March 7, 2009

San Diego State 1, UC Davis 0
Penn State 4, UC Davis 1

STANFORD, Calif. - Errors proved costly for UC Davis as it opened play Saturday at the Stanford Louisville Slugger Classic. The Aggies were defeated by San Diego State, 1-0, before falling to Penn State, 4-1. All but two of the five runs given up were unearned as UC Davis fell to 10-7 on the year. Julie Stauder drove in the Aggies' lone run of the day.

San Diego State (11-10) scored the game's only run in the third and was helped by two miscues in the inning. Brittany Knudsen drove in Jen Wisneski with a one-out single to put SDSU on top 1-0.

The Aztecs' Bailey Micetich provided few scoring opportunities for the Aggies. The most promising came in the sixth when Bianca Castillo led off with a double. UC Davis was unable to capitalize, though, as the next three Aggies were retired. UC Davis advanced a runner as far as second with two outs in the first inning and had another erased in the second inning on a double play.

Alex Holmes suffered the loss despite not allowing an earned run. She allowed just four hits, all singles, while striking out five. She allowed one walk. Holmes fell to 4-4 on the year but lowered her ERA to 0.81.

UC Davis took a quick lead against Penn State (7-6). Michelle Espiritu led off and was hit by a pitch. She promptly stole second before Stauder drove her home with a single to make it 1-0. A double play helped prevent any further scoring.

It was also a strong start for Jessica Hancock in the circle. She struck out the side in the bottom of the first. In fact, the first seven outs recorded by Hancock were via strikeouts. The Nittany Lions were able to tie the score during that stretch as Sam Hovanec led off the third with a home run to even things at 1-1.

The game remained tied into the bottom of the fifth before the Aggies committed a pair of errors that led to two unearned runs. As a result, Penn State led 3-1 and added another run in the sixth.

Hancock finished the game with 11 strikeouts in six innings. Two of the four runs were earned as she fell to 6-3 on the year.

The Aggies allowed just eight hits on the day but managed only four of their own.

UC Davis closes out play at the tournament Sunday with games against Stanford and Illinois State.