ON DECK...
GAME 46-48: UC Davis (19-26, 9-12 BWC) at UC Irvine (31-16, 12-6 BWC)
Fri.-Sun., May 17-19, 2019
6 p.m. - 6 p.m. - 1 p.m.
Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark
Irvine, Calif.
Game Coverage: Live Stats | Listen
ESPN3: Friday | Saturday
Complete Game Notes
DAVIS, Calif. — After wrapping up its home slate with a thrilling 10-inning victory over San Francisco on Tuesday, UC Davis will now set its sights on the last Big West Conference meeting of the season at UC Irvine. The series begins on Friday (May 17) at 6 p.m., continues on Saturday (May 18) at 6 p.m. and concludes on Sunday (May 18) at 1 p.m. at Anteater Ballpark in Irvine, Calif.
ESPN3 COVERAGE
Both Friday's and Saturday's games will be broadcast live on the ESPN app. Tim Becwar is on the call Friday with Sam Farber in the booth Saturday, and each will be joined by Adam Kennedy.
IN THE POLLS
Neither UC Davis, nor UC Irvine, are ranked among the national polls this week.
ABOUT UC IRVINE
Began its 2019 campaign taking two-of-three from Washington in the Anteaters' home opener at Cicerone Field… UC Irvine then rolled to seven-straight series wins, sweeping Rice, Missouri State (DH), Utah Valley, Washington State, and Long Beach State in the process… Opened league play on the road at Hawai'i, clinching the series with a 4-0 shutout finale win… Endured a three-game sweep by then-ranked No. 19 UC Santa Barbara, which included a one-run deficit in the finale, 2-3… Also swept CSUN and took two-of-three from the Mustangs and the Titans… Enter the week ranked third in the Big West, three games behind the league-leading Gauchos… Fell by a 0-7 deficit to the No. 1 Bruins on Tuesday… Junior infielder Brandon Lewis paces the offense averaging .330 at the plate this season, while also leading the team in hits (63), doubles (17), home runs (13), RBI (49), and slugging percentage (.623)… Fellow junior infielder Adrian Damla trails Lewis batting .309 on the year, with a team-best .432 OBP… Sophomore outfielder Mike Peabody rounds out the top three hitters for the Anteaters with a .290 average at the plate, and has tallied a team-best 14 HBP at bats in 2019… The Aggies are set to face one of the best pitching staffs in the country this weekend, spearheaded by sophomore right-hander Trenton Denholm (8-3, 1.74 ERA) who has picked up Big West Pitcher of the Week accolades three times this season and was recently named to the College Baseball Foundations' Pitcher of the Year Watch List… The younger brother of Aggie catcher, Logan Denholm, he paces the Big West Conference and ranks 13th in the nation with a stunning 1.74 ERA, while striking out a team-best 78 batters over 82.2 inning of work, walking just 18… On Friday the Aggies will face two-time Big West Pitcher of the Week Andre Pallante (8-4, 2.68 ERA), who has allowed 24 earned runs on 62 hits while striking out 50 over 80.2 innings, with opponents averaging .212 against.
SERIES NOTES
According to records dating back to 1970, the Anteaters lead the all-time series record with the Aggies, 34-11, as well as the overall Division I record (games played since 2008), 24-9… After falling in last season's opener, 3-5, UC Davis clinched the series and closed out the regular season with back-to-back victories, 4-1 and 4-2… The Aggies are 4-17 at Cicerone Field, and will look to claim their second-straight series win over the Anteaters.
MURRAY GIVES DONS DEJA VU IN AGGIES' EXTRA-INNING VICTORY - 5/14
Last season, the 2018 Big West Freshman Field Player of the Year came in clutch during the Aggies' mid-week meeting against San Francisco on Apr. 24, when he lifted UC Davis to a 9-7 walk-off win with his first career homer in the twelfth. Heading into the bottom of the 10th inning on Tuesday (May 14), Murray was up to his old tricks again, ending the game with an RBI-single down the left field line to help UC Davis clinch the series with a 3-2 win over the Dons.
