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Games 19-22
UC Davis Aggies (5-13, 0-4 BWC)
at
UC Santa Barbara Gauchos (11-7, 2-2 BWC)
Friday, March 26 – 5 p.m.
Saturday, March 27 – 1 p.m. (DH)
Sunday, March 28 – 1 p.m.
Caesar Uyesaka Stadium – Santa Barbara, Calif.
Watch (All Four Games)
Live Stats (All Four Games)
DAVIS, Calif. – Following its Division I-era record 18-game homestand to start the 2021 season, UC Davis will head to UC Santa Barbara for its first road games of the year when it faces the Gauchos in a four-game Big West series. Following Friday's 5 p.m. opener, the two will face one another in Saturday's 1 p.m. doubleheader before ending the weekend with Sunday's 1 p.m. matchup.
A
video stream and
live stats are available for each game of the series — the first between the Aggies and Gauchos since 2019 when UC Davis also visited the Central Coast.
Kyler Arenado and
Michael Campagna led UC Davis throughout its inaugural set of Big West games when UC Irvine visited Phil Swimley Field at Dobbins Stadium last weekend.
In addition to batting .635 with seven hits, including a pair of doubles, Arenado also scored twice and drove in a run. Highlighted by his 3-for-4 performance last Sunday, which included home run and three RBI, Campagna hit .400 for the series, scored a run and finished with eight total bases — one shy of matching Arenado's team-high total.
For the season, Campagna and Arenado are batting .358 and .309 respectively, lead the team with 12 RBI apiece and are collectively responsible for 16 of the team's 36 extra base hits.
Completing the Aggies' top trio of hitters, entering their Santa Barbara road trip, is
Jalen Smith, whose .324 average ranks him second between Campagna and Arenado. With four doubles, one triple and two home runs, nearly one-third of his 22 hits are for extra bases. Not only is his hits total a team-high figure, he also leads all Aggies with 15 runs and nine stolen bases — the ninth-highest total in the nation.
With five starts under his belt this season, sophomore southpaw
Zach Carrell leads the Aggies' starting rotation with his 3.68 ERA and 19 strikeouts throughout his 22 innings pitched.
As is the case with his teammate Carrell,
Kaden Riccomini also sports a 1-1 record throughout his five appearances this season. In his 20 innings on the mound, the Aggies' top reliever holds a 3.15 ERA and struckout 17, two shy of matching Carrell's team-high total, against only three walks.
UC Davis will square off against the Big West preseason favorites — a team that was ranked as high as No. 7 in one of four national polls earlier this season. Entering its first Big West home series of 2021, the Gauchos are receiving votes after splitting last weekend's games at Cal State Fullerton.
In that series against the Titans, junior outfielder Broc Mortensen hit. 500 with three home runs, three doubles, drove in nine runs, scored another six and finished with eight hits to earn Big West Player of the Week honors.
UC Santa Barbara leads the all-time series, 26-19; after the Aggies won the series in 2018 by taking two of three games, the Gauchos won the last four head-to-head meetings.
ABOUT UC DAVIS
Over 700 student-athletes across 25 intercollegiate athletics teams, following the addition of equestrian and women's beach volleyball in 2018, are enrolled in 71 of more than 100 academic programs at the fifth-ranked public school in the nation.
Centrally located between San Francisco, Lake Tahoe and the Napa Valley, UC Davis is known nationwide as a leader in Title IX gender equity and leadership, ranks annually in the top 10 in diversity and students' social mobility and offers an unrivaled student-athlete experience that features the ideal combination of elite academics, Division I athletics and personal growth.
UC Davis is uncommonly committed to preparing student-athletes for life after graduation with Aggie EVO — an innovative student-athlete outcomes program that helps young women and men develop passions, gain real-world experience, and enjoy a successful launch to full-time employment or graduate school. Through Aggie EVO, Intercollegiate Athletics provides unmatched resources and a vast network of working professionals to ensure post-graduation success for its student-athletes.
