April 12, 2014

Gm. 1 Box Score | Gm. 2 Box Score

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. - UC Davis took full advantage of Cal Poly's fifth-inning miscues and Andrea Reynolds forced the Mustangs to strand two runners in the seventh to help UC Davis start its weekend in San Luis Obispo with a 3-2 victory in the first of two Big West games played Saturday at Bob Janssen Field.

By finishing 3-for-3 with three RBI in Gm. 2, Chandler Wagner helped UC Davis win the weekend series by helping her team secure another 3-2 victory.

Winners in their last six straight against Cal Poly, the Aggies will have an opportunity to sweep the Mustangs for the second straight season in Sunday's 12 p.m. series finale. UC Davis will enter that matchup with a 14-24 overall and 3-5 Big West mark, Cal Poly is now 21-15 and 3-4 respectively.

Including Saturday's twinbill, UC Davis has recorded a victory in 11 of the last 14 head-to-head meetings. Saturday's sweep also broke another deadlock; entering the weekend, both teams posted wins in six of the 12 games played in San Luis Obispo.

After three full innings of shutout softball in Gm. 1, UC Davis tagged Sierra Hyland, the Big West's leading pitcher with two runs in the top of the fourth-the first of consecutive innings that saw the Aggies light up the scoreboard.

Back-to-back walks drawn by Amy Nunez and Kelly Zboralske were followed by back-to-back doubles from Lauren Saunders and Wagner; with scary efficiency, UC Davis turned a scoreless tie into a 2-0 Aggie lead.

That advantage was brief, however, as Cal Poly responded by scoring two runs in the bottom of that same inning to draw even heading into the final innings.

As was the case with the Aggies' advantage, the score remained tied for just a few moments thanks to Cat Guidry opened the events of the fifth by reaching base. With Mustang second baseman Ashley Romano keenly aware of the sophomore's speed, Romano mishandled the grounder hit in her direction and allowed Guidry to reach safely.

A sacrifice bunt from Krista Bava and a groundout to the shortstop by Christa Castello allowed Guidry to advance a base on each at-bat.

By reaching base on another error, committed by Cal Poly's first baseman this time, Katie Robertson allowed her teammate to score from third to record the decisive run.

With UC Davis leading 3-2, and a Cal Poly runner in scoring position with zero outs recorded in the bottom of the seventh, Reynolds forced two straight fielder's choice before forcing Lauren Moreno to fly out to Bava in center to end the game.

UC Davis starter Dana Cruse collected her sixth victory of the year, Reynolds picked up the save in relief.

Returning to San Luis Obispo for the first time since arriving to Davis-she graduated from nearby San Luis Obispo High School before arriving to Davis-Reynolds returned to the circle shortly after earning her inaugural collegiate save as the Aggies' Gm. 2 starter.

The freshman right-hander took full advantage of this opportunity to pitch in front of her hometown crowd and allowed only two hits throughout her 4.1 innings thrown.

With the score tied at 1-1 in the bottom of the fifth, Reynolds and Alicia Paine teamed up to force Cal Poly to end the inning with the bases loaded. Reynolds recorded the first out of the frame by forcing Romano to hit a line drive back to her; after an Aggie error was sandwiched between walks, Paine forced her two batters faced to record outs on a fielders choice and fly ball to Bava to end the inning unscathed.

Those clutch pitching performances paid off when the Aggies returned to the plate in the top of the six when Wagner drove in another two runs in her single to third.

Even though Wagner fell one short of tying her career high for the most RBI earned in a single game, she set a new season high with her effort.

Responsible for one RBI in the previous game, UC Davis' second baseman also scored her team's first run of the second in the top of the fourth on a single to left field.

Now armed with a lead, Paine closed out the day by throwing the final 2.2 innings to earn her second win of 2014.