DAVIS, Calif. -- Sophomore second baseman Sommer Kisling and senior shortstop Isabella Leon each hit 3-for-4 with two runs scored, Leon delivered her seventh homer of the year, and catcher Riley Siegel drove in a team-high three runs to lead UC Davis to an 8-3 victory over Pacific in non-conference women's softball action at La Rue Field Tuesday afternoon.
The Aggies improve to 16-12 for the year. The Tigers fall to 15-10 overall.
Adding in leadoff hitter Alyse Rojas' 2-for-4 day, the top four spots of the UC Davis batting order combined for 10 of the team's 12 hits. Freshmen Taylor Fitzgerald and Kenedi Brown combined for the win in the circle for the Aggies, with Brown as the pitcher of record for her five-inning relief appearance.Â
UC Davis never trailed in the game. Siegel put the Aggies on the board with a two-run single in the bottom of the first. The Tigers answered with an RBI infield single by second baseman Talli Shepherd in the next half inning, but UC Davis stormed to four more in the third. Leon reached on an infield hit then scored from first on Siegel's double to the gap. Maddie Rojas and Sarah Starks to load the bases before Marisa Given's single to right field pushed across two more runs. Senior Marissa Jauregui brought in Starks on a sacrifice fly to right, extending the lead to 6-1.
The Aggies added two more in the sixth on Leon's blast to straightaway center. Kisling started the brief rally with her hit to center, then Leon slammed a full-count pitch toward the La Rue Field flagpole. Leon now matches Siegel and Alyse Rojas for the team lead in homers through 28 games. Furthermore, she now has 14 career homers, matching Meghan Bradbury (2016-19) and Amy Nunez (2011-15) for the most in the program's Division I era.
Pacific threatened in the seventh on back-to-back hits from pinch hitter Natalie Linker and third baseman Jessica Mabrey, the latter of which hugged the third-base foul line to bring in a third Tiger tally. Alyse Rojas flagged down a deep fly from Hanna Krosky for the second out. A wild pitch moved Mabrey and Linker into scoring position, then Sung ripped a stinger straight back at Brown. The freshman gloved the ball, then promptly tossed the throw to Maddie Rojas at first, robbing Sung of a two-RBI hit and instead recording the final out.
Sophomore right fielder Gabby Zagone also contributed to the Aggies' offensive outburst. She spelled Given in right field during the fifth, then slammed a 2-0 pitch into the left-center gap for her first career double in the bottom half of that frame.
UC Davis remains at home for a three-game set against future Big West Conference member CSU Bakersfield. The Roadrunners come to town for a Saturday doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.