April 14, 2006
UC Davis 2, UC Santa Barbara 1 (Game 1)
UC Santa Barbara 6, UC Davis 4 (Game 2)
DAVIS, Calif. - UC Davis split a doubleheader with UC Santa Barbara Friday afternoon at La Rue Field. The Aggies defeated the Gauchos, 2-1, in the first game behind a complete-game victory from Lindsay Tognetti. In the second game, the Aggies battled back from an early 6-0 deficit on their way to a 6-4 defeat. Sarah O'Neill went 3-for-5 on the day with two RBIs while Megan De La Hoya and Ashley Johnson collected two hits each. The games began a three-game series between the teams, which concludes on Saturday.
UC Santa Barbara (17-14) broke out on top in the second inning of game one. With two outs and runners at first and second, a double steal followed by a throwing error allowed UCSB to score an unearned run despite not posting a hit in the frame.
UC Davis (13-24) tied the game in the bottom of the second. With one out, Roxanne Hannan and O'Neill delivered back-to-back singles. After a foul out that advanced Hannan to third, O'Neill stole second and Hannan came home on the throw to tie the game at 1-1.
In the fourth, O'Neill laced a one-out single down the left field line to drive in Johnson, putting the Aggies up 2-1 heading into the fifth inning.
The lead would prove to be enough for Tognetti who retired 12 of the last 13 batters she faced from the fourth inning on. The only blemish was a two-out single by Jessica Hejna in the fifth. Tognetti (6-8) scattered three hits and struck out five on her way to her second straight complete-game victory.
UC Davis outhit UC Santa Barbara, 5-3, in the first game.
UCSB's Danielle Meyers had what turned out to be the big hit of the second game as she powered a three-run homer with two outs over the right field fence to put the Gauchos up 3-0 in the second inning. UCSB added three more runs in the third inning with two coming home on sacrifice flies. The last run of the inning scored on a fielding error to put the visitors up 6-0.
The Aggies would rally for three runs of their own in the fourth inning. Johnson led off the inning with a double, and Roxanne Hannan followed with a walk. O'Neill promptly doubled to drive in Johnson to make it 6-1. Stacey Benzing came up and drove in a run with a groundout to make it 6-2. Three batters later, De La Hoya singled with the bases loaded to drive in O'Neill with the Aggies' third run. The Gauchos' Tami Weston maneuvered out of the jam with a pop-up and a strikeout to end the inning.
In the fifth, Hannan scored on a wild pitch to draw UC Davis within 6-4. That would be as close as the Aggies would get, though, as they stranded eight runners on base for the game. Each team had six hits in game two.
"I'm extremely proud of the way we're battling," said UC Davis head coach Karen Matteson-Yoder. "There are so many positives with this team right now. Lindsay pitched another great game for us, and even though we were down 6-0 in the second game, we didn't fold like a lot of teams would. I also thought Sarah O'Neill had a terrific day offensively."
UC Davis and UC Santa Barbara will conclude their series Saturday with a first pitch scheduled for 12 p.m. at La Rue Field.
