UC Davis Athletics from Feb. 22 to Feb. 28
Men’s Basketball (10-17, 5-9 conf.)
UC Davis vs. UC Irvine (L, 62-61)
In a televised game on ESPN2, UC Davis and UC Irvine did not disappoint in front of a large crowd at the Pavilion. Down by 17 during the second half, the Aggies fought their way back with a second half shooting percentage of 60 percent, along with some tough defense.
Freshman guard Siler Schneider, who totaled 14 points, put the Aggies up with 14 seconds in the game, but UC Irvine made two free throws with two seconds left to give them the conference win.
Senior Josh Fox finished with 20 points and nine rebounds, one shy of a double double.
Check out a recap by Veronica Vargo here.
UC Davis hosts Hawai’i on March 3 at the Pavilion at 7 p.m., for their final home game of the season.
Women’s Basketball (16-11, 9-5 conf.)
UC Davis vs. Cal State Northridge (W, 57-50)
The women’s basketball team celebrated Senior Day and picked up another conference win against Cal State Northridge on Saturday, Feb. 27.
The Aggies did not hold a lead until the fourth quarter after going on an 8-0 run, which turned into a 15-2 run overall. Thereafter, the team never looked back and held on for the rest of the quarter for the win.
Senior forward Alyson Doherty scored an efficient 20 points on 9-12 shooting from the field in her final game at the Pavilion. Off the bench, freshman forward Morgan Bertsch totaled 15 points and added seven rebounds.
Sports reporter Iman Farahani covered the game.
The Ags will take on Long Beach State on the road on March 3.
Women’s Golf
Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate at Tulane (17th place finish)
The Aggies headed to New Orleans to take place in a tournament against 16 other schools starting on Sunday, Feb. 21, and the tournament concluded on Feb. 23 when the Aggies finished 17 overall.
Senior Andrea Wong played extremely well in the second and third day of play of the tournament to finish 21st overall with a score of 3 over.
The Aggies hit the greens once again on March 7 and 8, at the Bay Area Classic in Fairfax, against the University of San Francisco .
Women’s Waterpolo (11-8)
UC Davis vs. UC San Diego (W, 8-7)
UC Davis vs. Stanford (L, 12-5)
UC Davis vs. UC Irvine (L, 8-5)
UC Davis vs. Cal (L, 9-6)
In the Aggie’s first game of the UCI Invite, the team knocked off UC San Diego thanks to a hat trick by senior center Allyson Hansen. The Ags came out of the half strong scoring four goals in the third quarter while allowing none, for an 8-5 lead heading into the fourth. Junior center Carla Tocchini added two goals in the 4-0 run and the Ags held off the Tritons in the fourth for the win.
The team split the day with a loss to Stanford who dominated early on leading 9-2 at the half. After a tough first half, the Ags chances to come back were very slim and the game ended in defeat, 12-5. Junior utility Bryn Lutz totaled a team high for the game with two goals.
On the second day of play, the Aggies opened up against UC Irvine. Again, the Aggies fell to an early deficit against their opponent, as the Anteaters were up 6-2 at the half. The team could not get back into the game and never closed UC Irvine’s lead to less than three after the break. Lutz added two more goals in the opener to her tournament total.
The Ags played a much better first half in their second game on Sunday against the Cal Bears. Tocchini and Lutz scored for the Ags and the game was knotted at two apiece heading into the halftime break. But Cal came out firing with four unanswered goals in the third and the Aggies had little chance. Tocchini gave her best effort at a comeback, scoring two goals late in the fourth quarter for a total of three in the game.
The team will host the Aggie Challenge starting March 5 at 11 a.m. as they get set to redeem themselves against Cal.
Women’s Gymnastics
UC Davis vs. Alaska Anchorage
The Aggies took first in a dual meet against the visiting Seawolves with a season-high score of 195.225. Individually, the Aggies had first place winners in every event. The team scored 48.775 on the vault, 48.400 on bars, 48.950 on the balance beam and 49.100 on their floor routines.
Eclipsing 49 on the floor came in large part to freshman Yasmine Yektaparast, who posted a career-high, 9.900. Yektaparast is just the 11th gymnast in the school’s history to score 9.9 or higher and is the first freshman to do so since Tiffany Chan back in 2002.
Read a recap by sports reporter Julia Wu here.
The Aggies will head to San Jose State on March 6 at 2 p.m. in a triangular meet against the host Spartans and Brown University.
Track and Field
UC Davis at Chico State
The UC Davis track and field team headed up north to compete in the Chico Multi Event Classic.
Freshman Kyle Clancy had a great meet, as he made the school’s best decathlon score since 2003 with 6,710 points. Clancy placed first in the high jump at 6’7” and the 110 meter high hurdles with a time of 14.96 seconds. His total score is seventh best in school history.
Freshman Erin Beattie scored 3,954 points, earning her seventh place in the heptathlon. Beattie tied for first in the high jump at 5-5.75. Beattie finished third in the 800 with a time of 2:27.4
The Aggies will head to Berkeley on March 5 to compete in the Cal Opener.
Softball (7-7)
UC Davis vs. Iowa State (W, 6-4)
UC Davis vs. Idaho State (W, 2-1)
UC Davis vs. South Dakota (W, 11-10)
UC Davis vs. South Dakota (W, 11-1)
UC Davis vs. New Mexico (L, 4-3)
The Aggies picked up a win against Iowa State to open up the Aggie Invitational on Feb. 25. Junior pitcher Andrea Reynolds picked up her first win of the season, and junior outfielder Brianna Warner went 2-2 at the plate and knocked in a team-high two RBIs. The team led the game from start to finish.