SWING AND A MISS
Senior south paw Chris Brown (3-4, 3.99 ERA) and senior right-hander Blake Hannah (3-3, 5.19 ERA) co-lead the staff with 31 strikeouts apiece in 2019, while sophomore right-hander Brett Erwin (5-4, 3.44 ERA) and redshirt sophomore right-hander Tim Wieser (0-2, 4.66 ERA) sit at 29 apiece. The rest of the Aggies' 222 strikeouts tallied in 2019 are made up by freshman Jake Spillane (19), Chase Lyford (18), Steve Ouellette (17), Wyatt Tucker (12), Nick Johnson (11), Andres Lara (9), Nathan Peng (6), Brock Moffitt (3), Nathan Lemos (3), Ryan Rodriguez (3) and Justin Smith (1).
Recycled Notes
AGGIES MAKE PROGRAM HISTORY AT CSU FULLERTON - 5/3 - 5/5
After snapping an 11-game skid against the Titans, which began back in 2015, thanks to a 3-1 victory at Goodwin Field on May 3, UC Davis clinched its first-ever series win over Cal State Fullerton in program history with a thrilling 3-2 finale comeback win. Senior Garret Kelly tied things up in the eighth with his sixth homer of the season, while redshirt junior Logan Denholm plated the game-winning run in the ninth with his second hit of the afternoon. Sunday's win marked the Aggies' sixth all-time victory over the Titans to date as well as the fifth road win for UC Davis at Goodwin Field.
AGGIES HANG ON AGAINST NO. 2 STANFORD, 8-6 - 4/16
Junior communication major Alejandro Lara came in clutch for UC Davis on Tuesday evening at Sunken Diamond, logging his first career home run in the form of a three-run blast in the seventh, while senior clinical nutrition major Garret Kelly added a solo shot in the eighth to help lead UC Davis to an upset victory over No. 2 Stanford, 8-6, at Klein Field in Stanford, Calif. The Aggies improved to 11-18 after handing the nationally ranked Cardinal its sixth loss of the season—the first win at Klein Field by a UC Davis squad since 2009. Sophomore political science major Ryan Rodriguez (1-0, 0.00 ERA) was credited with his first career win after tossing one inning of scoreless hitless relief, striking out one, while junior right-hander Steve Ouellette earned his second save of the season, getting the final five outs over 1.2 scoreless innings, striking out a pair.
BIG WEST OPENERS
With the exception of the past four seasons, it has been a case of sweep or be swept for the Aggies in previous Big West series openers, beginning with a 3-0 sweep of Pacific its inaugural season in the league in 2008. From 2009 to 2014, UC Davis endured six straight sweeps before turning the tables in 2015 and stealing three from the Highlanders at home... The Aggies posted their first Big West series victory against the Matadors in 2017--the first of four that season--and took one-of-three from the Highlanders last season... The Aggies have opened conference play against the Highlanders in four of the past five years... After UC Riverside evened the series with a narrow 4-3 win in game two, UC Davis took the finale with a thrilling come-from-behind vic- tory, 8-6, to clinch the series... Other than the Tigers (2008, 2009) and Highlanders (2015, 2016, 2018, 2019) UC Davis has faced only Cal State Fullerton (2010, 2011, 2012, 2017) and Cal Poly (2013, 2014) in conference-opening series during its brief Division I Era.
SWING AND A MISS
Senior Chris Brown (2-3, 3.24 ERA) paces the UC Davis pitching staff with 21 strikeouts after throwing a complete game with a career-high six strikeouts in the Aggies' 4-2 win over Utah Valley on Mar. 3. Sophomore right-hander Brett Erwin (3-2, 1.24 ERA) holds the second highest total at 20 strikeouts, closely followed by senior Blake Hannah (2-3, 8.59 ERA) with 17. The rest of the Aggies' 116 strikeouts tallied in 2019 are made up by sophomore Tim Wieser (13), Chase Lyford (12), Jake Spillane (11), Nick Johnson (9), Steve Ouellette (8), Andres Lara (6), Brock Moffitt (3), Nathan Lemos (2), and Justin Smith (1).
