As the Aggies traveled to Tempe, Ariz. this weekend to compete in the Diamond Devil Invitational, the team brought with them the volatile weather Davis has been experiencing lately. Previously in the week, the Aggies already had to reschedule their March 6 matchup against the Stanford Cardinal for May 1 due to potentially harsh weather conditions.

On the first day of play in Tempe, after completing only the top of the first inning against the New Mexico State Aggies, severe rain and hail postponed the conclusion of their encounter until Saturday.

Yet even with severe weather issues threatening the schedule of play, the Aggies proved to be contenders against their tough schedule featuring four opponents all with records over .500, culminating in the Aggies’ biggest challenge against host, and number-three ranked Arizona State.

The team split the weekend with wins against tough Notre Dame and Pittsburgh teams, aided by the offensive brilliance of sophomore Amy Nunez who batted .600 on the weekend, coming up with clutch hits to record five RBI for the Aggies.

“It was a great platform for the Aggies to compete in, and facing the caliber of teams that we did I think challenged us and gave us good opportunities to give a variety of players the opportunity to step up and be challenged,” said coach Karen Yoder.

Saturday — UC Davis 2, New Mexico State 4

Once the rain from the Friday had finally subsided,the UC Davis Aggies (9-11) versus the New Mexico State Aggies (14-7) showdown resumed play again in the bottom of the first inning on Saturday.

A pitcher’s duel, featuring freshman Leah Munden for the Aggies, led both teams into the fourth inning with empty score columns. The Aggies were able to add their first run in the top of the fourth after a clutch triple off the bat of freshman Christa Castello, who ended up batting 3-3 on the game. After giving up two back-to-back solo home runs in the bottom of the fourth, however, Munden’s no-hitter would be shattered, resulting in a 2-1 lead for New Mexico State.

The New Mexico State Aggies again added another two runs to increase their lead to 4-1 after five innings. UC Davis would not challenge offensively again until the top of the seventh when a leadoff solo home run off the bat of Nunez gave the Aggies their final run in a 2-4 loss in their first game of the tournament.

Saturday — UC Davis 5, Notre Dame 4

Following their tough loss against New Mexico State, UC Davis (9-12) looked to their second matchup of the day against a strong Notre Dame team (13-5) with the hopes of adding their first win of the tournament.

In the bottom of the second, a solo home run for senior Kelly Schulze served as the first run posted by either team. With the assistance of two untimely errors and wild pitching by the Irish, the Aggies would add another four runs to increase their sizable lead to 5-0, maintaining this without challenge until the sixth.

After holding the fighting Irish hitless through five innings, sophomore Justine Vela’s final inning would feature four hits, including a two-run homer and a solo shot in the sixth inning to allow the Aggies to cling for life with a 5-4 lead over the Irish.

However, the final surge for Notre Dame would prove to be a little too late, as the final score resulted in a 5-4 victory for the Aggies, increasing their record to 10-12, as well as improving Vela’s record to 6-1 on the season.

Sunday — UC Davis 2, Pittsburgh 0

In the Aggies’ (10-12) first game of their final day of play against the Pittsburgh Panthers (9-8), Vela proved once again to be a winning force for the Aggies, pitching a complete game shutout while allowing only one hit and retiring 14 to record her seventh win on the season to make the Aggies’ overall record 11-12.

Striking out the first two batters of the game swinging, Vela set the tone for the rest of the game early. In five out of the seven innings she pitched, Vela retired two or more batters, highlighted by a second inning where she struck out the side.

The Aggies’ offense recorded one run in the first off a timely RBI single by Nunez, and then added another to increase their lead to 2-0 in the fifth with a double by sophomore Kayla Tyler. Both Nunez and Tyler led the Aggies’ offense for the game, recording an RBI each while hitting 2-3.

Vela’s complete dominance in the pitcher’s circle aided the Aggies in their second win for the weekend.

“I know that our entire club and our entire coaching staff and the university is just blessed to have her, and I think that she is just a great competitor,” Yoder said. “She has a wide variety of pitches and continues to work on her game, and I think that she is truly coming together at the right part of the season. We are excited for what she is going to do in conference.”

