Davis, Calif. - At 2:01 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 28, UC Davis (7-3) right-hander Brett Erwin fired a strike to Loyola Marymount (3-7) left fielder Kenny Oyama for the first pitch of a three-game series with the Lions.
Little did anyone at Dobbins Stadium that day know that was just the start of what would become the longest game in UC Davis history.
The Aggies walked off on a Spencer Gedestad fly ball on Saturday for a 4-3 win in the bottom of the 24th inning, nearly 24 hours later and some 6 hours and 30-odd minutes of game time.
Andres Lara was the pitcher of record, going the final four innings and allowing just one unearned run on four hits and striking out five, but it was two days of historic pitching from the Aggies just to get to Saturday afternoon.
The teams played 13 innings on Friday before the game was suspended due to darkness and resumed at 1:04 p.m. on Saturday.
"Unbelievable," UC Davis head coach Matt Vaughn said. "Erwin, (Kaden) Riccomini, (Nate) Freeman, (Nick) Johnson, Lara…those guys were outstanding. We're banged up right now and guys just keep stepping up and filling a role."
UC Davis created opportunities throughout Saturday's continuation, putting runners on in seven of Saturday's 11 innings including runners in scoring position in the 14th, 15th, 16th, 20th and 22nd innings but it wasn't until the bottom of the 24th that the Aggies broke through.
Kyler Arenado reached to lead off the inning after an inside pitch grazed the starting third baseman's jersey. Tanner Murray followed with a double down the left field line and Jalen Smith was intentionally walked to load the bases for Logan Denholm.
A fielder's choice allowed LMU to get Arenado at home to bring up Gedestad, UC Davis' leading hitter by average on the season.
On a 1-1 count, Gedestad drove a pitch to center field to score Murray easily and send the Aggies streaming out of the dugout.
The game breaks the previous Big West Conference record for the longest game by innings that stood since March 30, 1973 when Long Beach State and San Jose State played 20 innings. It falls just short of the NCAA record of 25 innings, set by Texas and Boston College on May 30, 2009.
"I'm really proud of the team," Vaughn added. "They just kept going. The energy was phenomenal, all day yesterday and all day today. And I think it would have been if we kept playing. There's something really fun about this team."
Aggie pitchers did not allow an earned run over all 24 innings.
The Lions scored twice on an error in the top of first with Erwin on the mound and did not score again until the top of the 22nd. With two on and one out, LMU's Cooper Uhl hit a sinking fly ball to center that Smith couldn't quite corral, allowing Cole Roberts to score for a 3-2 LMU lead. UC Davis would come back in the bottom half of that inning with Smith driving in Murray on a sacrifice fly to center.
Murray scored three of UC Davis' four runs, all on sacrifice flies to center field. Murray, Denholm and Gedestad also take over the top three spots in the UC Davis record book for most at-bats in a single game with 11, 10 and 10 respectively.
The Aggies were outstanding in relief of Erwin, who allowed two unearned runs on two hits over four innings, with Kaden Riccomini pitching four innings of one-hit ball with three strikeouts to get to the eighth inning on Friday and Nick Johnson allowing two hits over five innings before play was suspended.
In a game full of gutsy performances though, Freeman stood tallest.
The freshman right-hander went seven scoreless innings as the 'starter' on Saturday, striking out six and allowing four hits and three walks. He sent a roar through Dobbins Stadium in the top of the 20th with a swinging strike three against the Lions' Harry Hibberd to get out of the inning.
Since allowing two earned runs in his first collegiate appearance, Freeman has allowed just five hits and no runs over his last 14 2/3 innings while striking out 13.
Of UC Davis' starting defensive alignment, Murray, Smith, Denholm, Arenado, and J.D. Mico played all 24 innings. Gedestad played all 24 at designated hitter.
UC Davis freshman Mike Campagna went 2-6 with one of those hits a loud shot to left field for his first career home run in the bottom of the fifth.
At 7-3, the Aggies are in the midst of the best 10-game start in Vaughn's tenure as head coach and the best 10-game start to a season over the last 20 years.
"There's no 'give up' in them," Vaughn said of his 2020 group. "They're going to keep fighting, they're going to scrap, they're going to find a way. And if we can throw strikes like that and play the defense that we've played for 10 games now, we're going give ourselves a chance every single game."
With daylight fading for the second straight day by the end of play on Saturday, the teams will complete the series with a double header on Sunday, March 1. The first game of the day, and second of the series, is scheduled for 11 a.m.
