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It's the time of year when hopes springs eternal on the diamonds of college campuses across the nation.

At UC Davis, back-to-back busy weekends have been planned for months as right now, teams from throughout the west compete with our local heroines in the NorCal Kickoff softball tournament at La Rue Field — soon to be followed by next week's start of the Aggie baseball season when Pac-12 power Utah comes calling.

We thought it would be a good time to look in on both programs and share some of what Aggie ball fans have in store...

First up, UC Davis baseball
As collegiate baseball leagues go, there aren't many circuits throughout the land that provide greater challenges than the Big West Conference.

No matter how much a school improves from one year to the next, it seems that BWC participants always fight to keep close to the conference's perennial leaders: Cal State Fullerton, UC Santa Barbara, Long Beach State ...

Each can be counted on to be near the top. But in only their first decade toiling in Division I, the Aggies — under the direction of ninth-season skipper Matt Vaughn — just might be ready to sneak up on their West Coast brethren in 2020.

Mark the dates down now because our locals have a pretty sweet non-conference slate, starting Friday, Feb. 14, with a three-game set against Pac-12 power Utah at Dobbins Field.

Sure, the Aggies have a fairly young squad: 14 freshmen or sophomores and only seven seniors. And, yes, they're looking for a reliable mix of pitchers who can improve the Aggies from last year's collective 5.67 earned run average.

But these Aggies return their top four hitters and will look to the experienced play of fifth-year catcher Logan Denholm (Oak Ridge High), center fielder Cooper Morrison (Reedley College) and Fairfield native Alejandro Lara for inspiration.

Local fans already know that last year's Aggies took some significant steps forward. They won a series from former national champion Cal State Fullerton on the road, swept The Beach in Davis and knocked off Stanford at Sunken Diamond.

A bugaboo turned out to be close games, with the Aggies going only 4-8 in such outings. And UC Davis, not surprisingly, hit only 23 home runs. Playing at cavernous Dobbins Stadium has always been a challenge for long-ball hitters (more about that in a second).

But Vaughn says that Aggie faithful can hang their caps on a returning corps of inspiring players.

"To have a guy like Logan with his veteran leadership, it's tremendous," Vaughn explains. "He had another good year in 2019 ... and he's healthy."

Denholm, who missed the 2017 season to injury after hitting .280 as a freshman, rallied to bat .295 while accounting for 52 Davis runs last spring.

Then, etched in cement in center field is Cooper Morrison.

"Just a great kid, consistent player," the coach says of Morrison, who hit .302 with 31 runs scored" (third on the Aggies).

As Morrison moves over from right field to replace graduated stalwart Garret Kelly, is he up to the task of patrolling a field that is 410 feet to dead center and 385 in each alley?

"It's a challenge. He's worked at it. He told me one day, 'It's a lot different out here than it was in right.' But he's been fine out there," Vaughn promised. (A 2016 study called Dobbins one of the nation's "20 most difficult college stadiums in which to hit a home run.)

"And it always has been difficult," Vaughn continues. "So when you play in a park like ours, you have to use the gaps a little more, you have to run the bases a little bit better. You can't sit back and play for home runs.

"This year's group has bought into that philosophy ... and I think we'll be better at scoring runs."

The coach, who has been part of the UC Davis program since his playing days 28 years ago, says former Armijo High spark plug Lara is another of his go-to guys — both in the clubhouse and on the field.

Lara's .312 average, 32 runs scored and 28 runs batted in were all second on the team to returning shortstop Tanner Murray's .364/37/31.

Mix in slick-fielding Murray's importance at short and just getting another year under the belts of that trio could move the Aggies up the Big West ladder.

Murray, a junior from Lorenzo Valley High, will be paired with veteran second baseman Jalen Smith in the keystone on Phil Swimley Field. Vaughn said he was impressed with Smith's off-season dedication, pointing out that the 6-foot, 180-pound Bakersfield sophomore "got after it in the weight room. He's bigger, stronger, faster."

As a freshman, Smith started 27 games, and any further contributions above his .167 average will help move the runners along.

At third stands Kyler Arenado, the versatile redshirt junior who played anywhere he was asked to during last year's 19-31 campaign. Vaughn likes his Huntington Beach product's willingness to fill in in a pinch and expects Arendado to bound forward from his .143 output last year.

New first baseman Jonah Henrickson is a home-grown prospect. The Davis High graduate comes off a .312 year for the 18-11 Blue Devils. The lefty homered twice while driving in 30 runs last season.

"He had a great fall," Vaughn adds. "He's a good player who is going to be a great player for us."

Joining Lara and Morrison in the vast expanse of Dobbins Stadium will be opening-day left fielder Colton Evans, the one-time Pitman High standout who battled injuries his first two years on campus.

No matter how strong Vaughn thinks his lineup might be offensively, it's all moot if significant improvement among the pitching staff isn't at hand.

When UC Davis opens against the Utes, graduated starters Blake Hannah and Chris Brown are gone, and a handful of other help was injured in the off-season. While Hannah and Brown combined to go 6-11 with an ERA of 5.5o, Vaughn is hopeful his new-look pitching crew ascends to new heights:

"Looking at it now, we still have one more weekend of scrimmages here to solidify things, but if I had to talk about (the rotation) right now, I'd say Brett Erwin (starts) Friday against Utah.

