Box Score

DAVIS, Calif. -- San Francisco scratched across single runs in the first two innings to take an early lead and the Dons' pitching staff made them stand up, working out of a jam in the fourth and stranding three runners in scoring position to defeat UC Davis, 2-1, in a non-conference contest on Tuesday afternoon at Dobbins Stadium.

The Aggies fell to 3-7 overall on the season, getting a career high-tying three hits for the second consecutive game from junior outfielder Mark Cardinalli and two more from freshman Ryan Anderson, who logged his third multi-hit game of the year.

Blake Valley had two hits to lead San Francisco, which improved to 2-8 overall on the season with the win.

Chris Brown (0-2) was solid in his second career start, allowing the two runs on four hits in five innings before giving way to the bullpen in the sixth. Freshman Cameron Briggs allowed one hit in his one inning of work, while freshman Robert Garcia kept the Aggies close with a career-high seven strikeouts over the final three innings.

With his performance, Garcia boosted his team-best total to 20 (against only five walks) in 12.1 innings of work, holding opponents to a .122 average on the year. He has struck out five-or-more hitters in three of his five appearances this season.

Benji Post (1-2) was credited with the win in relief of starter Thomas Ponticelli, allowing a hit and striking out one in three innings of work. Mack Meyer came on to earn his first save of the season, allowing only a two-out single in the ninth in his two-inning appearance.

A lead-off walk in the first and a lead-off single in the second led to the only two runs San Francisco would need as Valley and Matt Warkentin, respectively, cashed both in with RBI singles for a 2-0 lead.

The Aggies halved the deficit in the fourth as Tanner Bily lead-off with a single and went all the way to third when Ryan Anderson bounced a ball through the left side to put runners at the corners with no outs. That brought up Cardinalli, who laced a single to left, scoring Bily to make it 2-1.

USF worked away from any further damage, however, erasing both base runners on a double steal to end the inning. UC Davis managed only five base runners the rest of the way, including a double by sophomore Brad Pluschkell with two outs in the fifth and Cardinalli's two-out single in the ninth.

The Aggies also threatened in the second as back-to-back singles by Anderson and Cardinalli to lead-off the inning had the home team in business, but a pop-up and a ground ball following a sacrifice ended the threat, leaving two in scoring position.

UC Davis' defense turned three inning-ending double plays to turn away the Dons as Plucshkell, Jacob Thomas, and Mason Novak combined on the first two to end the first and second innings, while Anderson went around the horn to end the sixth following a lead-off single.

The Aggies return to action this weekend with a three-game series against Michigan at Dobbins Stadium. The series opens on Thursday (March 3) at 2:30 p.m., with Friday's game to follow at the same time. Saturday's series finale is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.

San Francisco 2, UC Davis 1 (Mar 01, 2016 at Davis, Calif.)
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San Francisco....... 110 000 000 - 2 6 0 (2-8)
UC Davis............ 000 100 000 - 1 7 2 (3-7)
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Pitchers: San Francisco - PONTICELLI, Thomas; POST, Benji(5); MEYER, Mack(8) and MATRANGA, Ryan. UC Davis - Brown, Chris; Briggs, Cameron (6); Garcia, Robert (7) and Denholm, Logan.
Win-POST, Benji(1-2) Save-MEYER, Mack(1) Loss- Brown, Chris (0-2) T-2:12 A-123
Weather: 70 deg, wind S11mph