Read a recap by George McConnell here.
On Friday, the Ags played their second game of the tournament in a close battle against Idaho State. Idaho State got the scoring started early with a bases loaded walk to bring their one and only run across the plate in the first. The walk was senior pitcher Leah Munden’s only flaw as she struck out five in seven innings for a complete game. The Aggies scored in the second and did not bring the winning run home until the bottom of the seventh. Senior utility player Kelly Zboralske hit a ball that was dove after by an Idaho State outfielder and rolled to the fence. Sophomore infielder Ashley Lotoszynski scored all the way from first to give the team its third straight win.
Looking to make it four in a row, the Aggies went down early to South Dakota, who put across six runs in the first. Through five innings, the Ags saw themselves down 7-3, but the team had a huge sixth inning, scoring five runs. Down 8-7, South Dakota put across a run in the top of the seventh and pushed the game into extra innings. South Dakota’s offense was still hot, adding two more runs in the top of the eighth. But the Aggies answered right back as junior utility player Taylor Peters hit a walk off double to drive in three runs for the team’s fourth straight victory.
Facing off against South Dakota again on Sunday, the official away team saw a much different result as the Aggies’ offense exploded. The team brought four runs across the plate in the first inning, two in the second and in the top of the fifth they added five more runs. By the bottom of the fifth, the Aggies were up 11-1 and the game was ended via mercy rule. Warner scored three of the team’s runs and sophomore outfielder Megan Salazar finished the game with five RBIs. The win brought the team’s winning streak to five games.
In the tournament finale, the team looked to keep the momentum going in a tough fight against New Mexico. Unfortunately, New Mexico was able to add two runs in the top of the seventh and close out the Ags to win, 4-3. The Aggies had a 3-0 lead after the first inning but the offense faded away thereafter and the Lobos capitalized in the top of seventh. The Lobos ended the Aggies’ win streak at five.
The Aggies will head across the Causeway to take on Sacramento State on March 2 at 3 p.m.
Baseball (3-6)
UC Davis vs. Stanford (L, 5-2)
UC Davis at Santa Clara (W, 8-0)
UC Davis vs. Saint Joseph’s (L, 10-8)
UC Davis vs. Utah Valley (W, 2-0)
UC Davis vs. Utah Valley (L, 10-8)
On Monday, Feb. 22, the Aggies faced off against the Stanford Cardinal at home. Freshman pitcher Chris Brown got the start against the Cardinal and took the loss after giving up two runs through four innings. The Aggies had early chances to score but failed to do so and their two runs came across the plate late in the seventh and eighth innings. The team had a chance to do more damage in the eighth but could not execute and bring runners in scoring position home. The Aggies’ runs came off a passed ball and a wild pitch as the team took the loss.
On Thursday, Feb. 25, the team headed to Santa Clara to compete in the Jack Gifford Memorial tournament. Junior pitcher Zach Stone took the mound for the Aggies and dominated in six innings of work. The junior right hander struck out nine batters and only allowed three hits. Stone was replaced by redshirt freshman Robert Garcia who pitched three innings and struck out six hitters. The two pitchers combined for a three hit shutout, while the offense had a season high 13 hits. Redshirt freshman third baseman Ryan Anderson hit his first career home run, a two run shot as he finished with three RBIs. Redshirt sophomore designated hitter Alex Aguiar finished the game with four hits, one run and an RBI.
Against St. Joseph’s, the Aggies were down for most of the game but brought three runs across the plate in the bottom of the seventh for a one run lead. Up 7-6 in the top of the eighth, the Aggies looked to hold on, but St. Joseph’s hit a three run homer for their third home run of the day and the lead, 9-7. The Aggies brought another run across to keep it close at 9-8, but the Hawks added another run as well for a final score of 10-8. Junior infielder Mason Novak went 3-for-4 at the plate while Anderson knocked in three more runs for the second straight day.
Facing off in their first game against Utah Valley, the Aggies were able to get their second shutout of the tournament. Senior pitcher Nat Hamby struckout seven batters in six and two thirds innings of work. Hamby’s first inning was a little shaky, but the senior got out of it and from then on it was smooth sailing. The Aggies scored their first run thanks to an error that advanced junior catcher Ignacio Diaz to third. Diaz then scored on a balk by Utah Valley’s pitcher. In the eighth, the Aggies brought another run across as Aguiar doubled to start the inning and scored off a sacrifice fly by senior outfielder Tanner Bily. Aguiar extended his hitting streak to four games in the contest.
On the last day of the tournament, the Aggies took on Utah Valley once again. The bats were alive in the Aggies’ 10-8 loss as the team rallied many times. The Ags were down all the way up until the bottom of the sixth, where they came alive for a five run inning. The team took the lead, 8-7, but Utah Valley was able to put across two runs to regain the advantage in the top of the seventh. The top of the eighth saw Utah Valley add another run and the Aggies could not find any more life. Junior infielder Jacob Thomas, junior outfielder Mark Cardinalli and Bily all totaled three hits respectively. Aguiar extended his hitting streak to five games and has reached base in all nine games the Aggies have played. Freshman outfielder Garrett Kelly drove in two RBIs on a double as he finished with two hits.
The Aggies will be back at home to take on the San Francisco Dons at Dobbins Stadium on March 1 at 2 p.m.
Written by Michael Martinez – sports@theaggie.org
