-out pitching performance, this time led by 5.1 stellar innings from Tyler Wood, a second-year managerial economics major. Four Aggie arms then combined for a scoreless end to the game, allowing just three baserunners in the final 3.2 frames.
After a first game that fell short on the run-prevention front, the Aggies shined on the pitching and defensive side to close the series. Across their two wins, UC Davis pitchers walked zero opposing batters and were rewarded for their strike-throwing abilities by their defense, who recorded zero errors.
Going forward, the Aggies will look to continue their strong start to the season as they face off against the University of the Pacific on Feb. 18, before their next series against Santa Clara University beginning Feb. 21.
By (Theo Kayser) — sports@theaggie.org
