SAN DIEGO, Calif. — After a late-inning rally was snuffed out against Boise State in the opener, the UC Davis softball team salvaged a split of its opening day contests at the San Diego Classic, run-ruling Weber State in six innings in the nightcap at the USD Softball Stadium.
The Aggies fell to the Broncos, 9-4, in the opener after making it a one-run game in the sixth, before holding the Wildcats to just four hits in a 9-0 shutout in game two, avenging a loss earlier this season to Weber State at the Boyd Gaming Rebel Classic in Las Vegas.
Friday's results pushed UC Davis' record to 12-4 overall on the season, while Boise State moved to 11-2 and Weber State fell to 3-8.
Day two for the Aggies begins earlier that previously advertised with the threat of rain. Originally scheduled for 2 p.m., UC Davis now faces BYU at 11:30 a.m., following by a contest against host San Diego scheduled for 4:30 p.m., instead of 7 p.m.
GAME 1: BOISE STATE 9, UC DAVIS 4
Senior
Meghan Bradbury finished with three hits — including a pair of doubles — and drove in a pair, while freshman
Megan Bower and junior
Maddie Rojas also added a pair of hits on the day, but Boise State staved off a late UC Davis rally before pulling away for a 9-4 victory.
Bradbury's first-inning RBI double staked the Aggies to the early lead before the Broncos put five unanswered runs on the board and threatened to run away with the contest. UC Davis, however, wasn't done, clawing its way back into the contest to make it a one-run game heading into the final inning of play.
A double by Bower, a single by Bradbury, and a hit batter, loaded the bases for sophomore
Riley Siegel, who drew a one-out walk to drive home a run and make it 5-2. The Aggies inched closer off the bat of
Maddie Rojas, who slapped a single back through the box, scoring Bradbury and make it 5-3.
The hit chased starter Kelsey Broadus (6-0) in favor of Gianna Mancha, who wasted no time in getting out of the inning by inducing a 4-6-3 double play to end the frame and stop the bleeding.
Bradbury's second RBI double of the day in the sixth plated sophomore
Alyse Rojas, who singled with one out, to make it 5-4, but three errors in the seventh proved to be the Aggies' undoing as Boise State scored four times to put the game away.
GAME 2: UC DAVIS 9, WEBER STATE 0 (6 INN.)
Sophomore left-hander
Brooke Yanez scattered only four hits and struck out eight, while walking three times at the plate, en route to her second shutout of the season, while the Aggies' offense rattled off 11 hits en route to the 9-0 victory in six innings.
The reigning Big West Conference Pitcher of the Week, Yanez (8-1) stranded the bases loaded full of Wildcats in the first and allowed only three other hits over the next six innings, winning her fifth straight decision and improving to 8-0 this season in games that she has started.
Her eight strikeouts give her sole possession of fourth place on the school's Division I career strikeouts list with 258, breaking a tie with Jessica Thweatt.
An error put UC Davis on the board in the first inning as junior
Isabella Leon scored from third on a throwing error that would have ended the frame, giving the Aggies a 1-0 lead. An RBI single by
Maddie Rojas and another throwing error accounted for two more runs in the fourth, while
Maddie Rojas added her second RBI single of the day in the fifth for the 4-0 advantage.
UC Davis then broke the game wide open with a five-run sixth, sending nine batters to the plate. A walk to
Marissa Jauregui and back-to-back singles by
Alyse Rojas and Leon set the table for
Autumn Miller, who rapped a single to left field for a five-run lead.
Bower then dealt the big blow, clearing the bases with a grand slam over the wall in left centerfield, capping a 3-for-4 day at the plate for the freshman. The home run was the fifth of the year for the Orinda, Calif., native — the most by an Aggie slugger since Alexis Carney and
Ashley Lotoszynski led the team with five in 2017, and just two back of Kelly Zboralske and Lauryn Sanders, who hold the program's Division I single-season record with seven home runs apiece in 2014.
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.
