Editor's note: Beginning with today's feature, each week ucdavisaggies.com will look back at the week that was in the history of Aggie baseball. The series will kick off with a look at the 2001 Causeway game played at Raley Field.
Davis, Calif. - When it comes to rivalries, they don't discriminate when it comes to records, trends and eras. UC Davis' rivalry with Sac State is no different and it carries the same intensity today that it did when annual Causeway games began.
So it was on April 3, 2001, that Luke Steidlmayer and the Aggies, despite owning just 10 wins to that point, were as motivated as ever to face the Hornets at Raley Field. The announced attendance that day was 2196.
By the 2001 season, Steidlmayer had grown into the unquestioned ace of the Aggies' staff and with that Causeway game coming on a Tuesday, he wasn't initially scheduled to pitch.
"It was a mid-week game so it was unlikely I was going to pitch because we had league games on both weekends," Steidlmayer recalled this week. "But Coach Swimley and Vaughn set things up so I could throw a few innings."
Steidlmayer did a bit more than throw a few innings.
After throwing a complete game against Sonoma State four days prior, he went six innings against the Hornets, allowing just four hits and two earned runs while striking out 12 to lead the Aggies to a 12-2 win.
"My biggest memory of the game was our team played so well," Steidlmayer said. "We weren't having the best year to that point but it seemed that few guys had great days."
Indeed, the box score that day is a veritable 'whose who' of Aggie baseball history.
In addition to Steidlmayer, a UC Davis Baseball Hall of Fame inductee himself, there was Robby Tulk playing right field and going 2-3 with two RBIs. Taylor Macleod-Roemer, who went on to appear in a team-high 51 games, went 3-3 with three runs and three RBIs. Adam Wilson went 2-4, both doubles, three RBIs and one run scored. There was Patrick Ojeil going 2-3 with a run scored as the DH. Dennis Flippen scored twice, Ryan Ceriani once and Andrew Reisinger once.
And then of course, there was a freshman named Matt Kamigawachi who turned more than few heads with a three-run, opposite field home run in the bottom of the eighth after entering on a defensive switch in the top of the inning.
Head Coach Phil Swimley of course would go on to be inducted into the Cal Aggie Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009 and then-pitching coach Matt Vaughn has been the Aggies' head coach since August 2011. Kamigawachi was inducted last year while Tulk was selected to the CAAHOF in 2013.
Kawmigawachi's home run was the exclamation point that day but it was all Aggies from the get go at what was at the time a less-than-two-year-old Raley Field.
After John Carrion grounded out to lead off the game, Wilson walked, Flippen walked and Ojeil was hit by a pitch to load the bases with two outs. Ceriani walked to score Wilson and Tulk followed with a two-RBI single to left. Macleod-Roeme hit an RBI single to right to make it 4-0 Aggies at the end of the first and UC Davis would go on to add two in the third, one in the sixth and five in the eighth.
It was the most runs the Aggies had scored in a game to that point and wound up kickstarting a strong stretch that saw them go 9-3 over their next 12 games. UC Davis finished the 2001 season on a six-game win streak.
That somewhat unplanned outing for Steidlmayer had a similar effect on his season.
He went on to throw complete games in four of his last five starts, allowing five earned runs total across them. He finished the season with a 1.73 ERA across 99 innings and 11 starts with 106 strike outs. His 10 wins that season are tied for fifth on the all-time top list, his ERA good for fourth and those 106 strike outs third all-time.
"It is fun to follow the team now as just about every game they play is on a much larger stage than our Raley Field game," Steidlmayer says now. "But at the time, our team was pretty excited about the opportunity to be showcased to a small degree."
HONORABLE MENTIONS
4/3/04 - UC Davis takes a double-header from UC San Diego 4-3, 6-3
Speaking of Kamigawachi, by 2004 he was a mainstay in the lineup and played crucial roles in UC Davis sweeping a home double-header from UC San Diego.
