Feb. 16, 2006
UC Davis 7, Utah State 5
BYU 11, UC Davis 0 (5)
LAS VEGAS, Nev. - UC Davis split its two games Thursday on the first day of action at the UNLV Louisville Slugger Desert Classic in Las Vegas. Sophomore Ashley Johnson homered twice as UC Davis outlasted Utah State, 7-5, in the first game. The Aggies then fell to BYU, 11-0, in five innings. Johnson went 2-for-3 with three RBIs against Utah State. Megan De La Hoya and Nikki Sheldon also had multiple-hit games while Lindsay Tognetti picked up the win in relief.
Against Utah State, UC Davis (3-3) got things started in the bottom of the first as De La Hoya led off with an infield single. With one out, Johnson homered to right center field to put UC Davis on top 2-0. Utah State (1-6) came back with two runs in the top of the second to tie the game at 2-2.
In the bottom of the second, UC Davis regained the lead when Jessica Hancock scored on a two-out fielding error. Utah State tied the game with a run in the top of the third before UC Davis exploded for three runs in the bottom of the inning.
Belinda Paine led off the third with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. With one out, Sarah O'Neill walked to put runners on first and third which set up an RBI-single by Sheldon to put UC Davis up 4-3. With two outs, Christina Grimm came through with a two-run single to make it 6-3.
After Jeanine Hernandez led off the fifth with a home run to pull Utah State within 6-4, Johnson answered in the bottom of the fifth with a lead-off homer of her own to push the lead back to three runs.
Utah State made one last attempt to erase the deficit when it scored a run in the sixth and had runners on second and third with two outs. Tognetti closed the door, fanning Hernandez to end the inning. Tognetti came back in the seventh to strike out the side.
For the game, Tognetti struck out nine in five innings of work, allowing just one hit. She walked one and gave up just one earned run. The win improved her to 2-1 on the year. At the plate, the Aggies collected a season-high 10 hits.
In the second game, BYU (5-1) scored in all four innings it came to bat. The Cougars' biggest innings were the second and the third when they plated four runs each time. BYU outhit UC Davis 13-2. Stacey Benzing (0-1) suffered the loss for the Aggies.
UC Davis next faces UTEP Friday in its only game of the day. The Aggies will then take on Portland State and UNLV on Saturday to conclude their play at the tournament.