Sunday — UC Davis 3, Arizona State 12 (5 innings)

In the final matchup of the tournament for the Aggies (11-12), formidable opponent Arizona State (23-1) would serve as the final opponent standing in the Aggies’ way from a solid weekend of play. Although the Sun Devil’s offensive brilliance would prove to be too much for the Aggies to overcome, UC Davis displayed admirable moments in their loss against the tournament host.

Nunez proved once again to be a powerful force for the Aggies’ offense, picking up all three RBI for the game with a single in the first, followed by a two-run home run in the third.

Despite the Aggies’ attempts to challenge Arizona State, the Sun Devils demonstrated why they are the number-three ranked team in the nation, scoring in four out of the five innings played, highlighted by a seven-run third which locked down the win.

The Aggies were not without opportunities in scoring position, however, as they stranded six on base through five innings. With the loss, the Aggies recorded their second loss for the tournament, moving their overall record to 11-13, while the Sun Devils remained with only one loss on the season, improving theirs to 24-1.

The Aggies’ weekend ahead will feature a double-header against Cal State Bakersfield on Saturday, as UC Davis looks for redemption from their 2-0 loss earlier in the season to the Roadrunners at the Stanford Invitational. Beginning on March 29, the Aggies will begin conference play as they travel to Hawai’i for a two-game series.

ALLI KOPAS can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.

The Aggies continue to struggle as they faced off against Cal State Bakersfield over the weekend. They lost the first two games to the Roadrunners and have lost three straight games.

UC Davis currently has a record of 6-9 and has dropped eight of its last 10 games after starting the season 4-1.

Tuesday — UC Davis 0, Sacramento State 14

Sacramento State jumped out early as it scored nine runs in the first three innings in Dobbins Stadium. The Hornets improved to 7-5 with the win.

Junior Alex Sachs started the game for the Aggies and pitched into the third until he was relieved. He struggled against the bats of the Hornets, giving up nine hits and seven runs.

In the ninth inning, the Hornets added five more runs, capped off by freshman Nathan Lukes’ two-run home run.

The starter for Sacramento State, junior Hunter Greenwood, allowed just one hit in five innings of work and struck out one. Three pitchers relieved him to complete the game as the Aggie batters could only muster up five hits against the pitching staff.

Coach Matt Vaughn believes that right now is a good time in the season to make a surge to get over the .500 mark.

“We need to have a good effort on Friday and continue to get better playing the game. We are hovering around .500 and have to find a way to put together consistent efforts,” he said.

Friday — UC Davis 0, CSU Bakersfield 11

The runs came in bunches for the Roadrunners on Friday, too many for the Aggies to handle. They scored five runs in the third and fifth innings to accumulate most of their runs.

Junior Harry Stanwyck started the game for the Aggies and pitched four innings and allowed five runs, three earned, on six hits. Freshman reliever Spencer Henderson pitched an inning and allowed five runs, a walk and struck out one.

Bakersfield State accumulated 15 hits and senior Dylan Christensen had five of them. In the third inning, he hit an RBI-double down the left field line. He later capped off his day by hitting a three-run homer in the fifth inning to finish with four RBI.

Senior Jeff McKenzie threw an impressive complete game and his ERA now sits at 1.93. On 119 pitches, he allowed three walks and struck out four.

Junior Nick Lynch had two hits and so did junior Steven Patterson. The Aggies finished with eight hits on the day, but struggled to get hits in key scoring situations.

Saturday — UC Davis 5, CSU Bakersfield 12

The Roadrunners started the scoring in the first inning, but the Aggies answered right back with two runs of their own.

In the bottom half of the first, Patterson singled in a run and senior Paul Politi scored on an error, giving UC Davis a 2-1 advantage.

However, in the third inning, the Roadrunners scored five runs and took control of the game. Junior Cael Brockmeyer had four hits on the day, which included a two-run home run to left field in the third. Christensen added a sacrifice fly and the Roadrunners added two more RBI singles to cap off the inning.

