LAS VEGAS — Sophomore communication major
Brooke Yanez struck out 14 batters to earn her second win of the season, while freshman communication major
Megan Bower slugged a pair of home runs on the day, helping lift UC Davis to a split of its first two games at the Boyd Gaming Rebel Classic in Las Vegas on Friday.
The Aggies improved to 4-1 overall on the season, falling to Weber State by the score of 7-2 in their first game of the day before bouncing back to shut down BYU, 4-2.
UC Davis continues tournament play with a pair of opponents on Saturday, taking on UTEP at 9 a.m., before facing Miami (Ohio) at 1:30 p.m.
GAME 1: WEBER STATE 7, UC DAVIS 2
Bower slugged her second home run in as many games to draw the Aggies even in the third, but Weber State scored five times in its half of the fourth en route to a 7-2 victory over UC Davis.
After spotting the Wildcats a pair of runs in the second, Bower and the offense answered in a big way in the away half of the third with two outs as
Alyse Rojas was hit by a pitch and scored when Bower sent a screamer down the left field line to even things up at two apiece.
That's when things unraveled for UC Davis as Weber State sent 10 batters to the plate in the fourth, scoring five times to break the deadlock and pull away.
Junior managerial economics major
Katie Kibby (1-1) suffered the loss, working the first four innings before giving way to senior community and regional development major
Sara Cadona, who tossed two shutout innings of relief, allowing only a harmless fifth-inning single and retiring the final five batters she faced.
Reigning Big West player of the week, human development major
Meghan Bradbury, finished with a double in the second to build off her strong opening weekend, while sophomore viticulture and enology major
Riley Siegel singled in the fourth to account for the Aggies' two other hits.
GAME 2: UC DAVIS 4, BYU 2
Yanez scattered only two hits while striking out 14 BYU batters, while the Aggies received RBIs from four different hitters on the day, wrapping up day one of the tournament with a 4-2 win over the Cougars.
Yanez (2-0) finished with double-digit strikeouts for the seventh time in her career while the Ventura, Calif., native posted the second-highest strikeout total of her career, trailing only the 15 Utah State hitters retired via the strikeout on March 10 of last season.
Of Yanez' s 14 strikeouts on Friday, 10 of those were of the swinging variety, as the left-hander allowed only a second-inning home run and an RBI groundout in the sixth inning.Taylei Williams finished with two of BYU's four hits, but was stranded in scoring position twice — one of three Cougar baserunners left in scoring position on the day.
UC Davis struck first, loading the bases in the first against Ari Paulson before
Marisa Given's single to left plated
Alyse Rojas, who had been hit by a pitch to lead off the frame, for the 1-0 lead.
After Emilee Erickson's home run to lead-off the second tied the game, Bower answered with her third home run in as many games to lead-off the third, and
Marissa Jauregui singled home
Meghan Bradbury five batters later for a 3-1 advantage they would not relinquish.
With her three home runs this season, Bower is just one shy of Isabella's Leon's team leading four home runs from all of last year as the freshman has now collected a hit in all five of her team's games thus far, batting .353 with four runs scored and five RBI in that span. She is the first player in the program's Division I history to homer in three straight games.
A Bradbury RBI single in the fourth plated Rojas, who doubled, for a three-run advantage as the Cougars would get no closer than the final margin after Lexi Tarrow brought home Erin Miklus with the final run of the day.
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. 5-ranked public university in the nation according to the Wall Street Journal and Times Higher Education, 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 plant and animal programs.
AGGIE EVO
Launched in 2017-18, the Aggie EVO System is UC Davis Athletics' investment in the primary mission of preparing student-athletes for a successful "launch" after graduation. Thanks to a collaboration of alumni, university resources, corporate partners, coaches and Student-Athlete Outcomes staff, all Aggies are guided over four years to acquire the skills, knowledge, opportunities and tools to better know and navigate the "World of Work" after graduating from UC Davis. Follow the Aggie EVO system on Twitter and Instagram at @AggieEVO.
