March 9, 2014

Box Score

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- UC Davis junior outfielder Kevin Barker finished 3-for-4 and was one of five Aggies with multiple hits on the day, but host San Jose State used a four-run seventh inning to erase a three-run deficit and defeat the Aggies, 4-3, in the final game of the Jack Gifford Memorial Tournament on Sunday afternoon.

The loss ended UC Davis' second, three-game winning streak of the season as the Aggies fell to 7-8 overall despite 14 hits on offense. The Spartans, who finished with just three hits on the day, ended a three-game skid in improving to 5-12 overall, clinching their first win of the tournament.

UC Davis jumped out to an early lead in support of starter Max Cordy, who was stuck with the no decision despite allowing just two runs on one hit and striking out four in six innings of work. The Aggies loaded the bases thanks to a bout of wildness from starter Jace Puckett with two outs as Izaak Silva walked and moved all the way to third on a single by freshman Mark Cardinalli. Even Heptig drew another walk to load them up for junior John Williams, who was plunked on a 2-0 pitch to plate Silva for the 1-0 lead.

Two more runs came across for UC Davis in the third thanks to a wild pitch and an RBI single by Barker as the Aggies started to cruise behind Cordy, who retired nine of the first 10 batters he faced -- with the only baserunner reaching on a passed ball on a dropped third strike -- and carried a no-hitter into the fifth before Brett Bautista, who had two of his team's three hits for the game, led-off the inning with a single to left.

Cordy set the side down in order in the sixth before San Jose State was finally able to break through in the seventh with no outs. Matt Lopez and Sheldon Daquioag led-off with back-to-back walks off Cordy to chase him from the game in favor of Orlando Razo, who promptly surrendered a single to Bautista to load the bases.

Mike Simonini worked the count full before drawing a walk to plate Lopez and break up the shutout before Alec de Watteville delivered the big hit -- a two-run double to left -- to tie the game at 3-3. Spencer Henderson then entered in relief and got Tyler Olivet to lift a fly ball into right field, but it was deep enough to score Simonini for the go-ahead run.

Henderson escaped any further damage with a ground ball and a second fly ball to end the inning and retired the Spartans in order in the eighth to keep his team close.

The Aggies tried to rally against reliever Ross Slaney in the eighth with two outs as Heptig singled up the middle and John Williams followed with a single to right to put runners on the corners. Kalei Contrades then came in from the bullpen and got a strikeout to end the threat and slammed the door for his first save of the season with a pair of ground balls and a fly out to end the game in the ninth.

Razo (1-2) suffered the loss, allowing two runs on two hits while facing just three batters in the seventh. Jackson Berumen (1-0), the second of four pitchers on the day for San Jose State, collected his first win of the season, allowing just one run on six hits and striking out three in 4.2 innings of work.

Sunday marked Barker's second, three-hit game of the season and his team-high eighth multi-hit contest of 2014. Adam Young, Steven Patterson, Nick Lynch, and Evan Heptig, all finished with two hits to help UC Davis to its third-straight game of double-digit hits and its seventh overall this season.

The two teams turn around and meet for a third-straight game -- this time at the Dobbins Baseball Complex in Davis -- as the Aggies open a six-game homestand on Tuesday against San Jose State at 2:30 p.m. UC Davis then hosts New Mexico State in a four-game set beginning Friday (March 14) at 2:30 p.m.

San Jose State 4, UC Davis 3 (Mar 09, 2014 at San Jose, Calif.)
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UC Davis............ 012 000 000 - 3 14 0 (7-8)
San Jose State...... 000 000 40X - 4 3 1 (5-12)
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Pitchers: UC Davis - Cordy, Max; Razo, Orlando(7); Henderson, Spencer(7) and Silva, Izaak. San Jose State - PUCKETT; BERUMEN(3); SLANEY(8); CONTRADES(8) and GALLEGOS. Win-BERUMEN(1-0) Save-CONTRADES(1) Loss-Razo, Orlando(1-2) T-2:29 A-325 Weather: Sunny, 67 degrees
Cordy faced 2 batters in the 7th.
Razo faced 3 batters in the 7th.