DAVIS, Calif. -- With runners at the corners and one out, second-year freshman
Sarah Starks delivered a game-winning RBI single to right-center field, bringing in
Sarah Nakahara and lifting UC Davis a 3-2 win over UC San Diego in Big West Conference women's softball action at La Rue Field Friday afternoon.
The win marks the eighth straight for the Aggies, who improve to 14-18 overall and 8-5 in conference games. The Tritons slip to 8-16 for the season and 4-9 in Big West play.
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Starks' walk-off hit sealed a complete-game win for freshman pitcher
Kenedi Brown, who scattered 10 hits and a pair of runs in nine innings. She also struck out seven Tritons with just two walks against. Offensively,
Sommer Kisling,
Leah Polson and
Bella Pahulu each recorded two hits.Â
Kisling had UC Davis' first two runs: she reached in the first when UCSD second baseman Isabel Lavrov bobbled a chopper to the right side of the infield, then came home two batters later on a
Marissa Jauregui single to center. Then after UCSD pushed across a pair of runs on back-to-back, bases-loaded singles in the fifth by Bobbi Aguirre and Sherriah Harrington, Kisling was the equalizer in the seventh. She reached on a fielder's choice when Lavrov made a spectacular play to force out
Anna Dethlefson at second. Then Aggie shortstop
Isabella Leon narrowly missed a walk-off homer, with her deep drive to the left-center gap bouncing just feet shy of clearing the fence. Kisling came around from first, tying the game at 2-2.
Brown ran into some trouble in the eighth, with a Lavrov double leading to two runners in scoring position and the top of the UCSD order up. However, she punched out Keila Bosinger for her sixth strikeout of the game. The Aggies threatened in their half of the eighth, with Polson lofting a fly ball that the wind carried byond the reach of Bosinger in left. However, UC Davis left fielder was stranded after that double, sending the game to the night.
UCSD threatened yet again in the ninth, as third baseman Sophia Real led off with a sharp single through the 5-6 hole. Pinch runner Mariah Melendez replaced Real and quickly moved up 60 feet on an Aguirre sacrifice bunt. Brown won a long at-bat against Harrington for her seventh strikeout and worked the count full to Clarissa Reynoso before the Triton catcher hammered a line drive toward center. But Jauregui ran in, laid out and snared Reynoso's potential hit with a diving catch to keep UCSD off the board.
Jauregui's play set the stage for the ninth. Nakahara sent a comebacker to UCSD pitcher Robyn Wampler, who gloved the ball but could not keep it in the pocket for an out. Dethlefson moved up Nakahara on a sacrifice bunt, then Kisling grounded out to third, giving Nakahara enough time and room to advance. After the UCSD coaching staff convened in the pitching circle, Wampler fired four straight pitches out of Leon's reach, avoiding the Aggies' overall batting leader and taking their chances with Starks. Starks followed with a hard would-be double to right center, scoring Nakahara for the game-winning hit.
UC Davis' eight-game win streak dates back to the series finale against Long Beach State on March 28, and includes series sweeps of UC Riverside and CSUN. The Aggies and Tritons continue the weekend with a noon doubleheader on Saturday.
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ABOUT UC DAVIS:
Centrally located between San Francisco and Lake Tahoe, over 700 student-athletes across 25 teams enjoy an unrivaled undergraduate experience at the fifth-ranked public school in the country.
Ranked annually in the nation's top 10 in diversity and students' social mobility, UC Davis and its innovative Aggie EVO system helps student-athletes develop passions, connect with a comprehensive network of alums and industry leaders, gain real-world experience and thrive as a young professional following a successful launch to full-time employment or graduate school.
