March 28, 2008
Box Score
DAVIS, Calif. - Senior second baseman Matt Dempsey drove home two runs in the fourth inning and senior right-hander Eddie Gamboa allowed only one run and struck out six batters in eight innings of work to lead UC Davis to a 4-1 victory over Pacific in the Big West Conference baseball opener at Dobbins Stadium Friday afternoon.
It marks the Aggies first victory as official members of the conference and improves their overall record to 5-17. The Tigers drop to 15-8 overall and 0-1 in conference with the loss.
"It's always nice to get that first win as official members of the conference," said Aggie coach Rex Peters. "We knew with the weather today that the game was going to be low scoring. Eddie (Gamboa) threw strikes and we played good defensive for all but one inning. "
Dempsey finished with game-highs of two hits, two RBI's and a double and extended his season-best hitting streak to 17 games. Grant Hirneise and Kevin James also had two hits in the game and each scored a run. Ty Kelly improved his hitting streak to 10 games and scored a run while walking three times. A total of eight Aggies recorded hits in the game.
Gamboa earned his team-leading fourth victory and is undefeated on the season. He struck out a game-best six batters, four of which came looking. He did not allow an earned run in the contest as Pacific's only run came off a bases loaded walk following an error. Justin Fitzgerald pitched a scoreless ninth to record his team-leading fourth save.
Adam Ching and Nick Longmire each went 2-for-4 to lead Pacific offensively. Starter Tyler Waldron allowed only two earned runs off 10 hits in 7.1 innings, but earned his second loss.
UC Davis opened the scoring the fourth inning off a two-run single from Dempsey. With runners on second and third, Dempsey sent the ball to center field to score the runners.
The Aggies added two more runs in the seventh inning behind three Tiger errors to increase the lead to 4-0. With Jake Jefferies on first and Kelly on second, Evan Hudson drove a ball that got away from the first baseman and traveled down foul territory to score Kelly. The right fielder could not field the ball cleanly, which allowed Jefferies to score all the way from first.
The Tigers threatened in the eighth as they loaded the bases with no outs. Gamboa allowed only one run by walking Mike McKeever, but found a way out of the jam with two strikeouts and a fielder's choice that put a runner out at home.
The Aggies and Tigers resume the three-game series tomorrow at 1 p.m. The game can be heard live on ucdavisaggies.com through Pacific radio.
