Box Score

MORAGA, Calif. -- Held to just two hits over the first eight innings, the UC Davis baseball team rallied for six runs in the ninth to erase a five-run deficit only to have host Saint Mary's score twice in the bottom of the ninth to escape with a 7-6 walk-off win on Tuesday afternoon at Guisto Field.

The loss for the Aggies was the seventh straight as they fell to 8-22 overall on the season, led by two hits apiece from senior Tanner Bily and freshman Logan Denholm. Nearly half of the team's 30 games this season have been decided by a single run as Tuesday marked UC Davis' 12th one-run contest of the year, but the Aggies fell to 4-8 in those games.

Meanwhile, the Gaels improved to 21-12 overall on the season with the win, led by Joey Fiske's 4-for-5 day at the plate.

Saint Mary's starter Cameron Neff stymied the UC Davis bats over eight-plus innings before running into trouble to start the ninth, allowing only a first inning single to Bily and a fifth-inning base hit to Denholm while retiring 11 straight at one point, but finished with a no-decision.

Freshman Caleb Van Blake pinch hit to lead off the ninth and got the Aggies' rally started by reaching on a two-base error and moving to third on a double to right center by Bily to finally chase Neff from the game. From that point on, UC Davis jumped on the Gaels bullpen, scoring its first run on a pinch-hit RBI single by Mason Novak and adding another on a sacrifice fly by Guillermo Salazar off Bryce Reichmann to make it 5-2.

A Cameron Olson single up the middle kept the inning alive and chased Reichmann in favor of David Dellaserra (2-1), who was promptly greeted by a single through the left side by Denholm to make it 5-3. Ryan Hooper reached on an infield single to load the bases for David Langer, whose ball to the left side was misplayed by his counterpart, allowing both Olson and Denholm to score and tie the game at 5-5.

With runners at second and third, and still only one out, Jacob Thomas put UC Davis in front for the first time, executing a perfect squeeze to the right side, scoring Hooper for the go-ahead run. Dellaserra, now facing the 10th batter of the inning, then got out of the inning with a ground ball to retire the side, setting the stage for another rally, but this one courtesy the home team.

Sophomore Blake Peters (3-4), who came on in relief in the eighth inning, was quickly greeted by a first-pitch infield single off the bat of Jackson Thoreson and pinch-runner Davis Strong moved into scoring position on a sacrifice by Brett Rasso. Zach Kirtley followed with a single to right centerfield to score Strong with the tying run and the Gaels eventually loaded the bases on a single by Fiske and a hit batter to bring up Anthony Villa, who ripped 1-1 pitch into right field to score the game-winner.

Dellaserra was charged with a pair of unearned runs on two hits over two-thirds of an inning, but came away with the win, while Neff finished allowing an earned run on three hits over eight innings (and two batters), striking out six.

Peters was the hard-luck loser, charged with the final two runs on five hits over 1.1 innings of work. Junior right-hander Justin Mullins got the start and was charged with four unearned runs on four hits, striking out a pair over the first three innings of a no-decision.

Saint Mary's was the first team on the board, plating three unearned runs after a lead-off error prolonged the inning. With two outs, Anthony Gonsolin went down in the count 0-2 before lofting a 2-2 offering from Mullins over the wall in left, scoring Kirtley and Fiske ahead of him for the 3-0 lead. For Gonsolin, it was his fourth home run of the season, highlighting a 2-for-2 day that also included a pair of walks.

The Gaels added single runs in the third and fourth innings on a fielding error and an RBI single by Fiske in the fourth, respectively, building a 5-0 lead. Four of the five runs scored by Saint Mary's in the first four innings were unearned thanks to the pair of miscues.

UC Davis' bullpen then settled down, allowing only a pair of base runners from the fifth to eighth innings on a walk and a single before a thrilling ninth inning.

Resuming Big West Conference play this weekend, the Aggies return to Dobbins Stadium for a three-game series with UC Irvine beginning Friday (April 22) at 2:30 p.m. Games two and three are scheduled for Saturday (April 23) and Sunday (April 24) at 1 p.m.

Saint Mary's (CA) 7, UC Davis 6 (Apr 19, 2016 at Moraga, Calif.)
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UC Davis............ 000 000 006 - 6 7 2 (8-22)
Saint Mary's (CA)... 301 100 002 - 7 11 2 (21-12)
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Pitchers: UC Davis - Mullins, Justin; Brown, Chris (4); Blais, Matt (7); Peters, Blake (8) and Denholm, Logan. Saint Mary's (CA) - NEFF; REICHMANN(9); DELLASERRA(9) and THORESON.
Win-DELLASERRA(2-1) Loss-Peters, Blake(3-4) T-2:46 A-106
HR SMC - GONSOLIN (4).
Weather: 79 F, Overcast, 9 mph to RC
NEFF faced 2 batters in the 9th.