March 25, 2006
UC Davis 4, Santa Clara 0
Illinois 7, UC Davis 4
STANFORD, Calif. - Lindsay Tognetti threw a two-hit shutout to help lead UC Davis to a split of its two games Saturday on the second day of action at the Stanford Invitational II. The Aggies defeated Santa Clara, 4-0, early in the afternoon before falling to Illinois, 7-4, in the evening. Tognetti struck out 11 in a dominating performance against SCU. At the plate, Sarah O'Neill went 4-for-7 on the day with a double and four RBIs. Nikki Sheldon also collected four hits overall.
Against Santa Clara, the Aggies wasted little time taking the lead. In the bottom of the first, Megan De La Hoya was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. After a sacrifice bunt by Julie Stauder, Nikki Sheldon singled to put runners at first and third with one out. With two outs and runners at first and second, O'Neill doubled to right field to drive in Sheldon with the game's first run.
UC Davis added to its 1-0 lead in the third. Stauder and Sheldon had consecutive singles to lead things off. Ashley Johnson, who went 3-for-6 on the day, followed with an RBI-single to make it 2-0. With one out, O'Neill drove in her second run of the game with a single to left field. That put the Aggies up 3-0 heading to the fourth inning. In the bottom of the fourth, De La Hoya added an RBI-single to give UC Davis a 4-0 lead.
Meanwhile, Tognetti was dominant from start to finish. Aside from allowing a double to the second batter she faced, the junior allowed just one more hit the rest of the way while striking out 11 Broncos. The only significant scoring threat she faced came in the third when an error helped put runners at second and third with one out. Tognetti got out of the jam with a foul out and line out. Santa Clara managed to put just three runners on base, collectively, in the final four innings.
With the win, Tognetti improved to 4-3 on the year. It was her first complete-game shutout of the season. The 11 strikeouts were the second-most for her this season. She fanned 13, March 3, against No. 3 Tennessee.
In the later game, Illinois scored three runs in the first inning and took that 3-0 lead into the third. In the top of the third, Belinda Paine led off with a single. With two outs, Sheldon doubled to drive in Paine and make it 3-1.
Illinois (11-14) added a run in the third and another in the fifth before scoring twice in the sixth to take a 7-1 lead into the seventh.
UC Davis (9-16) made the most of its final at bat. With one out and the bases loaded, Johnson hit a sacrifice fly to drive in De La Hoya and make it 7-2. O'Neill followed with a two-run single, drawing UC Davis within 7-4. However, that was as close as the Aggies would get.
UC Davis concludes the tournament Sunday with a doubleheader against host Stanford. The Cardinal (24-4) is ranked No. 5 in the latest USA Today/NFCA Top-25. The first game is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
