Box Score

DAVIS, Calif. -- Sophomore left-hander Robert Garcia scattered three hits over seven strong innings and seven different UC Davis hitters drove in runs on the day, lifting the host Aggies to an, 8-2, win over CSUN in the Big West Conference opener for both teams on a blustery Friday afternoon at Dobbins Stadium.

UC Davis, which collected 15 hits total on the day, improved to 7-12 overall on the year and won its Big West opener for the second time in three seasons. The Matadors fell to 12-14 overall and 0-1 in league play on the year.

Garcia (1-1) scattered just three hits and allowed a pair of runs over seven innings to pick up his first victory of the season, striking out three and not allowing a CSUN baserunner to reach second base until the sixth. Blake Peters struck out two in a scoreless eighth, and Zach Stone worked around a one-out single to shut the door in the ninth.

Tei Vanderford (3-3) suffered the loss, allowing all eight runs on 14 hits, walking three and striking out one in the loss.

UC Davis sent nine batters to the plate in back-to-back innings to jump out to the early lead, scoring three in the second and four more in the third before Ryan Hooper capped the scoring with his third home run of the season to lead-off the fifth.

After Hooper tripled to lead-off the second, Brad Pluschkell followed with a single up the middle to break up the shutout and was followed by Jacob Thomas' RBI double for a 2-0 lead. Ignacio Diaz then extended his team-best hitting streak to nine consecutive games with a single through the left side for a 3-0 advantage.

Caleb Van Blake's bloop RBI double down the left field line in the fourth got the scoring going once again as the Aggies added three straight RBI singles later in the frame off the bats of Cameron Olson, Diaz, and Alex Aguiar, to pull away.

CSUN added a pair of runs in the sixth after Justin Toerner was hit by a pitch with one out and tripled home by Kevin Riley to get the Matadors on the board. Riley would score just a few pitches later on a wild pitch but, by then, the game was out of reach as CSUN left four runners on in the final three innings -- two of those in scoring position.

Olson finished 3-for-4 to lead all hitters, while five more UC Davis batters collected a pair of hits on the day. The 15 hits marked the eighth time that the Aggies have finished in double digits in that category this season, and the second highest single-game total behind only the 19 hits collected in the series opener at Creighton on March 26.

Aguiar extended his hitting streak to eight games and has reached base safely, along with Diaz, in each of the team's last nine contests. Olson's three-hit performance marked his third multi-hit game of the season -- and his second with three hits after finishing 3-for-5 in the series opener against Creighton earlier in the week.

The two teams meet up for game two of the series on Saturday (April 1) at 1 p.m. at Dobbins Stadium.

UC Davis 8, CSUN 2 (Mar 31, 2017 at Davis, Calif.)
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CSUN................ 000 002 000 - 2 6 1 (12-14, 0-1 BIG WEST)
UC Davis............ 003 410 00X - 8 15 0 (7-12, 1-0 BIG WEST)
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Pitchers: CSUN - Vanderford, Tei; Rivera, Ricky(8) and Alexander, Dylan. UC Davis - Garcia, Robert; Peters, Blake (8); Stone, Zach (9) and Diaz, Ignacio.
Win - Garcia, Robert (1-1) Loss - Vanderford, Tei (3-3) T-2:37 A-203
HR UCD - Hooper, Ryan (3).
Weather: sunny clear; wind: NNW 23 mph