SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Freshman right-hander Kenedi Brown struck out 12 Hornet batters in a two-hit shutout to lead UC Davis to a 4-0 win in the opening game of Thursday's Capital Classic softball doubleheader at Shea Stadium. The Aggies fell, 6-0, in the nightcap to finish the day with a split.

The Aggies move to 2-9 for the season. The Hornets are now 4-9 overall.

Second baseman Sommer Kisling and right fielder Megan Bower each hit 2-for-4 with a run scored in the Game 1 win, while freshman third baseman Bella Pahulu launched her first collegiate homer. Pahulu also doubled in Game 2, giving her seven total bases for the afternoon.

Brown did not allow a hit until the fifth inning of her victory, with Sacramento State reaching only on a strikeout-wild pitch in the first frame and a walk in the fourth. Meanwhile, UC Davis took the lead with its first two batters of the game: Kisling led off with an infield single then Bower launched her second home run of the season to left. Designated player Isabella Leon, making her 2021 debut, continued the rally with a double to the left-center gap but the Aggies stranded the bases loaded to hold a 2-0 lead.

Pahulu then extended the UC Davis advantage by slamming the first pitch of the seventh over the left-field wall. Senior center fielder Marissa Jauregui followed with a double, and eventually scored on a Bower single – the latter's third run batted in for the game.

In addition to her 12 strikeouts, Brown got some defensive help in recording her first collegiate shutout. Leah Polson, normally a third baseman, made a diving catch of a Shea Graves drive to short left. Jauregui made a similar effort in the seventh, also against Graves, but the ball popped out of her glove at the last moment for the Hornets' second hit of the day. 

In Game 2, Sacramento State scored half of its runs on a three-run blast by third baseman Lewa Day in the first inning. The Hornets scored two more in the second when an errant throw trickled into the Aggie dugout. Freshman Taylor Fitzgerald replaced starter Sarah Reineman in the third, and held Sac State to just two hits and a run in 3.1 innings of relief work. Alyssa Nunez earned the shutout win for the Hornets, allowing the six hits with no walks.

The 2021 Capital Classic consists of daily doubleheaders at UC Davis and Sacramento State. The Aggies return to action for two against Pacific on Saturday, then host Santa Clara for a twinbill on Sunday. Both days have 11:30 a.m. start times.

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ABOUT UC DAVIS:
With the addition of equestrian and women's beach volleyball in 2018, more than 700 student-athletes represent the fifth-ranked public school in the nation on one of 25 intercollegiate athletics teams.

UC Davis, a national leader in Title IX gender equity and leadership, is centrally located between San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, and the Napa Valley; and offers an unrivaled student-athlete experience that features the ideal combination of elite academics, Division I athletics and personal growth.

Ranked annually in the top 10 in diversity and students' social mobility, 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.