HE'S GOING THE DISTANCE
For the first time in his career, senior left-hander Chris Brown went the full nine on the mound for the Aggies to clinch their second series win of the year against Utah Valley. The Pleasant Hill, Calif.-native, put forth an outstanding performance to beat the Wolverines, allowing just two runs (one earned) on seven hits while tying a career-high six strikeouts en route to his second win of the season.
MURRAY SNAGS BIG WEST FIELD PLAYER OF THE WEEK (3/4)
Sophomore infielder Tanner Murray picked up his second career Big West Field Player of the Week nod after averaging .529 (9-for-17) with four extra-base hits, five RBI, and four runs scored in the Aggies' series win over Utah Valley. The Ben Lomond, Calif. native led off Friday's series opener with a solo shot in the bottom of the first and later plated two more runs with a 2-RBI single through the right side to help lift the Aggies past the Wolverines, 7-1. He finished 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored in game two—one of his three multi-hit performances on the series—before helping the Aggies secure a come-from-behind win to capture the series in game three, thanks to a leadoff triple in the home half of the eighth. Trailing, 1-2, he then came around to score the game-tying run in what would be a three-run effort for UC Davis en route to a 4-2 win.
AGGIE DUO CAPTURES BIG WEST WEEKLY HONORS - 2/18
After helping the Aggies to a season-opening three-game sweep over Northern Colorado, UC Davis redshirt junior managerial economics major Logan Denholm and senior neurobiology, physiology, and behavior major Chris Brown captured their first career Big West Conference Player of the Week accolades as announced by the league on Monday (Feb. 28).
Brown (1-0) was credited with the win in the Aggies' 12-0 shutout finale win on Sunday after scattering five hits and striking out a career-best six over seven innings on the mound for a 0.00 ERA in his first appearance of the season. The award marks his first career Pitcher of the Week nod.
Appearing in all three games over the weekend behind the plate for UC Davis, Denholm finished the series 5-for-9 at the plate with a team-high seven RBI and four runs scored. In the series finale alone, the El Dorado Hills, Calif.-native tied the all-time program record for doubles in a single game—notching two in the second and one in the sixth—while driving in a career-best four RBI, a performance that helped him earn the league's Field Player of the Week award for the first time in his career.
MR. BASEBALL… TOO FAST!
The Aggies were 13-for-14 in stolen bases against Northern Colorado and set a new Division I era single-game record with nine total stolen bases in game two of the Aggies' season-opening doubleheader, surpassing the previous record set by the 2015 squad at Texas State (8).
THE AGGIES AT A GLANCE
Coming off a 2018 campaign that saw the Aggies finish 18-35 overall, and 9-15 in Big West play, UC Davis is slated to return two of its top three hitters off last year's squad, including rising sophomore shortstop Tanner Murray. The Big West Freshman Field Player of the Year and All-Big West second team selection capped off his debut season for the Aggies averaging .333 at the plate to go along with 64 hits, 10 doubles and 22 RBI. He stood second only to All-Big West first team honoree Ryan Anderson, who paced the Aggies with a league-leading .345 average in 53 games, collecting 13 doubles, six home runs, and a team-high 36 RBI. The Pleasanton native was taken in the 31st round of last year's Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft by the Rangers.
The Aggies will also return rising senior infielder Cameron Briggs who finished third on the squad with a .296 average last season to go along with 42 hits and seven doubles, scoring 24 times over 44 appearances and 39 starts.
Senior left-hander Chris Brown, who was was a mainstay in the Aggies' weekend rotation in 2018, is a veteran of the staff after posting a 5.14 ERA in 15 appearances (14 starts) and striking out 35 in 75.1 innings of work last season. In addition to co-leading the staff in wins with a 4-5 mark, Brown tossed a career-long eight innings to help the Aggies secure their second Big West series win of the season over Long Beach State (Apr. 29), allowing just one run and striking out a pair. Brown will be joined on the mound by fellow rising senior Blake Hannah as well as sophomores Jared Sasaki and Brett Erwin.