"He was our Friday guy at the end of year: a strike thrower, slider, sinker ... nothing really goes straight with him. He's not going to overpower anyone, but he's going to stay at the bottom of the zone and when he pitches, we usually have a chance to win the game."

Erwin — another Armijo grad — was 5-5 with a 3.70 ERA in 14 appearances as a sophomore.

"He's a pitcher. He understands how to change speeds and do things differently."

Jake Spillane (Mission Viejo High) looks to Vaughn as though Saturday starts are in his future. Spillane (1-3, 6.07 in nine starts as a freshman) is another right-hander who is a mixed-pitch spot-finder like Erwin.

College of San Mateo transfer Wyatt Tucker is now a senior and Vaughn says he's ready to shake off last spring (1-2, 6.35): "He's come back on a mission … worked really hard and put himself in position to be one of our starters."

Vaughn says a couple of others are in the mix and he'll know more after this weekend.

Oh, and who's the closer?

"Right now it's by committee," Vaughn admits. 

Steve Ouellette (2-3, five saves and a 2.79 earned run average) is out after shoulder surgery, so it's probably Tim Wieser (4.57 in 21 relief appearances). Wieser (Oakmont High) fanned 33 in 41 1/3 innings, so he has some giddyup with his heater.

After a fifth-place tie in conference last year, if the Aggies push the dial up on offense and hold foes down via improved pitching, that could be enough to shove UC Davis deep into the league's upper division.

Remember, Vaughn says, as difficult as the Big West is year after year, contenders can come from any of the nine schools.

So why not UC Davis in 2020?

Softball: a fast start
In taking the inaugural two games of the NorCal Kickoff, coach Erin Thorpe's Aggies have already provided much excitement.

After a brilliant opening-day start by hurler Katie Kibby — and a huge first 11 at-bats for Isabella Leon — UC Davis flashed its potent offense and veteran pitching.

On Friday, the Aggies first beat St. Mary's, 6-2, then went on to nip Cal Baptist, 9-8, in nine innings. Saturday it was Boise State — a team that went to the 2018 NCAA Gainesville Regionals after posting a 36-16 record — which got the better of UC Davis, 9-3.

But enthusiastic crowds, late-winter sunshine and some dazzling Aggie performances were the order of the weekend.

Against the Gaels, Kibby was dominant in the circle. Her 4-hit, 4-strikeout game was supported by Leon's 3-run blast.

Leon had two more hits in the Friday nightcap, but it was Oregon transfer Marisa Given's hit chasing home Oak Ridge High freshman Leah Polson for the game-winner versus Cal Baptist.

Her team's solid play wasn't a surprise to Aggie fans.

Thorpe's squad is loaded with high-average hitters and a pitching staff that promises a balance of veterans (think Kibby) with freshman like Kenedi Brown (Sheldon High), who won the Cal Baptist game in relief.

"Katie ... brings a ton of experience," Thorpe reports. "She has the potential to leave here as the winningest pitcher in our D-I history, which is pretty cool.

"Then we have Taliyah Miles, a left-handed power pitcher who we're hopeful will come in and give us a different look."

Miles was the longtime ace of Sac-Joaquin Section champion Sheldon High. She headed off to Delaware State before transferring "home" to UC Davis.

In addition to Brown, Rocklin High's Taylor Fitzgerald (another freshman) is expected to help with pitching chores from Day 1.

"We're very excited," Thorpe told me. "This weekend is going to be a great opportunity for (the freshman) to get thrown right into the action."

True that, coach...

In losing but two infield starters from 2019, a year in which the Aggies went 39-13 and 13-8 in Big West play, Thorpe is happy with her spring lineup.

Alyse Rojas (.348 last year) again patrols the outfield. Like her first baseman sister Maddie and hurler Kibby, Rojas hails from Vacaville High. She'll team with Salinas' Given (.329) and Fontana's Maarissa Jauregui in roaming the grass.

Maddie Rojas at first base hit .299 a year ago, as did shortstop Leon — who so far has hinted at a breakout campaign.

Already 5-for-11 with five runs batted in and two home runs, one's equilibrium checks out if you'd care to take the Olympian High (Chula Vista) grad Leon's three-game numbers on average over a full season.

Riley Siegel, the veteran catcher by way of Sir Francis Drake High, already has a dinger and will be a key helping the younger pitchers settle in.

Miramonte High sophomore Megan Bower, according to Thorpe, will be a scary hitter as the clean-up hitter.

Thorpe says there is plenty of good softball to be played this weekend (UC Davis meets Santa Clara at 2 p.m. Saturday and Idaho State on Sunday (11:30 a.m.).

"It's a great environment at La Rue," Thorpe reminds fans. "Our sport is booming, it's a fast-paced game and you've got the sun — and this (has been) a great-weather weekend. Then you've got the music, too."

Judging from the first trio of contests, most of those tunes are coming from the Aggie women's bats.

Now let's hope the beat goes on.


One of the most well-known and respected sports writers in the industry, former Davis Enterprise sports and managing editor Bruce Gallaudet joined the UC Davis Athletics staff as its feature writer in the summer of 2018. Since then, visitors to UCDavisAggies.com have enjoyed his unique perspective on campus student-athletes, coaches, teams, individuals, programs, events and projects that represent the fifth-ranked public school in the nation.