Box Score

DAVIS, Calif. -- UC Davis scored five times in the final two innings and was 90 feet away from extra innings on Friday afternoon, but a ground ball and foul out ended the threat for visiting Air Force, as the Falcons hung on for a 9-8 victory over the Aggies at Dobbins Stadium.

The loss moved UC Davis to 6-11 overall on the year as the Aggies suffered their fifth one-run loss of the season. Air Force, which held the home team to just three hits over the first seven innings before fighting off a late charge, improved to 11-5 overall on the year, getting a pair of home runs (his team-leading sixth and seventh of the year) and four RBI from Tyler Jones, who slugged a solo shot in the second and a three-run shot in the third.

Scoring in each of the first three innings, the Falcons tacked on single runs in the sixth and seventh innings while holding UC Davis to a Mark Cardinalli sac fly and a pair of run scoring ground outs by Mason Novak and Ryan Anderson to carry a 9-3 advantage into the eighth. That's when the Aggies rallied against the Air Force bullpen, nearly bringing them all the way back.

Three straight hits to start the inning inched UC Davis closer as Tanner Bily reached on an infield single, moved to second on Jacob Thomas' bloop to right, and scored on Cardinalli's single through the right side to make it 9-4. With runners at the corners, a wild pitch then scored Thomas and moved Cardinalli to second for Cameron Olson, who lined a ball into the right field corner for his third double of the weekend to make it 9-6.

A ground ball moved Olson up 90 feet for Ignacio Diaz, whose ground ball to third was picked nicely, but the fielder's only play was to first as Olson scooted home to make it 9-7.

After the Falcons went quietly in their half of the ninth, UC Davis put together another rally in its half of the inning against Air Force closer, Austin McDaniel. A one-out pinch-hit double by Guillermo Salazar was followed by walks to Bily and Thomas to load the bases for Cardinalli, whose ground ball to short scored another when the Falcons couldn't turn two to end the game.

That left it up to Olson with Bily standing at third after the fielder's choice, working the count even at 2-2 before popping up to foul ground on the left side to end the game.

Trent Monaghan (3-0) earned the win for the Falcons, allowing just three runs on three hits while striking out four over seven innings. Nathan Stanford was charged with four runs on four hits in his inning of work before giving way to McDaniel, who logged his second save of the season despite allowing a run on a hit and walking a pair in the ninth.

Junior right-hander Justin Mullins (0-2) took the loss, charged with four earned on five hits over three innings, striking out three. Freshmen Cameron Briggs, Ryan Steindorf, and Joey Chapman, then closed out the game, allowing a pair of runs on six hits while striking out five over the final six innings to keep their team in the game.

Cardinalli finished 2-for-4, scoring twice while driving in three for the Aggies, giving him five multi-hit games on the season, tying him with Anderson for the team lead. With a single in the fourth, Anderson extended his hitting streak to a season-high four games, while Bily reached base safely for the eighth consecutive game with a first inning hit by pitch -- tied for the second-longest streak of the year (Alex Aguiar, nine games).

Adam Groesbeck and Spencer Draws each had three hits at the top of the order for the Falcons.

The rubber game of the series is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday afternoon (March 26) as senior RHP Nat Hamby looks to claim UC Davis' first series win of the year.

Air Force 9, UC Davis 8 (Mar 25, 2016 at Davis, Calif.)
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Air Force........... 214 001 100 - 9 11 0 (11-5)
UC Davis............ 001 101 041 - 8 8 1 (6-11)
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Pitchers: Air Force - MONAGHAN, Trent; STANFORD, Nathan(8); MCDANIEL, Austin(9) and
WILKIE, Travis. UC Davis - Mullins, Justin; Briggs, Cameron (4); Steindorf, Ryan (7);
Chapman, Joey (9) and Denholm, Logan; Diaz, Ignacio.
Win-MONAGHAN, Trent (3-0) Save-MCDANIEL, Austin (2) Loss- Mullins, Justin (0-2) T-2:54 A-172
HR AF - JONES, Tyler 2 (7).