April 22, 2011

Game One Box

Game Two Box

DAVIS, Calif. - The UC Davis softball team posted a convincing 9-1 win in five innings before Cal State Fullerton responded with an 11-4 win to earn a doubleheader split on Friday at La Rue Field.

Game one was all Aggies, as UC Davis out-hit the Titans 12-5 en route to the run rule decision. Cal State Fullerton turned the tables in game two, jumping out to an 11-1 lead before UC Davis added some late offense in the loss.

The Aggies had eight separate players register hits in game one, including Elizabeth Santana, Jessica Gonzalez and Kelly Harman, who each tallied multi-hit games with an RBI. The offense was equally as impressive in game two for the Titans, led by Latisha Dedeaux's two hits and two RBIs.

UC Davis moved to 19-20 on the season after the split with a 4-7 mark in Big West play. Cal State Fullerton stayed above .500 with a 19-18 overall record and held on to the league's top spot with an 8-3 conference record.

"We continued to push, fight and battle today," said head coach Karen Yoder. "(Holmes) was just on from the first inning of game one and she had a great day. In the second game they used more small ball, so we have to be prepared for that tomorrow. I'm proud of the team for the fifth inning (of game two). I challenged them and I think they met that challenge and exceeded it."

In game one, Alex Holmes started the contest by striking out the side in the top of first. Holmes continued to help her own cause in the bottom of the first, posting a lead-off double that started a five-run inning.

The Aggies continued in the first with four hits to take the early lead. Kelly Schulze had the first RBI hit of the game, followed by an RBI single to right field from Gonzalez. Rachel Miller capped the inning off with an RBI double before Kylie Fan advanced home on a throwing error, giving UC Davis a 5-0 advantage.

Cal State Fullerton reached the scoreboard in the top of the third, using three hits to score one run. The Titans had back-to-back singles to start the innings, with hits from Ashley Carter and Lauren Mario. The bases were loaded with no outs after an Aggie error. Holmes held Cal State Fullerton to just one score however, as Torrie Anderson had an RBI single before a pair of ground-outs ended the inning.

UC Davis answered with three runs in the bottom of the fourth before ending the game early with a single run in the fifth. Harman started the bottom of the fourth with a lead-off double down the left field line. Bianca Castillo had a pinch-hit two-RBI single to right center to score the first two runs. Santana followed with an RBI single down the right field line to put the Aggies on top 8-1.

UC Davis wasted no time scoring the game-ending run in the fifth after the first three batters reached base safely. Fan had a lead-off walk followed by a Desire Chavez bunt single to put two on with no outs. Harman recorded the walk-off hit, sending an RBI single through the rights side to give the Aggies the final 9-1 win.

Holmes picked up the win to improve to 13-13 on the season after allowing five hits and one run, while striking out six in five innings. Ari Cervantes took the loss and dropped to 12-11 after surrendering 10 hits and seven earned runs in 4.0 innings of work.

In game two, Cal State Fullerton bounced back with some heavy hitting of their own, taking an early lead that they would not surrender. The Titans started with two runs in the top of the first, thanks to an two-RBI single from Dedeaux.

Cal State Fullerton broke free again in the top of the second for five runs on three hits and two errors. The Titans took advantage of multiple Aggie miscues, scoring three unearned runs and two runs on RBI groundouts.

UC Davis found some offense in the bottom of the third, using a Santana solo home run to left center to get on the board. Cal State Fullerton added three more runs in the fourth however, with back-to-back RBI doubles for Nicole Johnson and Anderson. A single run in the fifth gave the Titans a double-digit lead with an 11-1 score.

The Aggies extended the game in the bottom of the fifth, posting three runs on three hits. Miller sent out a two-run home run before an RBI groundout from Gonzalez cut the deficit to seven runs. The offense proved to be too little too late, as two blank innings for both teams kept the score at 11-4.

Katey Laban earned the win and improved to 5-4 on the season after allowing six hits and four runs in a complete game. Jessica Thweatt picked up the loss and dropped to 6-6 after allowing seven hits and five earned runs in five innings of work.

UC Davis will be back in action tomorrow, playing the third game of the series at 12 p.m.