Sophomore Tino Lipson drove in a run on an RBI single in the fourth. Senior Mike Mazzara drove in two runs in the seventh inning on a double.

Sophomore Spencer Koopmans pitched two innings to start the game for the Aggies and allowed three runs. Sophomore Robert Parucha and freshman Zach Williams pitched in relief and both allowed four runs.

Brockmeyer homered again in the seventh to leadoff the inning, as the Roadrunners added two more runs in the frame on three hits.

Senior Scott Brattvet started the game for CSU Bakersfield and pitched well. He pitched six and one-third innings and allowed five runs on nine hits. He walked four batters and did not strike out anyone.

The Aggies’ offense, which has struggled as of late, generated 10 hits, with Politi and Patterson each having two.

UC Davis will finish playing on Sunday against Cal State Bakersfield before returning to action against Nevada at home on Tuesday.

LUKE BAE can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.

The Aggies wrapped up their season at home on Senior Night. Unfortunately, the women’s basketball team couldn’t send seniors Blair Shinoda and Cortney French off with a win in their final home game of their career.

The Aggies managed to finish the season 12-17 overall and 7-11 in conference, good enough for the seventh seed in the playoffs. They head down to the Bren Events Center in Irvine, Calif. this week for the first round of playoffs.

The crowd at the Pavilion was filled with friends, family and fans alike who wished to cheer on Shinoda and French to victory. However, this did not happen, as Pacific managed to close out a tightly contested 59-54 game.

The first-place Tigers eventually managed to gain control with about six minutes left in the game. The Aggies played hard, but simply could not find the offensive spark to win the game. UC Davis — normally fairly reliable from beyond the arc — struggled to make anything, shooting a tough 4-19 from three-point land.

Pacific started out sluggish and sloppy, unable to capitalize on some good looks at the basket early on. This allowed UC Davis to jump to a 16-8 lead with 12:14 to go in the first half. However, from there the Tigers unleashed a full-court press which hounded the Aggies all night. Pacific’s pressure forced many turnovers and took a lot of time off the clock all game long.

That being said, the Aggies managed to enter into halftime tied at 32-32. The main reason that UC Davis kept close to Pacific was the superb play of freshman guard Molly Greubel. Greubel had a career night in her first meeting with the Tigers back in early January. This game was no different, as she scored seven of her 16 points in the first half. Greubel also displayed awareness and good hands as she racked up four first-half rebounds.

“She’s a competitor and Pacific is the number-one team in our conference,” said head coach Jennifer Gross. “She is tenacious, and she does not back down from anyone.”

Despite Greubel’s gritty game, UC Davis could not keep up with the Tigers, in large part due to the Aggies’ shooting struggles. French, the Aggies’ three-point sniper, could not get a bucket to drop, as she was 0-5 from beyond the arc. Sophomore Sydnee Fipps also struggled from beyond the arc, going 1-4.

While the Aggies’ shooting was off, they still did the little things to keep the game close, especially the seniors. Shinoda’s leadership was evident in the small surge UC Davis had in the second half. Her amazing court vision and passing skills led to some easy layups for the Aggies. French’s hustle and determination was evident in the way she rebounded and dove for loose balls.

“What she did tonight is what she did her whole career,” Gross said. “She is absolutely the glue that holds this team together.”

As for French, the Aggies’ three-point specialist, Gross had only positive things to say.

“With Cortney, we said it before the game. If you could pick out every characteristic that goes with Aggie pride, that is who she is,” Gross said. “It is always about helping other people and what she can do for her teammates.”

However in the end, the Aggies’ shooting slump was just too much for them to overcome. The Tigers eventually widened their lead to six points, from a jumper by senior Brianna Johnson, with only 6:14 left in the game. From there UC Davis just could not find the offensive spark to bring them back into the game.

The Aggies worked hard, and the seniors showcased their work ethic and determination in front of the home crowd for the last time in their careers. It unfortunately ended in a loss, but the Aggies do not have time to dwell on it. They head to Irvine to play Cal State Northridge in the first round of conference playoffs on Tuesday.

— Kenneth Ling