His solo home run in the bottom of the third gave the Aggies a 3-1 lead at the time and he was batting in the bottom of the seventh when Michael Jacobelllis sprinted home on a wild pitch to score the winning run.
Dave McKae pitched 4 1/3 scoreless innings in relief of Vince DeCoito, allowing just two hits and striking out five in that first game with Aaron Hanke's 3-3 day and Tyler Lahore's 2-4, two-run, one RBI game leading the way.
The sweep put UC Davis at 25-7 overall and 20-3 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association.
"Anytime you can sweep a good ball club like UC San Diego it is a good day," said then-Aggie head coach Rex Peters. "Both teams had chances late in the second game to win. We got a break with the wild pitch and took advantage of that. In the first game, (Dave) McKae was lights out. He was very sharp today."
"We haven't been in a lot of situations like the second game," Peters continued that day. "They stayed calm, didn't panic and came through with the victory. That was nice to see."
4/4/14 - UC Davis upsets No. 18 Cal State Fullerton 3-1
The Aggies hung three runs on the Titans in the eighth to come from behind on the road and upset nationally ranked Cal State Fullerton in 2014.
Trailing by a run entering the eighth, senior outfielder Seth Batty got the rally started on a triple that got by a diving Austin Diemer in center and rolled all the way to the wall, and was followed by Adam Young, who was hit by pitch to put runners on the corners for Steven Patterson. The Aggies' senior second baseman, who finished 2-for-4 on the night, came through, lacing a single to center to score Batty and tie the game at one.
Nick Lynch then followed with a bunt to the left side where Young beat the throw to third to load the bases and chase Eshelman from the game. Reliever Tyler Peitzmeier struck out the only batter he faced and Titans' closer Koby Gauna got another strikeout to put the home side one out away from escaping the jam.
However, Silva kept the Aggies rolling, chopping a ball to the right side where it was fielded cleanly by first baseman Tanner Pinkston, but no one covered the bag, allowing Silva to reach safely. Young scored on the play to put UC Davis ahead and was closely followed by Patterson, who came all the way around to touch home plate when an errant throw to first to try and get Silva found no one there to catch it, making it 3-1 in favor of the Aggies.
Harry Stanwyck pitched into the eighth that day, allowing one run in 7 1/3 innings as the Aggies improved to 14-12. At that point, UC Davis had not defeated the Titans since April 26, 2008.
4/5/09 - UC Davis upsets No. 21 San Diego State 6-5
On the final day of a four-game series played at Tony Gwynn Stadium in San Diego, the Aggies upset a San Diego State team that would go on to play in a College World Series Super Regional.
Sophomore Daniel Cepin hit a three-run homer in the sixth, senior Ryan Scoma drove home two runs and freshman Scott Lyman pitched two shutout innings.
Lyman entered in the seventh with runners on second and third with one out and pitched around a sac fly and a walk to end that Aztecs rally. Ty Kelly, who began his professional career after that season and played for the Angels' Triple-A affiliate in Salt Lake City last season, went 3-4 with his team-leading 10th double of the season.
The Aggies began that series at Petco Park with a game that was preceded by an exhibition between the Padres and the Angels. San Diego State junior Stephen Strasburg got the win that day, striking out six over six scoreless innings.
4/2/75 - UC Davis earns first ever win over Stanford with 16-2 blow out
The Aggies finished 25-23-1 that year and that 16-run blow out against The Cardinal was outdone only by a 26-5 win over Lewis & Clark.
Rich Lautze, Don Briggs and Bob Towne combined for five home runs and set a school record for home runs in a single game that was tied in 1989 and 1994. Lautze went on to bat .313 with nine homers while Briggs batted .314 and clubbed nine as well.
A dual-sport athlete in baseball and soccer, Brigs was inducted into the CAAHOF in 1996. Steve Brown, a pitcher on that 1975 team, was inducted in 1994 while Rich Martini (1974-77) went in 1987. Mike Moroski (1975-79) was inducted as a dual-sport athlete in football and baseball in 1985.
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