March 14, 2009

UC Davis 5, Vermont 1
UC Davis 4, Colorado State 2

SAN JOSE, Calif. - UC Davis won two more times on Saturday to stay perfect at the National Invitational Softball Tournament in San Jose. The Aggies defeated Vermont, 5-1, before posting a 4-2 victory over Colorado State. Jessica Gonzalez and Rachel Miller each drove in two runs while Miller and Marissa Araujo each homered. Jessica Hancock and Alex Holmes both picked up wins as UC Davis improved to 14-11.

Sarah Axelson and Kelly Harman each had two hits against Vermont, and Gonzalez drove in two runs. UC Davis scored multiple runs in the first inning for the second straight game. This time, three Aggies crossed the plate to give the team an early cushion.

Michelle Espiritu led off the first with a walk and used her speed to generate the first run. With Julie Stauder at bat, Espiritu stole second. With one out, she stole third and scored on the same play as the result of an error to make it 1-0. With two outs and the bases empty, Axelson and Harman singled to keep the inning going. Another error allowed Araujo to reach base and Axelson to score to give UC Davis a 2-0 lead. Miller was hit by a pitch, and Gonzalez walked with the bases loaded to force in Harman.

UC Davis added another run in the third before an RBI-single by Harman in the fourth to cap off the Aggie scoring. Vermont's only run came home in the third on a groundout.

Hancock pitched five and allowed one run on three hits. She struck out five with no walks. Nicole Kociemba pitched the last two innings and struck out two with one walk.

The Aggies fell behind Colorado State, 1-0, in the third but came right back in the top of the fourth to score twice. Harman singled with one out, and Miller tripled with two down to drive Harman in to tie the game. After Gonzalez was hit by a pitch, Belinda Paine reached on an infield single to drive in the go-ahead run.

In the sixth inning, UC Davis used the long ball to score two more times. The runs came in the form of back-to-back homers by Araujo and Miller, and the Aggies led 4-1. The homer for Araujo was her first of the season, while Miller hit her third. The Rams scored once in the seventh.

Alex Holmes picked up the win in the circle. She allowed just one earned run on nine hits, struck out four and did not walk a batter. Holmes improved to 5-6 on the year.

At the plate, UC Davis collected nine hits in each game while allowing three and nine, respectively. Paine and Harman each went 3-for-6.

UC Davis closes out play at the NIST Sunday morning when it faces UNLV. The Rebels and the Aggies are the only 4-0 teams out of the eight-team field heading into the final day.