May 23, 2010
Box Score
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - David Popkins hit two home runs and drove home five UC Davis runs while Nathan Slater held UC Santa Barbara scoreless through four innings of relief and the Aggies rallied for the second straight time to top the Gauchos 9-8 in 10 innings Sunday at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium in Santa Barbara.
UC Davis now stands at 25-27 overall and are 8-13 in Big West play after picking up its first series sweep of the season. UC Santa Barbara drops to 21-29 overall and 7-14 in conference action.
Popkins hit 4-for-4 with five RBI and two home runs to lead UC Davis offensively.
The Aggies struggled early, giving up four runs to the Gauchos in the first inning as Trevor Whyte hit a two-run homer in the game's third at bat before Doug Hansen's single scored another two runs to put UCSB up 4-0. UC Santa Barbara scored another run in the third off a double by Ryan Palermo, then put up two more runs in the fourth to bring the score to 7-0. The Gauchos continued the strong offensive showing with an additional run in the fifth.
Gaucho starting pitcher Jesse Meaux held the Aggies scoreless through the first five innings and limited the UC Davis offense to only three hits until Justin Schafer's double to lead off the sixth inning led to Popkins' first home run of the day.
UC Davis continued to chip away at the UC Santa Barbara lead with another two runs in the eighth inning to cut the Gaucho lead in half. Scott Heylman led off with a single, then Popkins hit his second homer for another two Aggie runs. Scott Lyman and Paul Politi then hit back-to-back singles to get two men on with no outs, but Eric Johnson hit into a double play, then Kyle Mihaylo ground out to short to end the inning.
The Aggie rally stretched into the ninth inning as UC Davis put up four runs to tie the score at eight runs apiece. Seth Batty started the comeback with a leadoff single and pinch hitter Joseph Medeiros walked. Schafer singled to left center field, scoring Batty from second and advancing Medeiros to third base. Scott Heylman's hit in the next at bat was mishandled by Gaucho shortstop Steve Moon, allowing Medeiros to score to bring UC Davis within two.
Popkins would walk to load the bases with no outs and Lyman's sacrifice fly scored Schafer and Politi knocked in the game-tying run as his RBI single to right field allowed Heylman to cross home plate.
UC Santa Barbara had runners on first and second with two outs in the bottom of the ninth but Aggie right hander Matthew Lewis forced Ryan Tregoning into a ground out to end the threat.
In the top of the tenth, Batty walked to reach first base, but Medeiros struck out for the second out of the inning. Batty would be awarded a base after Gaucho pitcher Connor Whalen was called for a balk and Schafer was hit by a pitch. Heylman was walked in the next at bat to load the bases and Popkins would send the game-winning run home after he was hit by a pitch.
The Gauchos put themselves in position to tie the game as pinch runner Lance Roenicke advanced all the way to third with one out, but Gunner Terhune hit into a double play to end the game.
Lyman served as starting pitcher for UC Davis but was replaced by Slater after giving up eight earned runs in six hits in four innings of work. Slater entered the game in the fifth and retired the three batters he faced. The sophomore lefty put away 14 straight and gave up only one walk while striking out one Gaucho batter in 4.2 innings.
UC Davis will play its final nonconference game of the year as the Aggies travel to face Stanford Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at Klein Field at Sunken Diamond.
UC Davis (25-27, 8-13) 000 002 024 1 - 9 14 0
UC Santa Barbara (21-29, 7-14) 401 210 000 0 - 8 8 1
Scott Lyman, Nathan Slater (5), Matthew Lewis (9) and Scott Kalush, Joseph Medeiros (9). Jesse Meaux, David Meals (8), Connor Whalen (10) and Doug Hansen.
HITTERS: UC Davis: Justin Schafer, 2x5, RBI, 2B; Scott Heylman, 1x5, RBI; David Popkins, 4x4, 5RBI, 2 HR; Scott Lyman, 1x5, RBI; Paul Politi, 2x4, RBI; Kyle Mihaylo, 1x5; Seth Batty, 2x4; Scott Kalush, 1x3. UC Santa Barbara: Trevor Whyte, 2x5, 3 RBI, 2B, HR; Matt Valaika, 3x4, RBI, 2B; Ryan Palermo, 1x4, RBI, 2B; Doug Hansen, 1x3, 2 RBI; Beck Wheeler, 1x1.
