Sports

Solid pitching,quality at-bats,late-inning heroics – the young UC Davis baseball team ended its season-opening weekend with all the look of last year’s playoff team. The Aggies bounced back from a pair of losses on Friday and Saturday by picking up an extra-inning road win on Sunday against No.12UCLA.

The Aggies were hot. They had won four in a rowand seven of their last eight.The newly-minted,seventh-ranked team in the country was looking to keep their hot streak alive as they traveled to acompetitiveIrvine Invitational that boasted the top15teams in the country.

Softball The UC Davis softball team continued its strong start to the season with a doubleheader sweep at St. Mary’s on Saturday. The Aggies won the first game 1-0 behind a complete-game shutout by Jessica Hancock.

The UC Davis faithful have had a chance to see the kind of excitement that can come with competing in the Big West Conference. In the fall,it was the nationally ranked men’s soccer team advancing through a competitive conference schedule to earn aberthin the NCAA Tournament.

Everyone knows that a good matchup between rivals should be close.Someone should have reminded the Aggies.Again. After handling Seattle Pacific with ease on Feb.6,the Aggies had no trouble defeating the Falcons once again,posting a season-high score en route to a convincing192.350-186.975win at the Pavilion on Friday night.

Team tied for third in Big West with Pacific Now,years removed from when their careers ended,look at what they helped create. With its Wednesday win over Cal Poly,UC Davis clinched a berth to next month’s Big West Conference Tournament in Anaheim.It will be the program’s first postseason appearance since the university began a four-year transition from Division II to Division I in2003.

UC Davis was hot after putting up dominating efforts on the road last weekend against UC Irvine and Cal State Fullerton. Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara extinguished that fire.

Event:Fresno State Lexus Classic Where:Copper RiverCountry Club –Fresno,Calif. When:Today and tomorrow; all day Who to watch:Sophomore Alice Kim showed great potential while leading the Aggies during the fall season.

I’ll be honest. When I asked you guys to send me questions to answer with this space, there were certain kinds of queries I was expecting to get.

Teams:UC Davis vs.No.12UCLA Records:Aggies,0-0; Bruins,0-0 Where:Jackie Robinson Stadium – Los Angeles,Calif. When:Friday at6p.m.; Saturday at2p.m.; Sunday at1p.m. Who to watch:There are few familiar faces on the UC Davis pitching staff this season,and junior Andy Suiter is one of them.

Teams:UC Davis vs.Seattle Pacific Where:The Pavilion When:Friday at7p.m. Who to watch:Faced with the toughest competition of the season by far,freshman Erika Van Dyke – who had an average of9.675on floor until Sunday – responded by posting a career-high9.800against Stanford and Oregon State.

Event:ESPNU BracketBusters Teams:UC Davis vs.Fresno State Records:Aggies,12-14; Bulldogs,10-16 Where:The Pavilion When:Saturday at7p.m. Who to watch:Mark Payne should have a good taste in his mouth from the last time UC Davis played a team outside its conference.