DAVIS, Calif. - Although the Aggies were able to tally one more hit than the 49ers, host Long Beach State scored in four of the first seven innings and two pitchers combined on a seven-hit shutout, lifting the Dirtbags to an 8-0 win over visiting UC Davis in the opener of a three-game Big West Conference series on Friday night at Blair Field.

Freshman Joseph Myers recorded the Aggies' lone extra-base hit of the evening with a double in the second inning as the Aggies fell to 13-23 overall and 5-8 in Big West play with the loss. The Dirtbags improved to 18-24 on the season and 4-6 in league play with the win. Games two and three of the series are scheduled for 2 p.m. tomorrow (Apr. 28) and 1 p.m. on Sunday (Apr. 29).

Matt Blais suffered the loss for UC Davis, charged with five earned on five hits while striking out two in six innings of work.

Zak Baayoun earned the win for Long Beach State, pitching 7.2 innings of shutout baseball, allowing six hits and striking out two. Jake Lopez then closed things out for the Dirtbags, allowing just one hit across the final 1.1 shutout innings.

Long Beach State jumped out to the early lead, bringing in a run on a double from Leonard Jones in the first, along with single scores in the second and fourth on an error and sacrifice fly, respectively, to make it 3-0. The Aggies got their first baserunner in scoring position in the second off a double from Myers-his fourth extra-base hit of the season-but the Aggies came up empty.

UC Davis threatened in the sixth with runners on first in second thanks to back-to-back singles from Brad Pluschkell and Ryan Anderson, but the Aggies could not push a run across. Both Pluschkell and Anderson went on to finish 1-for-4 on the night.

The 49ers then shut the door on the Aggies with a four-run effort in the seventh and tacked on another run in the eighth to finish out the night. Leonard Jones finished 2-for-4 with one run and one RBI to pace the Long Beach State offense, while Shaq Robinson was 1-for-2 with two runs scored.

Game two of the series is scheduled for Saturday (Apr. 28) at 2 p.m., with freshman right-hander Jared Sasaki set to take the mound for UC Davis, while the finale will take place on Sunday (Apr. 29) at 1 p.m.


Long Beach State 8, UC Davis 0 (04/27/18 at Long Beach, Calif.)
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UC Davis............ 000 000 000 - 0 7 2 (13-23, 5-8 Big West)
Long Beach State.... 110 100 41X - 8 6 0 (18-24, 4-6 Big West)
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Pitchers: UC Davis - Blais, Matt; Lara, Andres(7); Torres, Joseph(7); Rodriguez, Ryan(8) and
Denholm, Logan; O'Boy, Jackson. Long Beach State - Baayoun, Zak; Lopez, Jake(8) and
Jimenez, Chris.
Win-Baayoun, Zak(7-2) Loss-Blais, Matt(3-5) T-2:52 A-2978
Weather: 66, Clear
 

ABOUT UC DAVIS
Providing a small-town community feel while providing a world-class academic experience, UC Davis is home to more than 37,000 students and centrally located between San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, and the Napa Valley. The No. 6-ranked public university in the nation according to the Wall Street Journal, and among the top 10 public universities nationwide according to U.S. News and World Report, UC Davis offers nearly 100 graduate programs and more than 100 academic majors across four colleges and six professional schools, ranking among the world and nation's best in numerous disciplines, including veterinary science, agriculture, and animal science programs.

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