Teams: UC Davis vs. San Jose State
Records: Aggies 18-27; Spartans 21-25
Where: SJSU Field – San Jose, Calif.
When: Today at 2 and 4 p.m.
Who to watch: Head coach Karen Yoder was looking for a spark in her offense. She found freshman Bianca Castillo.
In the last four games, the North High School product is batting .363 with 2 HR and 4 RBI as the Aggies’ starting right fielder.
“Right now Bianca is just really stepping up and taking advantage of her opportunity,” Yoder said.
Did you know? San Jose State just returned from overseas, where they took the diamond in Western Athletic Conference play against No. 20 Hawai’i in Honolulu. The Spartans were edged in all three games, getting outscored by the Rainbow Wahine 13-7.
Preview: In a quick two-game stint at San Jose State, the UC Davis softball team will look to continue building its overall record back to .500.
If Jessica Hancock keeps pitching the way she has been, the Aggies have to like their chances.
The junior ace grabbed her 12th and 13th victory of the season last weekend at Cal State Fullerton. For the year, the communication major is 13-15 with a 2.45 ERA and 179 strikeouts in 180.1 innings pitched.
Opposing Hancock in the circle will most likely be Deanna Mauer (11-8) or Roxanne Bejarano (6-11). Both Spartan pitchers hold a similar ERA of 3.42 and 3.44, respectively. Mauer leads the duo, though, in punch outs with 139 in 130.1 innings.
The Spartans have lost six of their last seven games and are quickly dropping out of WAC contention as they sit in second-to-last place this year with a 3-6 conference record.
Offensively, the Spartans are paced by junior catcher/outfielder Brittney McConnell. The Red Bluff, Calif. native is batting .326 and leads the team 9 HRs and 31 RBIs.
Including McConnell, seven batters on the team are batting above .275 and four above .310 for the year.
After averaging 1.2 runs in its prior 13 games, UC Davis’ offense showed some life last weekend. The Aggies scored four or more runs in each contest against Cal State Fullerton, winning the series 2-1
