Teams: UC Davis at Long Beach State
Records: Aggies, 0-3 (5-18); Dirtbags, 2-1 (14-12)
Where: Blair Field – Long Beach, Calif.
When: Friday at 6:30 p.m.; Saturday at 5:30 p.m.; Sunday at 1 p.m.
Who to watch: Aggie pitcher Dayne Quist proved to be a highlight last weekend in No. 12 Cal State Fullerton’s gloomy sweep of UC Davis.
The junior out of Santa Cruz, Calif. threw seven and a third innings on Sunday, striking out six and walking just one.
At the end of the weekend, coach Rex Peters applauded the work of starting pitchers Quist and Anthony Kupbens for their 15 combined innings of “great” pitching.
In recognizing their efforts, Peters emphasized Quist’s performance.
“We had a great start out of [Quist], and he threw well to give us a chance to win,” Peters said. “We couldn’t get a hit to break the game open and get a lead, but he pitched very well.”
Did you know? After last weekend’s losses to the Titans, Peters said his team has strugglesd to overcome adversity.
In fact, of the 13 games in which an opponent has been first to put a run on the board, UC Davis has only managed to win one – against San Francisco on Feb. 26.
Preview: For UC Davis to see the win column in Big West Conference action, some work needs to be done.
With no mid-week games to break the Aggies’ skid, they will have to wait until Friday tomorrow night when they play the Dirtbags.
With a dissatisfied locker room, UC Davis will take on a Dirtbag offense that has had some frustration of its own.
Long Beach State has recorded a league-high 208 strikeouts on the year. Additionally, Long Beach State sits at the bottom of the Big West committing the most errors (37) on the season.
In last year’s three-game home series, the Aggies took two of three from the Dirtbags, in spite of getting out-hit 34 to 20, collectively.
Quist threw for eight and a third innings in game one of that series, finishing the 3-2 victory with seven strikeouts.
In order to repeat that sort of performance on the road this year, UC Davis will need to capitalize at the plate with runners in scoring position.
“We need to continue to get solid starts from our pitchers and hopefully we can get some key hits with guys on base,” Peters said.
According to Peters, if the Aggies get work done with the bats, they will have everything they’ll need to knock off the Dirtbags.
“We have enough ability to go down there and win a game or two,” Peters said. “We need to get big hits in key situations.”
– Grace Sprague
