DAVIS, Calif. - Following nine scoreless innings of baseball, UC Davis was first to get on the board after back-to-back doubles by junior Ryan Anderson and senior Ryan Hooper gave the Aggies a 3-0 lead in the tenth, while three Aggie pitchers combined on a 10-hit shutout to help lift UC Davis to a 10-inning victory, 3-0, over Long Beach State on Saturday afternoon at Blair Field, leveling off their Big West Conference series at one win apiece.

With the win, the Aggies improved to 14-23 overall and 6-8 in Big West play, while the Dirtbags fell to 18-25 on the season and 4-7 in league play with the loss. The series finale is set to begin at 1 p.m. tomorrow (Apr. 29).

Both squads had their chances, as Long Beach State left 15 runners on the base paths, of which 11 were in scoring position, while UC Davis left a total of eight runners stranded and five in scoring position.

Following a single from Logan Denholm to lead-off the visitor half of the tenth inning, a wild pitch and a sacrifice bunt off the bat of Garret Kelly advanced Denholm over to third. An intentional walk for freshman Tanner Murray put runners on the corners with one out before a passed ball allowed Murray to move up 90 feet with Anderson at the plate. On the fifth pitch of the at bat, Anderson recorded his seventh double of the season with a scorcher to left center field and gave the Aggies the lead, 2-0. Hooper followed suit, bringing in the third run of the game on a double down the left field line to make it 3-0 in favor of UC Davis.

Anderson went on to finish 2-for-5 with one run and 2 RBI, while Hooper ended the evening 1-for-5 with an RBI, and Murray finished 2-for-3 with one run scored. Anderson and Murray were the only two Aggies in the lineup to record more than one hit on the afternoon.

Steven Rivas paced the 49ers at the plate with a perfect 3-for-3 finish while Leonard Jones finished 2-for-5.

Senior right-hander Connor Loar earned the win for UC Davis, allowing just one hit and striking out a pair in the final 1.2 shutout innings. Freshman starter Jared Sasaki pitched 6.1 innings of shutout baseball, allowing just seven hits and striking out three, while fellow freshman Brett Erwin filled in the two-inning gap between Sasaki and Loar, allowing just two hits and striking out three over two shutout innings.

Dylan Spacke suffered the loss for the 49ers, charged with three earned runs on three hits over one inning of work. Starter Clayton Andrews pitched seven shutout innings that included just three hits and nine strikeouts, while Eli Villalobos stepped in for two innings, allowing just two hits.

Long Beach threatened in the seventh, loading the bases on a single, an error, and a walk. But Erwin kept the Dirtbags in check, getting out of the inning with back-to-back strikeouts.

A single, a walk, and an error by the UC Davis defense once again loaded the bases for the 49ers in the home half of the 10th, but Long Beach came up short after Loar escaped the jam and nailed down the win with his 21st strikeout of the season.

The Aggies are now 2-1 in extra-inning battles after dropping an 11-inning stretch to Creighton (Feb. 25) earlier in the season, then topping San Francisco, 9-7, in a thrilling 12-inning win last Tuesday (Apr. 24).

Tomorrow's series finale is set to begin at 1 p.m. with junior left-hander Chris Brown set to take the mound for UC Davis facing RHP Chris Rivera for the 49ers.


UC Davis 3, Long Beach State 0 (04/28/18 at Long Beach, Calif.)
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UC Davis............ 000 000 000 3 - 3 8 2 (14-23, 6-8 Big West)
Long Beach State.... 000 000 000 0 - 0 10 1 (18-25, 4-7 Big West)
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Pitchers: UC Davis - Sasaki, Jared; Erwin, Brett(7); Loar, Connor(9) and Denholm, Logan.
Long Beach State - Andrews, Clayton; Villalobos, Eli(8); Spacke, Dylan(10) and Torres, Antonio;
Jimenez, Chris.
Win-Loar, Connor(3-2) Loss-Spacke, Dylan(3-2) T-3:33 A-2341
Weather: 66, Sunny

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.

DON'T MISS OUT!
Season tickets for UC Davis softball and baseball are now on sale by contacting the Athletics Ticket Office at (530) 752-AGS1 or by visiting us online at UCDavisAggies.com.

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