Hannah, who was mainly used as the Aggies' mid-week starter in 2018, wrapped up his junior season with a career-best 22 strikeouts over 35.2 innings and threw a season-long five innings in the Aggies' 7-3 win over San Jose State (Apr. 3), surrendering just one hit en route to his third career win. Erwin (0-2, 3.38 ERA), an All-Big West Conference Honorable Mention, appeared in a team-high 20 games out of the bullpen in his debut season and ranked second on the team with three saves. Sasaki (4-6, 4.34 ERA) earned a spot in the Aggies' weekend rotation, making 16 appearances (13 starts) and striking out 33 over 76.2 innings of work.
The Aggies will look to fill the shoes of weekend starter Matt Blais as well as reliever Connor Loar, who were both lost to graduation. Blais (4-8, 5.55 ERA), led the staff in strikeouts (50) and innings pitched (84.1), and paced the Big West with four pick offs. He threw his second career complete-game against Northern Colorado on Mar. 16, allowing just two runs on nine hits while striking out a career-high nine. Loar (3-3, 1.74 ERA), who joined UC Davis in 2017 as a junior-transfer out of Chabot College, found his stride in 2018 carrying a team-best 1.74 ERA to go along with a team-high four saves over 19 appearances out of the bullpen. The All-Big West Conference Honorable Mention tossed a career-long five innings in the Aggies' extra-inning win over San Francisco (Apr. 24), allowing just two hits.
ALL HANDS ON DECK
UC Davis is set to play four of its games against two teams that advanced to last season's NCAA Tournament, including Big West colleague, Cal State Fullerton, who advanced to the super regionals. The Titans went 3-0 to sweep the Stanford Regional as the No. 3 seed, first upsetting the No. 2 seed Baylor, 6-2, then posting back-to-back wins over No. 1 seeded Stanford, before falling 2-1 to Washington in the super regional series.
Among other post-season qualifiers, the Aggies will make their way to Sunken Diamond to face Stanford (No. 1 seed in the Stanford Regional) on Apr. 16. Last season, the Aggies fell in their home opener at Phil Swimley Field by a narrow one-run margin, 2-3, to a then-ranked No. 13 Cardinal squad.
The remainder of the non-conference schedule includes a three-game series at Pepperdine (Mar. 8-10), three meetings with Pacific and San Francisco (two at home and one away for each), and a three-game series at Utah during the Aggies' conference bye week on May 23-25 in Salt Lake City.
CAL STATE FULLERTON PICKED TO REPEAT IN BIG WEST POLL
According to a vote of the league's coaches, Cal State Fullerton, is picked to stand atop the 2019 league standings for the second consecutive season after picking up three first-place votes en route to a total of 70 points. UC Irvine earned the second slot with 67 points and four first-place votes, while Long Beach State was selected third with 62 points and one first-place vote. Cal Poly was selected fourth and received the final first-place vote (60), followed by UC Santa Barbra in fifth (49), Hawai'i in sixth (32), CSUN in seventh (29). UC Davis (19) came in eighth ahead of UC Riverside (17) in ninth.
FOLLOW UC DAVIS BASEBALL ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Aggie fans can stay updated with the latest UC Davis athletics news by "liking" us on Facebook (Facebook.com/UCDavisAggies) and following us on Twitter (@UCDavisAggies). Fans can also keep up with the action with the baseball program by "liking" them on Facebook (search for UC Davis Baseball) and following them on Twitter (@UCDavisBaseball).
AGGIES TO WELCOME SEVEN NLI SIGNEES IN 2020
UC Davis baseball head coach Matt Vaughn announced the signing of seven high schoolers, including two Davis locals, to National Letters of Intent to continue their academic and athletic careers at UC Davis beginning in the 2020 season. The all-California group includes Davis locals Zach Carrell (Davis Senior HS '19) and Jonah Henrickson (Davis Senior HS '19), as well as Northern California talents Nathanael Freeman (Benicia, Calif. / Benicia HS '19), Joseph Lampe (Petaluma, Calif. / Casa Grande HS '19), and Mt. Shasta native Kaden Riccomini (Mt. Shasta HS '19). The Aggies will also welcome Southern California talents Kai Janowicz (Avila Beach, Calif. / Mission College Preparatory HS '19) and Nicholas Iverson (Culver City, Calif. / Maranatha HS '19).
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, 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
Established during the 2017-18 academic year, 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.
- #GoAgs -
